louder the growl of
the thunder, and great hail-stones pattered on their heads before they
gained the cabin; none too soon, for in another moment the cloud broke,
and the air was full of a dizzy whirl of sleet and rain.

Others besides themselves had been surprised in the ravine, and every few
minutes another and another wet figure would come flying down the path, so
that the little refuge was soon full. The storm lasted half an hour, then
it scattered as rapidly as it had come, the sun broke out brilliantly, and
the drive home would have been delightful if it had not been for the sad
fact that Mrs. Watson had left her parasol in the carriage, and it had
been wet, and somewhat stained by the india-rubber blanket which had been
thrown over it for protection. Her lamentations were pathetic.

"Jane Phillips gave it to me,--she was a Sampson, you know,--and I
thought ever so much of it. It was at Hovey's--We were there together, and
I admired it; and she said, 'Mrs. Watson, you must let me--' Six dollars
was the price of it. That's a good deal for a parasol, you know, unless
it's really a nice one; but Hovey's things are always--I had the handle
shortened a little just before I came away, too, so that it would go into
my trunk; it had to be mended anyhow, so that it seemed a good--Dear,
dear! and now it's spoiled! What a pity I left it in the carriage! I shall
know better another time, but this climate is so different. It never rains
in this way at home. It takes a little while about it, and gives notice;
and we say that there's going to be a northeaster, or that it looks like a
thunder-storm, and we put on our second-best clothes or we stay at home.
It's a great deal nicer, I think."

"I am so sorry," said kind little Mrs. Hope. "Our storms out here do come
up very suddenly. I wish I had noticed that you had left your parasol.
Well, Clover, you've had a chance now to see the doctor's beautiful
Colorado hail and thunder to perfection. How do you like them?"

"I like everything in Colorado, I believe," replied Clover, laughing. "I
won't even except the hail."

"She's the girl for this part of the world," cried Dr. Hope, approvingly.
"She'd make a first-rate pioneer. We'll keep her out here, Mary, and never
let her go home. She was born to live at the West."

"Was I? It seems queer then that I should have been born to live in
Burnet."

"Oh, we'll change all that."

"I'm sure I don't see how."

"There are ways and m