Page:Pontoppidan - Emanuel, or Children of the Soil (1896).djvu/299

 not a drop of rain fell. There was a scorched, sulphurous smell everywhere, and as the air was not cooled by rain, it became so heated that every flash could be felt, almost burning the cheek. On the opposite shore of the Fiord a farm was seen to be in flames, and the piping of the fire-alarm could plainly be heard in the still air.

Just as the storm seemed to be blowing over, a few large, heavy drops of rain fell here and there, like stars on the dusty roads. The people began to come out of their houses, and were standing about on the steps, when heaven and earth were shaken by a clap of thunder so violent, that several persons were thrown down from the shock. Simultaneously the rain broke out. It rattled against the windows like peas, and splashed the dust up on to the walls.

It was still raining in torrents in the middle of the next day, and the sky was just as black and heavy.

Towards evening Emanuel was sitting in the prow of a boat, in the middle of the Fiord, rowed by the carpenter. He was only protected by a thin greatcoat and a horsecloth which he had thrown over his head. He was soaked to the skin, but he hardly noticed it ; he was much too full of all he had seen in the last few days.

He was returning from Sandinge, where he had gone the morning after the bishop's visit, with the High School director. By this means