CACTUS AND MEXICANS
They now came upon bare, wind-swept plains, which alternated with
blazing heat and bitter cold. Once they nearly perished in a Norther,
which drove down upon them with sheets of hail. Fortunately their
serapes were very thick and large, and they found additional shelter
among some ragged and mournful yucca trees. But they were much shaken by
the experience, and they rested an entire day by the banks of a shallow
little brook.
"Oh, for a horse, two horses!" said Obed. "I'd give all our castles in
Spain for two noble Barbary steeds to take us swiftly o'er the plain."
"I think we'll keep on walking," said Ned.
"At any rate, we're good walkers. We must be the very best walkers in
the world judging from the way we've footed it since we left the castle
of San Juan de Ulua."
They refilled their water bottles, despite the muddiness of the stream,
and went on for three or four days over the plain, having nothing for
scenery save the sandy ridges, the ragged yuccas, dwarfed and ugly
mesquite bushes, and the deformed cactus.
It was an ugly enough country by day, but, by night, it had a sort of
weird charm. The moonlight gave soft tints to the earth. Now and then
the wind would pick up the sand and carry it away in whirling gusts. The
wind itself had a voice that was almost human and it played many notes.
Lean and hungry wolves now appeared and howled mournfully, but were
afraid to attack that terrible creature, man.
They saw sheep herders several times, but the herders invariably
disappeared over the horizon with great speed. Neither Ned nor Obed
meant them any harm, and they would have liked to exchange a few words
with human beings.
"They think of course that we're brigands," said Obed. "It's what
anybody would take us for. Evil looks corrupt good intentions."
The next day Obed was lucky enough to shoot an antelope, and they had
fresh food. It was a fine fat buck, and they jerked and dried the
remainder of the body in the sun, taking a long rest at the same time.
Obed was continually restraining Ned's eagerness to hurry on.
"The race is to the swift if he doesn't break down," he said, "but
you've got to guard mighty well against breaking down. I think we're
going to enter a terrible long stretch of dry country, and we want our
muscles to be tough and our wind to be good."
Obed was partially right in his prediction as they passed for three days
through an absolutely sterile region. It was not sandy, however, but the
soil was hard and baked like a stone. Then they saw on their left high
but bare and desolate mountains, and soon they came to a little river of
clear water, apparently flowing down from the range. The stream was not
over twenty feet wide and two feet deep, but its appearance was
inexpressibly grateful to both. They sat down on its banks and looked at
each other.
"Ned," said Obed, "how much dust of the desert do you think I am
carrying upon me? Let your answer be without prejudice. Friendship in
this case must not stand in the way of truth."
"Do you mean by weight or by area?"
"Both."
"Answering by guess I should say about three square yards, or about
three pounds. Wouldn't you say about the same for me?"
"Just about the same. I should say, too, that we carry at least twelve
or fifteen kinds of dirt. It is well soaked in our hair and also in our
clothes, and, as we may not get another good chance for a bath in a
month, we'd better use our opportunity."
They reveled in the cool waters. They also washed out all their
clothing, including their serapes, and let the garments dry in the sun.
It was the most luxurious stop that they had made and they enjoyed it to
the full. Ned, scouting a little distance up the stream, shot a fine fat
deer among the bushes, and that night they had a feast of tender steaks.
Obed had obtained flint and steel at the Indian village, at which they
had seen the fandango, and he could light a fire with them, a most
difficult thing to do. Their fire was of dried cactus, burning rapidly,
but it lasted long enough for their cooking. After the heartiest meal
that they had eaten in a long time, they stretched out by the river,
listening to its pleasant flow. The remainder of the deer they had hung
high in the branches of a myrtle oak about forty yards away.
"We haven't got our horses," said Obed, "but we're making progress. Time
and tide will carry man with them if he's ready with his boat."
"Perhaps we've been lucky, too," said Ned, "in passing through what is
mostly a wilderness."
"That's so. The desert is a hard road, but in our case it keeps enemies
away."
They were lying on their serapes, the waters sang softly, the night was
dark but very cool and pleasant, and they were happy. But Ned suddenly
saw something that made him reach out and touch his companion.
"Look!" he whispered, pointing a finger.
