“It is so.  The stillness is so great that I feel it.  It oppresses me.  It is hard for me to draw my breath.”

“Exactly.  I feel just the same way.  The storm is coming fast and it is going to be a big one.  The sun is entirely hidden already, and the air is growing dark.  We’ll crouch against the wall, Ned, and keep our rifles, powder and ourselves as dry as possible.  There goes the thunder, growling away, and here’s the lightning!  Whew, but that made me jump!”

An intense flash of lightning burned across the sky, and showed the forest and hills for one blazing moment.  Then the darkness closed in, thick and black.  The two, wrapped closely in their serapes, crouched against the stone wall and watched the storm gather in its full majesty and terror.

CHAPTER XI

THE LONG CHASE

Ned, despite his brave heart and strong will, felt a deep awe.  Storms on the great uplands of North America often present aspects which are sublime and menacing to the last degree.  The thunder which had been growling before now crashed continually like batteries of great guns, and the lightning flashed so fast that there was a rapid alternation of dazzling glare and impervious blackness.  Once, the lightning struck in the forest near them with a terrible, rending crash, and trees went down.  Far down in the gorges they heard the fierce howl of the wind.

Ned shrank closer and closer against the rocky wall, and, now and then, he veiled his eyes with one hand.  If one were to judge by eye and ear alone it would seem that the world was coming to an end.  Cast away in the wilderness, he was truly thankful for the human companionship of the man, Obed White, and it is likely that the man, Obed White, was just as thankful for the companionship of the boy, Edward Fulton.

All thought of another attack by the Mexicans passed for the present.  They knew that the besiegers themselves would be awed, and would flee for refuge, particularly from the trees falling before the strokes of lightning.  It was at least two miles to any such point of safety, and Ned and Obed saw a coming opportunity.  Both lightning and thunder ceased so abruptly that it was uncanny.  The sudden stillness was heavy and oppressive, and after the continued flare of the lightning, the darkness was so nearly impenetrable that they could not see ten yards in front of them.

Then the rain came in a tremendous cataract, but it came from the south, while they faced the north.  Hence it drove over and past their alcove and they remained dry.  But it poured so hard and with such a sweep and roar that Obed was forced to shout when he said to Ned: 

“I’ve never been to Niagara and of course I’ve never been behind the falls there but this must be like it.  The luck has certainly turned in our favor, Ned.  The Mexicans could never stand it out there without shelter.”