they were talking about the
powder, the tent suddenly blew down, upsetting the boys as it fell, and
burying them under the wet canvas.

"Lie still, fellows," said Tom, as the other boys tried to wriggle out
from under the tent. "We've got to get wet now, anyway; but perhaps, if
we stay as we are, we can manage to keep the blankets dry."

The wet tent felt miserably cold as it clung to their heads and
shoulders, but the boys kept under it, and held their blankets and spare
shirts wrapped tightly in their arms. Luckily the storm was nearly at an
end when the tent blew down, and a few moments later the rain ceased,
and the crew of the _Whitewing_, in a very damp condition, crept out and
congratulated themselves that they had escaped with no worse injury than
a wet skin.

"Where are the rubber blankets?" asked Harry.

"Rolled up with the other blankets," answered everybody.

"It won't do to tell when we get home," remarked Harry, "that instead of
using the water-proof blankets to keep ourselves dry, we used ourselves
to keep the water-proofs dry. It's the most stupid thing we've done yet;
and I'm as bad as anybody else."

"It was a good deal worse to pitch a tent without digging a trench
around it," said Tom. "If I'd dug a trench two inches deep just back of
that tent, not a drop of water would have run into it."

"And I don't think much of the plan of using only four pins to hold a
tent down when a hurricane is coming on," said Joe.

"And I think the least said by a fellow who carries two pounds of powder
in his pocket in a thunder-storm, the better," added Jim.

It took some time to bail the water out of the boat, for the rain and
the spray from the river had half filled it. But the shower had cooled
the air, and the boys were glad to be at work again after their
confinement in the tent. They were soon ready to start; and rowing
easily and steadily, they passed through the Highlands, and reached a
nice camping spot, on the east bank of the river below Poughkeepsie,
before half past five.

This time they selected a place to pitch the tent with great care. It
was easy to find the high-water mark on the shore, and the tent was
pitched a little above it, so as to be safe from a disaster like that of
the previous night. Harry wanted it pitched on the top of a high bank;
but the others insisted that, as long as they were safe from the tide,
there was no need of putting the tent a long distance from the water,
and th