or his
brother's breathing, to tell whether he had been struck by lightning or
not. But it kept thundering so that sometimes he could not hear. Then
Frank would shake him till the boy gave a sort of snort, and that proved
that he was still alive; or he would put his ear to his brother's breast,
and listen whether his heart was beating.

It always was, and by-and-by the rain began to fall. It fell in perfect
sheets, and the noise it made could be heard through the thunder. But
Frank had always heard that after it began to rain, a thunder-storm was
not so dangerous, and the air got fresher. Still, it blazed and bellowed
away, he could never tell how long, and it seemed to him that he must have
felt a thousand times for Mr. Bushell's money, and tried a thousand times
to find whether his brother had been struck by lightning or not. Once or
twice he thought he would call for help; but he did not think he could
make anybody hear, and he was too much ashamed to do it, anyway.

Between the times of feeling for the money and seeing whether his brother
was alive, he thought about his mother: how frightened she would be if she
knew what had happened to him and his brother, after they left her. And he
thought of his father: how troubled he must be at their not getting home.
It seemed to him that he must be to blame, somehow, but he could not
understand how, exactly; and he could not think of any way to help it.

He wondered if the storm was as bad on the river and in the Boy's Town,
and whether the lightning would strike the boat or the house; the house
had a lightning-rod, but the boat could not have one, of course. He felt
pretty safe about his father and the older-younger brother who had been
left at home with him; but he was not sure about his mother and sisters,
and he tried to imagine what people did on a steamboat in a thunder-storm.

After a long time had passed, and he thought it must be getting near
morning, he lay down again beside his brother, and fell into such a heavy
sleep that he did not wake till it was broad day, and the sun was making
as much blaze in the curtainless tavern-room as the lightning had made.
The storm was over, and everything was as peaceful as if there had never
been any such thing as a storm in the world. The first thing he did was to
make a grab for his pocket. The money was still there, and his brother
sleeping as soundly as ever.

After breakfast, the livery-stable man came with the carriage