"The Day of the Cyclone"

• Originally published in Scribner's Magazine, III, (March 1888), 156-73. Reprinted in Otto the Knight (1891).
• Sent to William Carey with this note (reprinted on p. 111 in McMichael): "I send you here the Cyclone Story which I spoke of a long time since, but have been too busy to write. I went to Grinnell, when over the track of the Cyclone interviewed eye witnesses and got the Grinnell papers of the time. . ." (Alice French to William Carey, May 18, 1887, Century Collection, New York Public Library). The actual cyclone happened in 1882, five years prior. McMichael notes on p. 110 that the letter is significant because it shows the lengths she went to in order to create a realistic story.
• McMichael also discusses how C. T. Copeland of The Atlantic Monthly criticized the stories in Otto as "poor examples of the short story form" (McMichael, p. 126): "Whatever time of day it is with Octave Thanet, and whether she says the sun is shining or the moon, the light is too often supplied by the footlights. In 'The Day of the Cyclone' . . . the thunder sounds tinny, and the elements themselves are enlisted as dramatis personae. A soberer method, less of an effort after brilliancy in dialogue at the expense of nature, and a lighter touch where pathos is the thing touched would commend her undoubted gifts more highly to the judicious." (Reprinted from "The Short Story," Atlantic Monthly, LXIX (February 1892), p. 265)

Basic summary: Romance story; Rachel Meadowes and Archy (Captain Barris) are in love. Archy shows up to meet her father who disapproves of him because he drinks alcohol and they have opposing political views. After dinner Rachel tells Archy they can't marry. In his sadness, he leaves and decides to go to his rented room and write her a letter. The weather blows up a cyclone just as he sees the figure of Rachel ahead of him. He rushes to her and shields her body against a tree, begging her to hold on.

When the storm passes, Archy realizes it was not Rachel but her young stepmother who is the same shape and size as his beloved. He sees her home and when Meadowes sees she is safe, Archy admits he thought he was saving Rachel. His truthfulness wins the man over, and  Meadowes finds him suitable to marry his daughter, even if he does drink a little.

Discussion of temperance, Puritans, John Brown (Meadowes admires him so that he names one of his sons Ossawatomie). Even though both men admire Brown, Meadowes finds him faultless while Barris feels he made mistakes at Harper's Ferry (the death of innocent civilians). So, they weren't completely opposites on issues like abolition.