was unusually hot, even for the
month of June. As the hours advanced, a sultry and slumbrous silence
filled the air, which quivered with the heat. Clouds began to collect
in the northwest, and to roll up higher and higher towards the zenith,
in immense waves, which darkened momently, until half the heavens
seemed covered with a pall. The lightning began to play more
frequently over the surging blackness, and the mutterings of the
thunder became every instant louder. Ohquamehud was not altogether
unaware of the approaching storm, but, engaged in the solemn rite, the
appearances of the clouds had not attracted as much of his attention
as otherwise they would have done. At the instant he threw the tobacco
into the fire, the blackness of the clouds was intensest, and a grim
silence, as if nature were waiting in anxious expectation of some
grand event, brooded over the earth interrupted only by the shout of
the cataract; then, a thunderbolt blazed almost in the eyes of the
Indian, followed, instantly, by a crash, as if the solid rocks were
splintered into fragments, and by a torrent of rain, pouring, not
in drops, but, in one continuous flood. For a few moments, the rain
continued falling violently, then gradually slackened and ceased. The
lightning glittered less frequently; the threatenings of the thunder
became less distinct, and the clouds rolled up their dark standards
and dispersed, disappearing in the depths of the unfathomable sky.

The Indian, meanwhile, remained immovable, staring at the fire in
which the rain hissed as it fell. Thus, like a statue, he stood, until
the storm had rolled away; then, recovering from his stupefaction, he
turned, despondingly, from the heap of ashes. His offering, then, had
been rejected. The Manito either could not or would not assist him.
Onontio bore a charmed life. He was a great medicine, beyond the power
of his vengeance. Ohquamehud, with a frown upon his brow, dark as the
folds of the departing clouds, strode several steps from the rock,
when, turning, as if struck by a sudden thought, he commenced
searching in the ashes. The surface, of course, was soaked; but, as
he penetrated deeper, they were drier, and at the bottom he found
unextinguished coals. He carefully searched round, to discover if
any portion of the tobacco was unconsumed, but could find none. The
offering had not, then, been rejected. The Manito had accepted it.
It was not he who sent the storm. Perhaps, some other