They saw a dark figure creep on noiseless feet toward the tree, from a
bough of which hung their deer. It was only a shadow in the night, but
they knew that it was a cougar, drawn by the savor of the deer.
"Don't shoot," whispered Obed. "He can't get our meat, but we'll watch
him try."
They lay quite still and enjoyed the joke. The cougar sprang again and
again, making mighty exertions, but always the rich food swung just out
of his reach. Once or twice his nose nearly touched it, but the two or
three inches of gulf which he could never surmount were as much as two
or three miles. He invariably fell back snarling, and he became so
absorbed in the hopeless quest that there was no chance of his noticing
the man and boy who lay not far away.
The humor of it appealed strongly to Ned and Obed. The cougar, after so
many vain leaps, lay on the ground for a while panting. Then he ran up
the tree, and as far out on the bough as he dared. He reached delicately
with a forefoot, but he could not touch the strips of bark with which
the body was tied. Then he lay flat upon the bough and snarled again and
again.
"That's a good punishment for a rascally thief," whispered Obed. "I
don't blame him for trying to get something to eat, but it's our deer.
Let him go away and do his own hunting."
The cougar came back down the tree, but his descent was made with less
spirit than his ascent. Nevertheless he made another try at the jumping.
Ned saw, however, that he did not do as well as before. He never came
within six inches of the deer now. At last he lay flat again on the
ground and panted, staying there a full five minutes. When he got up he
made one final and futile jump, and then sneaked away, exhausted and
ashamed.
"Now, Ned," said Obed, "since the comedy is over I think we can safely
go to sleep."
"Especially as we know our deer is safe," said Ned.
Both slept soundly throughout the remainder of the night. Toward morning
the cougar came back and looked longingly at the body of the deer
hanging from the bough of the tree. He thought once or twice of leaping
for it again, but there was a shift of the wind and he caught the human
odor from the two beings who lay forty yards away. He was a large and
strong beast of prey, but this odor frightened him, and he slunk off
among the trees, not to return.
Ned and Obed stayed two days beside the little river, taking a complete
rest, bathing frequently in the fresh waters, and curing as much of the
deer as possible for their journey. Then, rather heavily loaded, they
started anew, always going northward through a sad and rough land. Now
they entered another bare and sterile region of vast extent, walking for
five days, without seeing a single trace of surface water. Had it not
been for their capacious water bottles they would have perished, and,
even with their aid, it was only by the strictest economy that they
lived. The evaporation from the heat was so great that after a mouthful
or two of water they were invariably as thirsty as ever, inside of five
minutes.
They passed from this desert into a wide, dry valley between bare
mountains, and entered a great cactus forest, one of the most wonderful
things that either of them had ever seen. The ground was almost level,
but it was hard and baked. Apparently no more rain fell here than in the
genuine desert of shifting sand, and there was not a drop of surface
water. Ned, when he first saw the mass of green, took it for a forest of
trees, such as one sees in the North, but so great was his interest that
he was not disappointed, when he saw that it was the giant cactus.
The strange forest extended many miles. The stems of the cactus rose to
a height of sixty feet or more, with a diameter often reaching two feet.
Sometimes the stems had no branches, but, in case they did, the branches
grew out at right angles from the main stem, and then curving abruptly
upward continued their growth parallel to the parent stock.
The stems of these huge plants were divided into eighteen or twenty
ribs, within which at intervals of an inch or so were buds, with
cushions, yellow and thick, from which grew six or seven large, and many
smaller spines.
Most of the cactus trees were gorgeous with flowers, ranging from a deep
rich crimson through rose and pink to a creamy white.
The green of the plants and the delicate colors of the flowers were
wonderfully soothing to the two who had come from the bare and burning
desert. There their eyes had ached with the heat and glare. They had
longed for shade as men had longed of old for the shadow of a rock in a
weary land. In truth they found little shade in the cactus forest, but
the green produced the illusion of it. They expected to find flowing or
standing water, but they went on for many miles and the soil remained
hard and baked, as it can bake only in the rainless regions of high
plateaus.
