Spain. The house
was built of stone, half in ruins, and was surrounded by a poor little
farm. Before going to bed the father had looked out of the door to see
that all was safe for the night. Spain is a country where little rain
falls, because armies long ago destroyed the forests covering mountain
slopes, in time of war. Now the traveller sees these hills as bare
rocks, with deserted towns on their sides, and the beds of rivers become
heaps of dry stones for the majority of the year, parched with summer
drought. In the city of Alicante two years sometimes pass without a drop
of rain falling. The season of the year (1879) was very different. In
the late summer and autumn fearful storms of thunder and lightning burst
over several provinces usually so dusty and arid; persistent rains
followed, until the channels of the rivers became filled with rushing
torrents from the heights where springs have their source. The waters of
the Guadalquivir rose five meters in a few days.

The baby's father looked out of the door on a valley flooded by one of
these swollen rivers which had overflowed its banks, and felt safe, as
his home was perched on a slope, and the village, with its church,
convent, and steep streets of old houses, was between the farm and the
stream. Then he had gone to rest, and sleep soon settled on the
household. The night was dark, and no sound was to be heard except the
drip of the rain or the rustling murmur of the distant river.

At two o'clock in the morning the church bell pealed wildly. "Quick!
Danger is at hand, good people; save yourselves!" the bell seemed to
say, and its vibrating note rang out on the awful darkness, chilling all
hearts with sudden fear.

Stupid with sleep, the baby's father rose. Water was trickling along the
floor of the chamber; outside was a deep sound of roaring waves, the
crashing of trees, and the fall of buildings, mingled with the clang of
the bell and the cries of human beings. Nothing could be more terrible.
An embankment had given way, and the river, which already had spread
over the lowlands, now deluged the village, sweeping away many houses,
and surrounding the poor little farm, where the baby slumbered
peacefully in his cradle. Already the cottage swayed and shook on its
foundations. The mother awoke, and wept. She had no time to snatch the
baby in her arms, for the father opened the door, and lifted the cradle
near it. He returned for his wife; and just then a wave en