In sheer desperation, Charlton took the right-hand road, not doubting that he could at least find shelter for the night in some settler's shanty.

The storm was one not to be imagined by those who have not seen its like, not to be described by any one.

The quick succession of flashes of lightning, the sudden, sharp, unendurable explosions, before, behind, and on either side, shook the nerves of Charlton and drove little Katy frantic.

For an hour they traveled through the drenching rain, their eyes blinded every minute by lightning; for an hour they expected continually that the next thunder-bolt would smite them.

All round them, on that treeless prairie, the lightning seemed to fall, and with every new blaze they held their breath for fear of sudden death.