LIGHTNING AND THUNDER 135 



had any affinity for burros. Satan was supposed 

 to be the burden bearer of the expedition. Yet 

 under a psychological test or in the field test his 

 usefulness should have been rated low and I per- 

 sonally told him that he was wholly non-essential 

 to this so-called vacation trip and to the happiness 

 of the world as well. A vigorous expenditure of 

 energy and expletive did not get us anywhere. 



One day we turned into camp during a downpour 

 of rain. We asked Satan to move a few yards 

 farther that we might unpack under the shelter of 

 a tree. But with feet outbraced at every corner, 

 two storms at once failed to move him. He pre- 

 tended to go to sleep while we removed our bedding 

 in the rain. 



Just as the last of the pack was removed, two 

 terrific lightning bolts struck close by. These 

 resounding crashes instantly put life and fear into 

 Satan. When a smashed tree-top fell near him 

 he rose on his hind legs and put his arms affection- 

 ately around me, hitting me over the eye with one 

 shod hoof. I tolerated this demonstration simply 

 because except for his firmness we would have 

 been in the shelter of the tree which the lightning 

 had hit on the head. 



Once I watched two black and broken cloud 

 strata that were piled against the horizon with a 

 misty peak of summit cloud a thousand feet or 

 more up in the sky. From this cloud peak there 

 burst out together three golden rivers of light- 



