The Lady Suffolk Era 43 



sulkies; and soon after the start the storm burst 

 upon us with a fury that I have never since 

 seen equalled. The wind blew a hurricane, and 

 the pelting rain fell in torrents, as though the 

 sluices of the skies had opened all at once. 

 Nothing could have overpowered the mighty 

 rush of the wind and the furious splash of the 

 rain but the dread, tremendous rattle of the 

 thunder. It seemed to be discharged right over 

 our heads, and only a few yards above us. 

 Nothing could have penetrated the thick, pro- 

 found gloom of that darkness but the painful 

 blue blaze of the forked lightning. I could see 

 in the short intervals between the flashes the 

 faintest trace of the horse before me ; and then, 

 in a twinkling of an eye, as though the darkness 

 was torn away by the hand of the Almighty, 

 the whole course, the surrounding country, to 

 the minutest distant thing, would be revealed. 

 The spires of the churches and houses of New- 

 ark, eight miles off, we could see more plainly 

 than in broad daylight; and you noticed that 

 as the horses faced the howling elements their 

 ears lay back flat upon their necks. Between 

 these flashes of piercing, all-pervading light and 

 the succeeding claps of thunder the suspense 



