on 



Shortly before five o'clock the clouds had 

 begun to pile up in the east, and their gigantic 

 forms, flowing outlines, and glorious lighting 

 were the only things that caused the electrical 

 effects to be forgotten even momentarily. The 

 clouds formed into a long, solid, rounded range 

 that rose to great height and was miles in length. 

 The southern end of this range was in the haze, 

 and I could not make out its outline further 

 south than a point about opposite Loveland, 

 Colorado, nor could I see the northern end be- 

 yond a few miles north of Cheyenne, where it was 

 cut off by a dozen strata of low clouds that moved 

 steadily at a right angle to the east. Sixty miles 

 of length was visible. Its height, like that of the 

 real mountains which it paralleled, diminished 

 toward the north. The place of greatest altitude 

 was about twenty-five miles distant from me. 

 From my location, the clouds presented a long 

 and smoothly terraced slope, the top of which 

 was at least five thousand feet and may have 

 been fifteen thousand feet above me. The clouds 

 seemed compact; at times they surged up wards ; 

 then they would settle with a long, undulating 



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