shield them from the coming storm. And now a solemn peal of thunder
seemed to roll along over their heads. They had begun to fly, but the
tender Imogen was terrified at the unexpected crash, and sunk, almost
breathless, into the arms of Edwin. In the mean time, the lightnings
seemed to fill the heavens with their shining flame. The claps of
thunder grew louder and more frequent. They reverberated from rock to
rock, and from hill to hill. If at any time, for a transitory interval,
the tremendous echoes died away upon the ear, it was filled with the
hollow roaring of the winds, and the boisterous dashing of the distant
waves. At length the pealing rain descended. It seemed as if all the
waters of heaven were exhausted upon their naked heads. The anxious and
afflicted Edwin took his beauteous and insensible companion in his arms,
and flew across the plain.

But at this instant, a more extraordinary and terrifying object
engrossed his attention. An oak, the monarch of the plain, towards which
he bent his rapid course, was suddenly struck with the bolt of heaven,
and blasted in his sight. Its large and spreading branches were
withered; its leaves shrunk up and faded. In the very trunk a gaping and
tremendous rift appeared. At the same moment two huge and craggy cliffs
burst from the surrounding rocks, to which they had grown for ages, and
tumbling with a hideous noise, trundled along the plain.

At length a third spectacle, more horrible than the rest, presented
itself to the affrighted eyes of Edwin. He saw a figure, larger than the
human, that walked among the clouds, and piloted the storm. Its
appearance was dreadful, and its shape, loose and undistinguishable,
seemed to be blended with the encircling darkness. From its coutenance
gleamed a barbarous smile, ten times more terrific than the frown of any
other being. Triumph, inhuman triumph, glistened in its eye, and, with