Page:Old ninety-nine's cave.djvu/41

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had fled from their homes along the canal, thankful to escape with their lives. The roar was tremendous! Gurgling mountain brooks had been converted into rivers which rushed madly down to mingle their waters with the seething flood below.

The De Veres stood on a point of rock which projected out from their grounds. It was still raining, but from under their umbrellas they looked sadly on the work of destruction yet in progress. So absorbed were they that the approach of two gentlemen on horseback was unheeded until the elder of the two shouted, "Hello, there!"

They all turned quickly and at Mr. De Vere's invitation Mr. Andrew Genung, followed by a young man, dismounted at the gate and joined them.

Andrew Genung was not generally liked. By many he was considered an aristocratic bigot. He never forgave an injury, nor forgot a kindness. A stern, uncompromising man, his life was governed by certain fixed rules of conduct which, in his estimation,