50 Trails to Woods and Waters 



Birds twittered uneasily and uttered their 

 cries of alarm when there was seemingly noth- 

 ing to alarm them. Some of the wild crea- 

 tures even seemed to go mad because of the 

 great thirst that had fallen upon the earth, 

 and went snapping and snarling at their fel- 

 lows. All living things seemed out of joint 

 and well they might. 



" One evening just at dusk there appeared 

 a dull red glow that grew rapidly in intensity 

 as the night wore on. Later on in the night it 

 filled the sky with a cloud that obscured the 

 stars and made the moon look like a sickly 

 streak of yellow light. 



" The next morning the sun rose in a blood 

 red sky, and there was great activity among 

 the creeping, crawling men down in the valley. 

 Teams were set to work ploughing broad fur- 

 rows about the home lots and preparing in 

 other ways to keep their homes from the red 

 demon that now mastered the eastern horizon. 



" Great clouds of smoke rolled heaven- 

 ward, obscuring the sun and casting a strange 

 unearthly light over all. 



