Moving cautiously forward, he succeeded in crossing a stream of water; a short distance beyond was an old, broken-down fence. The glimpse which the lightning gave him of this, the work of man, sent a thrill of joy to his desponding heart.
He anxiously watched for the electric lamp to reveal the place of habitation. Now and then a large drop of rain fell, and presently a fearful blaze of lightning illuminated the whole heavens, followed by a clap of thunder that seemed to shake the earth to its very foundation! The rain was now descending upon the distant hill. Aroused to a full sense of his danger, he commended his soul to God, expecting to be crushed beneath the falling timber, which could plainly be heard above the roar of the elements.
As we all shrink from imminent danger, he instinctively looked around for some protection. Near by, in a clump of trees, he espied, when it again lightened, something like a roof. What a thrill of joy entered his heart! Groping his way forward, he found a little hut with door wide open as if to welcome him; he needed no invitation, but rushed in, for the storm was bursting upon him.
All within was dark and silent save a rustling in one corner and the flitting of a bat overhead. The chilly dampness which pervaded the room, and the musty smell that came up from the floor, made the first impression far from agreeable. The roof leaked and the windows were gone. In one corner he found a dry spot; here he nestled down, awaiting the fury of the descending storm.
The elements were now raging with irresistible power. The very earth seemed to tremble under the contending forces that were hurling destruction all around. Part of the shattered roof came down, the trees were torn up by the roots and the cabin was almost lifted from its foundation.
Happily the winds hurled the rain against the corner in which he had taken refuge, and the logs, chinking and daubing that remained, arrested the water, so that the place which he occupied was comparatively dry, whilst all the rest of the inside was deluged with the dashing rain.
Musing for a time upon his lonely condition and his prospects for the future, he fell asleep, and did not awake until it was quite day. He arose, and kneeling down in that deserted cabin, he brought all his sorrows before God, and asked in great humility for His guidance and protection.
The storm had passed, and the sun rose in a serene and cloudless sky. After his communion with God, he came out of his retreat to view his surroundings.
The ground was literally covered with pools of standing water, fallen timber and fragments of vegetation. The cabin in which he had slept had been long since deserted, and the place looked mournfully desolate, wild and forsaken.
As the lowlands were now full of standing water, and the creek so high that to return by the way he came was impossible, he took up his satchel and staff, and proceeded westward in search of a settlement.