But there were plenty of men left in Jackson county to call the mob to arms. This misfortune was no lesson to them. They rode over the county telling the men that the "Mormon" army had come and they would have to turn out to meet it. This was a welcome message, for these were the wild, lawless spirits always found on the frontier. They were used to spilling blood, and they thought themselves very bold and brave. And so they gathered at the appointed time on the bank of the Missouri, armed with dirks and pistols and guns, hoping to kill Joseph Smith and his followers and secure the plunder. CHAPTER XXI. THE TERRIBLE TEMPEST ON FISHING RIVER--VISIT OF COL. SCONCE--CHOLERA IN CAMP--JOSEPH SMITTEN--SIDNEY GILBERT'S DEATH--PROPHET VISITS ZION. Shortly before sunset on the 19th of July, 1834, two hundred armed men stood on the southern bank of the Missouri river ready to cross. Seventy armed men waited for them on the opposite shore, and sixty more, also armed, were marching from Richmond, Ray county, to meet them. Many of these were ruffians of the worst stripe; they had tied up innocent men and whipped them almost to death, they had frightened women and children out into the darkness and cold, and torn down or burned their houses. Some of them were murderers and all now had murder in their hearts. A few miles away was another band of two hundred men, just at this time pitching their tents and preparing to spend the night. These had some weapons also, but were not so heavily armed as were the others. What they had, however, were near at hand and ready for use, for an attack was expected at any moment. This was a body of God-fearing men, who had come from afar, bringing food to the hungry and clothing to those in need. They hoped also to help their brethren and sisters home to their lands in Jackson county. These men held the Priesthood of the Lord of hosts; they had come at His command; they would not have harmed an animal purposely, and certainly not a human being; but they were determined not to be robbed and killed, and they were ready to fight to the death in self-defense. If God in His wisdom had seen fit to let the mob come on, blood would have flowed like water and martyr and murderer would have died together. But He had another fate for His servants than to die there at the hands of blood-thirsty Missourians. This was the hour to show His power. He spoke to the winds and they went rushing over the whole heaven, bearing the black clouds that gathered at His call. He commanded the lightning and the rain and the hail, and they obeyed. Within a few miles of the Camp of Zion on every side, the hurricane raged. The great hail-storm beat down fields of corn and cut off branches from the trees, and the wind in many places twisted the trunks to splinters. Lightning flashed through the heaven all night long in great zigzag streaks, thunder crashed, and the earth shook.