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In the mud at the roadside was a single footprint the print of a man's shoe. Then on the rock wall on the right-hand side of the road, and close to the footprint, was fresh mud. On hands and knees Hiram climbed up the rocky slope, and at the top found mud again. Buckthorn bushes grew close by. Some one had brushed against them recently, for the raindrops had been shaken from the leaves.
But when he held his tiny lantern close, Thumbkins could see that she shivered as the cold raindrops splashed upon her back. So Thumbkins ran to the woods where he knew the mushrooms grew, and breaking off the largest one he could find he carried it to where Mamma Meadow-Lark sat sleeping upon her nest, and planted it so the raindrops rolled off the round roof and did not touch her at all.
Their trim boots prattled as they stood on the steps of the colonnade, talking quietly and gaily, glancing at the clouds, holding their umbrellas at cunning angles against the few last raindrops, closing them again, holding their skirts demurely. And if he had judged her harshly?
"No," said Henry Ware, a fine smile passing over his boyish face. "We beat them off, and we're just resting and waiting. Only Paul is seriously hurt, and so far we've been afraid to move him." Shif'less Sol, Jim Hart, and Tom Ross rose, too, and shook the raindrops from their clothes. "We didn't have good shelter here," said Shif'less Sol, "but I think the rain and its coolness have helped Paul."
At the one spot where this torrent tossed its white mane highest, and thundered loudest, and lashed the big boulders fiercest, the canton had done itself the honor to build the flimsiest wooden bridge that exists in the world. While we were walking over it, along with a party of horsemen, I noticed that even the larger raindrops made it shake.
A silence ensues, save that the young fellow goes on snorting and fidgeting, and the raindrops continue to fall with the same reluctance, the same indolence, as ever. Then once more the woman's voice is heard through the pattering. "Perhaps," says the voice, "you have guessed that I am seeking a husband? Yes, I AM seeking one a good, steady muzhik." "But I am NOT a good, steady muzhik."
Then the Raindrops and Sunbeams smiled at each other, and danced more merrily, for they knew what good work they were doing to the great brown house where the flowers dwell. The tap, tap, of the Raindrops wake them up, and when they raised their sleepy heads and felt the warm kisses of the Sunbeams, they were glad and began to grow.
I am not thinking of those great inland seas, which have many of the features and much of the danger that belong to the ocean, but of those 'ponds, as our countrymen used to call them until they were rechristened by summer visitors; beautiful sheets of water from a hundred to a few thousand acres in extent, scattered like raindrops over the map of our Northern sovereignties.
While the Captain of the Archangels was wrenching his pony round, Hughes struck with all his strength, and next instant Kittiwynk was away, Corks following close behind her, their little feet pattering like raindrops on glass. "Pull out to the left," said Kittiwynk between her teeth; "it's coming your way, Corks!"
Over the exquisite landscape drooped a beautiful rainbow. Soon blood had replaced the raindrops, and the bright bow spanning the sky was hidden by lurid smoke, streaming aloft from burning buildings, set on fire by shell. I give but a few words to this first struggle, which I did not witness. The Federal forces rushed forward, exclaiming: "We have come to stay!"
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