They found the forest to be fully thirty miles in length and several
miles in width. Everywhere the giant cactus predominated, and on its
eastern border they found two Indian men and several women and children
gathering the fruit, from which they made an excellent preserve. The
Indians were short in stature and very dark. All started to run when
they saw the white man and boy, both armed with rifles, approaching, but
Ned and Obed held up their hands as a sign of amity and, after some
hesitation, they stopped. They spoke a dialect which neither Ned nor
Obed could understand, but by signs they made a treaty of peace.
They slept that night by the fire of their new friends and the next day
they were fortunate enough to shoot a deer, the greater part of which
they gave to the Indians. The older of the men then guided them out of
the forest at the northern end, and indicated as nearly as he could, by
the same sign language, the course they should pursue in order to reach
Texas. They had gone too far to the west, and by coming back toward the
east they would save distance, as well as pass through a better country.
Then he gravely bade them farewell and went back to his people.
Ned and Obed now crossed a low but rugged range of mountains, and came
into good country where they were compelled to spend a large part of
their time, escaping observation. It was only the troubled state of the
people and the extreme division of sentiment among them that saved the
two from capture. But they obtained news that filled both with joy.
Fighting had occurred in Texas, but no great Mexican army had yet gone
into the north.
Becoming bold now from long immunity and trusting to their Mexican
address and knowledge of Spanish and its Mexican variants, they turned
into the main road and pursued their journey at a good pace. They were
untroubled the first day but on the second day they saw a cloud of dust
behind them.
"Sheep being driven to market," said Obed.
"I don't know," replied Ned, looking back. "That cloud of dust is at
least a mile away, but it seems to me I saw it give out a flash or two."
"What kind of a flash do you mean?"
"Bright, like silver or steel. There, see it!"
"Yes, I see it now, and I think you know what makes it, Ned."
"I should say that it is the sun striking on the steel heads of long
lances."
"So should I, and I say also that those lances are carried by Mexican
cavalrymen bound for Texas. It may not be a bad guess either that this
is the vanguard of the army of Cos. I infer from the volume of dust that
it is a considerable force."
"Therefore it is wise for us to leave the road and hide as best we can."
"Correctly spoken. The truth needs no bush. It walks without talking."
They turned aside at once, and entered a field of Indian corn, where
they hoped to pass quietly out of sight, but some of the lancers came on
very fast and noticed the dusty figures at the far edge of the field.
Many of the Mexicans were skilled and suspicious borderers, and the
haste with which the two were departing seemed suspicious to them.
Ned and Obed heard loud and repeated shouts to halt, but pretending not
to hear passed out of the field and entered a stretch of thin forest
beyond.
"We must not stop," said Obed. "Being regular soldiers they will surely
discover, if they overtake us, that we are not Mexicans, and two or
three lance thrusts would probably be the end of us. Now that we are
among these trees we'll run for it."
A shout came from the lancers in the corn field as soon as they saw the
two break into a run. Ned heard it, and he felt as the fox must feel
when the hounds give tongue. Tremors shook him, but his long and silent
mental training came to his aid. His will strengthened his body and he
and Obed ran rapidly. Nor did they run without purpose. Both
instinctively looked for the roughest part of the land and the thickest
stretches of forest. Only there could they hope to escape the lancers
who were thundering after them.
Ned more than once wished to use his rifle, but he always restrained the
impulse, and Obed glanced at him approvingly. He seemed to know what was
passing in the boy's mind.
"Our bullets would be wasted now, even if we brought down a lancer or
two," he said, "so we'll just save 'em until we're cornered--if we are.
Then they will tell. Look, here are thorn bushes! Come this way."
They ran among the bushes which reached out and took little bits of
their clothing as they passed. But they rejoiced in the fact. Horses
could never be driven into that dense, thorny growth, and they might
evade pursuers on foot. The thorn thicket did not last very long,
however. They passed out of it and came into rough ground with a general
trend upward. Both were panting now and their faces were wet with
perspiration. The breath was dry and hot and the heart constricted
painfully. They heard behind them the noise of the pursuit, spread now
over a wide area.
"If only these hills continue to rise and to rise fast," gasped Obed
White, "we may get away among the rocks and bushes."
