still locked in a close embrace, were rescued from the jaws of the
devouring element, and restored to a state of life more painful to
contemplate than the prospect of ending existence in each others' arms,
even at the stake.

But He who had interposed to save them, was now speaking through the storm
in a voice which made the guilty Durant tremble with conscious-smitten
fear. Flash followed flash in quick succession, and the jarring thunder,
loud and terrible, broke, peal after peal, on the ear! Then the howling
wind, like ten thousand furies, came crashing and roaring through the
forest, bearing whole trees on its driving wings, while others bent low
before the blasting swoop of its leveling might!

Cowering like a condemned criminal, the dark-deeded villain crept toward a
shelter, dragging with him his captives. Suddenly a dazzling flood of
light, blinding and bewildering, enveloped the whole party, and, at the
same instant, an earth-shaking, sky-rending burst of sound stunned them all
to prostration. It was some seconds before any one recovered. Then Hamilton
arose and lifted Ellen also. On looking around, they perceived a large oak
had been riven by the descending bolt at a short distance from them. A
splinter from the tree had struck Durant on the breast and temple, and he
lay bleeding and senseless upon the earth, but whether dead or alive, none
could tell, as they had no time to certainly determine the point at such a
moment. Hastily gathering him up, Ramsey and two of the Indians carried him
to the cave, where they were all glad to congregate themselves during the
continuance of the frightful tornado.

Once sheltered, Walter and Ellen gazed out upon the raging tempest in
bewildered amazement, not unmixed with awe. Never had they beheld the
elements so fearfully agitated as now! Blacker than midnight were the
pall-like clouds that "hung the heavens." Loud as thunder was the roaring
of the wind. Incessantly the vivid lightnings blazed forth in blinding
flashes; while above all the mingled commotion of the storm strife, the
bursting thunders boomed. Like feathers in the breeze, great limbs of trees
were wrenched from their places, and whirled, and twirled, and borne away.
The tough oaks were twisted from their stems, or pulled up by the roots,
while the smaller trees were snapped off like brittle reeds.

"Terribly grand!" said Hamilton to his companion.

"A fearful display of God's power!" responded Ellen.

"A