CHAPTER XIII. THE BOLT OF LIGHTNING.
In the midst of such a confusion of dreadful sounds, and knowing that inanother minute or so they would be overtaken by the storm, it was littlewonder that Thad's heart seemed to feel a cold clutch when Step Hen burstout with that announcement.
What if Giraffe had broken a leg in taking this tumble? He was that tall,and possessed such "spindle legs," as the boys always called them, thatthey often joked him on the probability of his cracking a bone when heslid to second base.
And it was in dreadful fear, then, that the scoutmaster halted, to turnhastily around.
To his satisfaction he saw that Giraffe, helped by Step Hen, was alreadyscrambling to his feet, although limping some.
"All right, Giraffe?" called out Thad.
"On deck; go ahead!" came the cheery reply.
And shutting his teeth hard together, Giraffe managed to once more starton a run after his chief, though his bruised leg must have hurt himconsiderably.
They were now turning the side of the rocky elevation. And just as Thadhad said, it seemed to be made up of little ledges, one above the other.This was not a mere guess on Thad's part, for he had noticed the samepeculiar formation in connection with several other outcroppings they hadpassed, these being off-shoots of the foothills at the base of the RockyMountains.
And so, again did that policy of observation, "noticing things" promiseto prove of great assistance to the fugitive scouts when chased by thestorm. It often does, and the boy who keeps his eyes about him under anyand all circumstances, is the one who reaps the profit. There is never anemergency arises but he is ready with some remedy to meet it.
When they saw these friendly ledges the other boys realized that for thetime being their troubles were about at an end.
There would be plenty of chances for them to find shelter here. Thad didnot accept of the very first refuge that offered, because he knew therewas still a little more time at their disposal, and he had an idea theywould presently come upon a ledge capable of covering them all.
It turned out just as he figured.
When the four crept under the outcropping shelf of rock, they found thatthey had no longer any need to fear the violence of the gale.
The lightning could not well reach them here, the wind was powerless todo them any harm; there were no threatening trees to topple over upontheir heads; and as for the rain, it would sweep past, and leave themperfectly dry.
No wonder then, that Step Hen, in the sudden change of his feelings fromdark despair to complete satisfaction, gave vent to a scout whoop; whileGiraffe, equally pleased, uttered several fox barks, that being thedistinguishing signal of the patrol, by which members would recognizeeach other if approaching in the dark.
"This is something like!" cried Step Hen, in between the thunder claps.
"As comfy as if we were at home," added Giraffe, who was sitting there,gingerly rubbing his bruised shin.
A tremendous crash made further talk just then out of the question. Andit seemed as though that thunder clap might have been the signal that thestage was all set, and the war of the elements could begin.
The wind started in with a furious rush that snapped off several treesnot far away from where the four scouts huddled under their shelter.These came crashing down, as though loudly protesting against theiruntimely fate. But the sound of their fall was really swallowed up in allthe other mad noises that marked the first rush of the summer storm.
How the wind did whistle through the tops of the trees, that bent beforeits fury, together with the downpour of rain. The ones that could provemost humble, and bow their proud heads, best, were those that came out ofthe turmoil with the least damage. The trees could adapt themselves tocircumstances, the scouts saw; and surely there was another lesson forthem all in that.
After a furious rush, the storm slackened up a little, as thoughgathering force for a fresh outburst, perhaps more strenuous than before.
But this little breathing spell afforded the boys a chance to exchange afew remarks, since it is at all times a difficult task to keep theirtongues from wagging.
"That was a swift one, all right!" Giraffe burst out with.
"Did you ever hear such thunder?" said Allan.
"And the lightning--oh! my stars! it just made me blink, and shiver everytime it flashed," declared Step Hen.
"Well, the worst is yet to come!" announced Thad, seriously.
"He's joking," cried out Step Hen.
"No, I'm not," the scoutmaster went on. "I've always noticed that when astorm lets up like this, it generally hits harder the next spell. Andyou'll find out, if you wait a minute, for it's coming again."
