Presently the clouds touched the
sun, and in a moment the day grew dark. Far down near the horizon I
could see the black fringe of the falling rain under the tumbling
clouds, and in a quarter of an hour the wind began to blow from the
storm, which had been mounting the sky fast enough to startle one. The
storm-cloud was now ripped and torn by lightning, and deep rumbling
peals of thunder came to our ears all the time louder and nearer. The
wind blew sharper, and whistled shrilly through the rigging of my
prairie schooner, there came a few drops of rain, then a scud of finer
spray: and then the whole plain to the northwest turned white with a
driving sheet of water which came on, swept over us, and blotted
everything from sight in a great commingling of wind, water, fire
and thunder.
Virginia cowered on the bed, throwing the quilt over her. My cattle
turned their rumps to the storm and stood heads down, the water running
from their noses, tails and bellies, and from the bows and yokes. I had
stopped them in such a way as to keep us as dry as possible, and tried
to cheer the girl up by saying that this wasn't bad, and that it would
soon be over. In half an hour the rain ceased, and in an hour the sun
was shining again, and across the eastern heavens there was displayed a
beautiful double rainbow, and a faint trace of a third.
"That means hope," I said.
She looked at the wonderful rainbow and smiled a little half-smile.
"It doesn't mean hope," said she, "unless you can think out some way of
throwing that man off our track.
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