Every now and then
we saw a sharp thrust of lightning down into the water, and shuddered
when we thought that perhaps underneath that stab there might be a
ship with living men. The battle at first was at such a distance
that we watched it with intense and solemn delight. As yet not a
breath of air stirred, but presently, over in the south-east, a dark
ruffled patch appeared on the horizon, and we agreed that it was time
to go. The indistinguishable continuous growl now became articulated
into distinct crashes. I had miscalculated the distance to the
station, and before we got there the rain, skirmishing in advance,
was upon us. We took shelter in a cottage for a moment in order that
Ellen might get a glass of water--bad-looking stuff it was, but she
was very thirsty--and put on her cloak. We then started again on our
way. We reached the station at about half-past six, before the
thunder was overhead, but not before Ellen had got wet, despite all
my efforts to protect her. She was also very hot from hurrying, and
yet there was nothing to be done but to sit in a kind of covered shed
till the train came up. The thunder and lightning were, however, so
tremendous, that we thought of nothing else.
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