There was a rapid tread of hoofs, and two lancers, with their long
weapons leveled, galloped straight at them. Obed leaped to one side, but
Ned, so startled that he lost command of himself, stopped and stood
still. He saw one of the men bearing down upon him, the steel of the
lance head glittering in the sunlight, and instinctively he closed his
eyes. He heard a sharp crack, something seemed to whistle before his
face, and then came a cry which he knew was the death cry of a man. He
had shut his eyes only for a moment, and when he opened them he saw the
Mexican falling to the ground, where he lay motionless across his lance.
Obed White stood near, and his rifle yet smoked. Ned instantly recovered
himself, and fired at the second lancer who, turning about, galloped
away with a wound in his shoulder.
"Come Ned," cried Obed White. "There is a time for all things, and it is
time for us to get away from here as fast as we can."
He could not be too quick for Ned, who ran swiftly, avoiding another
look at the silent and motionless figure on the ground. The riderless
horse was crashing about among the trees. From a point three or four
hundred yards behind there came the sound of much shouting. Ned thought
it to be an outburst of anger caused by the return of the wounded
lancer.
"We stung 'em a little," he panted.
"We did," said Obed White. "Remember that when you go out to slay you
may be slain. But, Ned, we must reload."
They curved about, and darting into a thick clump of bushes put fresh
charges in their rifles. Ned was trembling from excitement and
exertion, but his anger was beginning to rise. There must always come a
time when the hunted beast will turn and rend if it can. Ned had been
the hunted, now he wanted to become the hunter. Obed and he had beaten
off the first attack. There were plenty more bullets where the other two
had come from, and he was eager to use them. He peered out of the
bushes, his face red, his eyes alight, his rifle ready for instant use.
But Obed placed one hand on his shoulder:
"Gently, Ned, gently!" he said. "We can't fight an entire Mexican army,
but if we slip away to some good position we can beat off any little
band that may find us."
It was evident that the Mexicans had lost the trail, for the time being.
They were still seeking the quarry but with much noise and confusion. A
trumpet was blown as if more help were needed. Officers shouted orders
to men, and men shouted to one another. Several shots were fired,
apparently at imaginary objects in the bushes.
"While they're running about and bumping into one another we'll regain a
little of our lost breath which we'll need badly later," said Obed. "We
can watch from here, and when they begin to approach then it's up and
away again."
Those were precious minutes. The ground was not good for the lancers who
usually advanced in mass, and, after the fall of one man and the
wounding of another, the soldiers on foot were not very zealous in
searching the thickets. The breathing of the two fugitives became easy
and regular once more. The roofs of their mouths were no longer hot and
dry, and their limbs did not tremble from excessive exertion. Ned had
turned his eyes from the Mexicans and was examining the country in the
other direction.
"Obed," he said, "there's a low mountain about a mile back of us, and
it's covered with forest. If we ever reach it we can get away."
"Yes--if we reach it," said Obed, "and, Ned, we'll surely try for it.
Ah, there they come in this direction now!"
A squad of about twenty men was approaching the thicket rapidly. Ned and
Obed sprang up and made at top speed for the mountain. The soldiers
uttered a shout and began to fire. But they had only muskets and the
bullets did not reach. Ned and Obed, having rested a full ten minutes,
ran fast. They were now descending the far side of the hill and meant to
cross a slight valley that lay between it and the mountain. When they
were near the center of this valley they heard the hoofs of horsemen,
and again saw lancers galloping toward them. These horsemen had gone
around the hill, and now the hunt was in full cry again.
Ned and Obed would have been lost had not the valley been intersected a
little further on by an arroyo seven or eight feet deep and at least
fifteen feet wide. They scrambled down it, then up it and continued
their flight among the bushes, while the horsemen, compelled to stop on
the bank, uttered angry and baffled cries.
"The good luck is coming with the bad," said Obed. "The foot soldiers
will still follow. They know that we're Texans and they want us. Do you
see anybody following us now, Ned?"
"I can see the heads of about a dozen men above the bushes."
"Perhaps they are delegated to finish the work. The whole army of Cos
can't stop to hunt down two Texans, and when we get on that mountain,
Ned, we may be able to settle with these fellows on something like fair
terms."
"Let's spurt a little," said Ned.
They put on extra steam, but the Mexicans seemed to have done the same,
as presently, appearing a little nearer, they began to shout or fire.
Ned heard the bullets pattering on the bushes behind him.
