about ten
o'clock
Experienced farmers feared either prolonged rain during the harvest or hail before long . One day the storm came . The morning had been hot and sultry , the birds did not sing , the pigs refused to eat and hid in the shade behind the farmbuildings ; the wind rose and fell , it blew now hot and dry , now cool and damp . By about ten o'clock a large part of the sky was lined with heavy clouds , shading from ashen-grey into iron-colour and perfect black ; at times this sooty mass , seeking an outlet upon the earth , burst asunder , revealing a sinister light through the crevices . Then again the clouds lowered themselves and drowned the tops of the forest trees in mists . But a hot wind soon drove them upwards again and tore strips off them , so that they hung ragged over the fields . Suddenly a fiery cloud appeared behind the village church ; it seemed to be flying at full speed along the railway embankment , driven by the west wind ; at the same time the north wind sprang up and buffeted it from the side ; dust flew up from the highroads and sandhills , and the clouds began to growl .