"But we're all right here, ain't we?" asked Giraffe.
"Sure," replied the other, "unless it turns around."
"Turns around!" ejaculated Step Hen. "D'ye mean to say that old windcould take a kink in itself, and come back on us?"
"It often happens during a storm. In the beginning it may beat down onyou from the east, and finish up in the southwest. But I guess the secondhalf of this one is coming out of the same quarter as the first."
"Good for that!" exclaimed Step Hen. "We're all so cozy under here, I'dhate to have the wind drive that wet rain in on us. There she comes,boys. Whew! say, listen to that, would you? I hope that thunder don'tstart the rocks to rolling down this slope."
"No danger of that," called out Thad, for with the return of the furiousbombardment talking was becoming more difficult.
Just as the scout leader had said it, it really did look as though thissecond half of the storm promised to be more violent than the one thathad gone booming along its way. It seemed to the boys that some of thethunder claps would split their ear drums, so powerful did they appear.
The rain again fell in torrents, too. They could hear it rushingfuriously down the side of the little rocky hill. Several spouts shotover the outcropping ledge that served as their roof; but despite it all,none of them so much as had a sprinkle fall upon him.
Never had the wisdom and sagacity of the scoutmaster been more amplyproven than right then. And doubtless each of the other three boys musthave been secretly saying as much, as they crouched there, gazing inspeechless wonder and awe at the curious freaks shown by the zigzagforked lightning, every time it came down from the black vault above, orplayed tag among the piled up masses of clouds that were slowlyretreating.
Apparently the worst was over.
Even then doubtless there was a break in the van of the storm clouds.Furious though the tempest had been, it was to prove of short duration.But while it lasted Thad reckoned that it was about as tropical in itsnature as any he had ever encountered.
"Glad it's going!" called out Giraffe.
"It never will be missed," sang Step Hen, feeling particularly joyousover the fact that after all they had come through it all unscathed.
"The rain's stopped, that's sure," Giraffe asserted.
"And that means the danger's over. We can go out now, when we please,"Step Hen remarked, making a movement as if to rise.
"Hold on, I wouldn't do that yet," exclaimed Thad.
"Why not?" asked Step Hen, but at the same time falling back.
"There's a lot of dangerous electricity in the air still," said Thad."You can see that the reports after each flash are as quick and powerfulas if a twelve-inch gun on a battleship were being fired. Every boltstrikes just after a storm has passed. Lots of people say the back actionis the most dangerous time of all."
"Oh! all right, Thad. Guess I'll stay awhile longer. No need of a fellertakin' more chances than he has to," and Step Hen settled down again; forif there was any danger of being struck by lightning, no one would findhim careless.
"But this is the end, ain't it, Thad?" asked Giraffe, still rubbing athis leg.
"I reckon it is," replied the patrol leader.
"Wonder how our fellers in camp stood the racket. Hope the tents didn'tget blown away,
" Step Hen remarked.
"And Bumpus, I reckon he'll be put to his wit's ends to know what to doat such a time as this," but Thad noticed that when he said it, Giraffereally betrayed an undercurrent of respect in his manner.
Bumpus was no longer a complete ignoramus; Bumpus had raised himselfwonderfully in the estimation of his chums.
Just then there was an unusually brilliant flash. The thunder seemed toreally accompany it, showing that the bolt struck near at hand.
"Wow! that hit something, as sure as you live!" exclaimed Giraffe.
"Thought I heard branches crashing down, and I reckon it must have been atree," remarked Step Hen, who had given a nervous jump at the brilliantand dazzling illumination.
"It _did_ shatter a tree, and over in the very place we came from, too.To tell you the truth, fellows, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if it wasthat same big tree that had so splendid a hollow in its butt."
Step Hen turned very white when he heard Thad say this, and a painfulsilence fell upon the little group of scouts under the friendly ledge.