midnight
Hastily gathering him up , Ramsey and two of the Indians carried him to the cave , where they were all glad to congregate themselves during the continuance of the frightful tornado . Once sheltered , Walter and Ellen gazed out upon the raging tempest in bewildered amazement , not unmixed with awe . Never had they beheld the elements so fearfully agitated as now ! Blacker than midnight were the pall-like clouds that `` hung the heavens . '' Loud as thunder was the roaring of the wind . Incessantly the vivid lightnings blazed forth in blinding flashes ; while above all the mingled commotion of the storm strife , the bursting thunders boomed . Like feathers in the breeze , great limbs of trees were wrenched from their places , and whirled , and twirled , and borne away .