CHAP. X.] A Furious Storm. 1S. 
had scarcely got his things put in order, and the ant-boxes 
deposited in his coat-pocket, when down came the deluge. 
None but those who have been under the influence of hill- 
rains can have any idea of their tremendous force. It is 
like the downpour of a cataract. The rain falls in sheets, 
in waves, almost solid. Nothing but the stiffest. weather- 
proof can keep the water out. 
Edward’s first thought was shelter! But where could he 
find it? Not a house was to be seen; nota wall, not a tree, 
not a bush. He could not find even a hole in a sand-bank. 
There was nothing that he could see around him but a 
dreary, bleak, wide-spread moor. Nevertheless, he set off, 
running as fast as he could, in the hope of at length reach- 
‘ing some friendly haven. After having run a long time 
amidst thunder and lightning, through water, moss, and 
heather, he stopped for a moment to consider where he 
was running. There was still no sign of a house, or hut, 
or shealing. The place where he stood was crossed by nu- 
merous paths, but he knew just as much of the one path as 
he did about the other. The country round him was one 
wide expanse of moor-land. There was nothing before him 
but moor, moor, moor! He saw no object that could serve 
to guide him. He merely saw the outlines of the nearest 
hills faintly visible through the watery haze; but he did 
not recognize them. He began to feel himself lost on a 
lonesome moor. 
He was now at his wits’ end. Having been for some 
time without food, he was becoming faint. And yet he 
could not remain where he was. He again began to run. 
The sky was now almost as black as night, and the sheets 
of rain were falling as heavily as before. Only the vivid 
flashes of lightning enabled him to trace the direction in 
which he was going. He plunged into bog after bog, ex- 
tricated himself, and then ran for life. Sometimes he came 
to a likely track and followed it; but it led to nothing— 
only to a succession of tracks which led off in various di- 