"A hint to the wise is a stitch in time," said Obed White. "Those
fellows are getting too noisy. I object to raucous voices making loud
outcries, nor does the sound of bullets dropping near please me. I shall
give them a hint."
Wheeling about he fired at the nearest Mexican. His rifle was a long
range weapon and the man fell with a cry. The others hesitated and the
fugitives increased their speed. Now they were at the base of the
mountain. Now they were up the slope which was densely clothed with
trees and bushes.
Then they came to a great hollow in the stone side of the ridge, an
indentation eight or ten feet deep and as many across, while above them
the stone arched over their heads at a height of seventy or eighty feet.
"We'll just stay here," said Obed White. "You can run and you can run,
but the time comes when you can run no more. They can't get at us from
overhead, and they can't get at us from the sides. As for the front, I
think that you and I, Ned, can hold it against as many Mexicans as may
come."
"At least we'll make a mighty big try," said Ned, whose courage rose
high at the sight of their natural fort. They had their backs to the
wall, but this wall was of solid stone, and it also curved around on
either side of them. Moreover, he had a chance to regain his breath
which was once more coming in hot and painful gasps from his chest.
"Let's lie down, Ned," said Obed, "and pull up that log in front of
this."
Near them lay the stem of an oak that had fallen years before. All the
boughs had decayed and were gone, so it was not a very difficult task to
drag the log in front of them, forming a kind of bar across the alcove.
As it was fully a foot in diameter it formed an excellent fortification
behind which they lay with their rifles ready. It was indeed a miniature
fort, the best that a wilderness could furnish at a moment's notice, and
the fighting spirit of the two rose fast. If the enemy came on they were
ready to give him a welcome.
But the two heard nothing in the dense forest in front of them. The
pursuers evidently were aware of the place, in which they had taken
refuge, and knew the need of cautious approach. Mexicans do not lack
bravery, but both Obed and Ned were sure there would be a long delay.
"I think that all we've got to do for the present," said Obed, "is to
watch the woods in front of us, and see that none of them sneaks up near
enough for a good shot."
Nearly an hour passed, and they neither saw nor heard anything in the
forest. Then there was a rushing sound, a tremendous impact in front of
them and something huge bounded and bounded again among the bushes. It
was a great rock that had been rolled over the cliff above, in the hope
that it would fall upon them, but the arch of stone over their heads was
too deep. It struck fully five feet in front of them. Both were
startled, although they knew that they were safe, and involuntarily they
drew back.
"More will come," said Obed. "Just as one swallow does not make a
summer, one stone does not make a flight. Ah, there it is now!"
They heard that same rushing sound through the air, and a bowlder
weighing at least half a ton struck in front of their log. It did not
bound away like the first, but being so much heavier buried half its
weight in the earth and lay there. Obed chuckled and regarded the big
stone with an approving look.
"It's an ill stone that doesn't fall to somebody's good," he said. "That
big fellow is squarely in the path of anybody who advances to attack us,
and adds materially to our breastwork. If they'll only drop a few more
they'll make an impregnable fortification for us."
The third came as he spoke, but being a light one rolled away. The
fourth was also light, and alighting on the big one bounded back into
the alcove, striking just between Ned and Obed. It made both jump and
shiver, but they knew that it was a chance not likely to happen again in
a hundred times. The bombardment continued for a quarter of an hour
without any harm to either of the two, and then the silence came again.
Ned and Obed pushed the rock out of the alcove, leaving it in front of
them and now their niche had a formidable stone reinforcement.
"They'll be slipping up soon to look at our dead bodies," whispered
Obed, "and between you and me, Ned, I think there will be a great
surprise in Mexico to-day."
They lay almost flat and put the muzzles of their rifles across the log.
Both, used to life on the border, where the rifle was a necessity, were
fine shots and they were also keen of eye and ear. They waited for a
while which seemed interminably long to Ned, but which was not more
than a quarter of an hour, and then he heard a slight movement among the
trees somewhat to their left. He called Obed's attention to it and the
man nodded:
"I hear it, too," he whispered. "Those investigators are cautious, but
they'll have to come up in front before they can get at us, and then we
can get at them, too. We'll just be patient."
