Soon they were driven into their huts, for
the rain turned into a kind of waterspout. Never had such rain been
known in Sisa-Land.
All that afternoon it poured, and all the night with ever-increasing
violence; yes, and all the following morning, so that by noon
Thomas's rain-gauge showed that over twelve inches had fallen in about
twenty-four hours, and it was still raining. Water rushed down from the
koppie; even their well-built house could not keep out the wet, and, to
the despair of Dorcas, several of the rooms were flooded and some of
the new furniture was spoiled. The river beneath had become a raging
torrent, and was rising every hour. Already it was over its banks, and
the water had got into the huts of the Chief's kraal and the village
round it, so that their occupants were obliged to seek safety upon the
lower rocks of the koppie, where they sat shivering in the wet.
Night came at last, and through the darkness they heard cries as of
people in distress. The long hours wore away till dawn, a melancholy
dawn, for still it rained, though more lightly now, and no sun could be
seen.
"Father," cried Tabitha, who, clad in oilskins, had gone a little way
down the road, "come here and look.
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