Ned was at least quiet and contained, although it was impossible to be
patient. They heard the rustling at intervals on their right, then it
changed to their front, and he saw a black head, covered with a
sombrero, peep from behind a tree. The head came a little farther,
disclosing a shoulder, and Obed White fired. They heard a yell of pain,
and a thrashing among the bushes, but the sound rapidly moved farther
and farther away.
"That fellow was stung badly," said Obed White with satisfaction, "and
he won't come back. I'm glad to see, Ned, that you held your fire,
keeping ready for any other who might come."
Ned glowed at the compliment. He had cocked his rifle, and was ready but
he remained cool, wasting no shot.
"I fancy that they now know we are here," said Obed, who loved to talk,
"and that we have not been demolished by the several tons of rock that
they have sent down from above. A shot to the wise is sufficient. Keep
down, Ned! Keep down!"
From a point sixty or seventy yards away Mexicans, lying among the trees
or in the undergrowth, suddenly opened a heavy fire upon the rocky fort.
The Mexicans were invisible but jets of smoke arose in the brush.
Bullets thudded on the log or stones, or upon the stone wall above the
two, but both Ned and Obed were sheltered well and they were not
touched. Nevertheless it was uncomfortable. The impact of the bullets
made an unpleasant sound, and there was always a chance that one of them
might angle off from the stone and strike a human target. Obed however
was cheerful.
"They're wasting good ammunition," he said. "They'll need that later on
when they attack the Texans. After all, Ned, we're serving a good
purpose when we induce the Mexicans to shoot good powder and lead here,
and not against our people."
Encouraged by the failure of the besieged to reply to their fire the
Mexicans came closer and grew somewhat incautious. Ned saw one of them
sheltered but partially by a bush and he fired. The man uttered a cry
and fell. Ned saw the bush moving and he hoped the man was not slain,
but he never knew.
The volleys from the Mexicans ceased, and silence came again in the
woods. Wisps of smoke floated here and there among the trees, but a
light wind soon caught them and carried them away. Ned and Obed, rolling
into easier positions, talked cheerfully.
"I don't think they'll try to rush us," said Obed. "The Mexicans are not
afraid to charge breastworks, but they'll hardly think we two are worth
the price they would have to pay. Perhaps they'll try to starve us out."
"And that they can't do because we have provisions for several days."
"But they don't know it. Nor do we want to stay here for several days,
Ned. Texas is calling to us, and we should be traveling northward
instead of lying under a rock besieged by Mexicans."
But they were compelled anew to make heavy drafts upon their patience.
The Mexicans kept quiet a long time. Finally a shot fired from some high
point grazed Ned's cap, and flattened against the rock behind him. The
boy involuntarily ducked against the earth. Obed also lay lower.
"Some Mexican must have climbed a tree," said the Maine man. "He's where
he can look over our fortifications and that gives him an advantage. It
also gives him a disadvantage because it will be harder for him to come
down out of that tree unaided than it was for him to go up in it. We'll
stick as close as we can under the log, until he sends in the second
shot."
They waited about ten minutes until the Mexican fired again. He was in
the boughs of a great oak about fifty yards away, and following the
flash of his weapon they saw his chest and shoulders as he leaned
forward to take aim and pull the trigger. Obed fired and the soldier
dropped to the ground. There was a noise in the underbrush, as if his
comrades were dragging him away and then the great silence came again.
As Obed reloaded he said grimly:
"I think we're done with the tree-climbers. Evil to him who evil does.
They're cured of that habit."
It was now mid-afternoon and the sun was blazing down over the cliffs
and forest. It grew very hot in the alcove. No breath of wind reached
them there, and they began to pant for air.
"I hope night will come soon," said Ned.
"It will be here before long," said Obed, "but something else will
arrive first."
"What is that?"
"Look, there to the right over the trees. See the dark spot in the sky.
Ned, my boy, a storm is coming and it is for you and me to say 'let it
come.'"
"What will it do for us?"
"Break up the siege, or at least I think so. Unless it drives directly
in our faces we will be sheltered out here, but the Mexicans will have
no such protection. And, Ned, if you will listen to one who knows, you
will understand that storms down here can be terrific."
"Then the more terrific it is the better for us."
"Just so. See, Ned, how that black spot grows! It is a cloud of quite
respectable size. Before long it will cover all the skies, and you
notice too that there is absolutely no wind."
"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.