it had ceased for the moment, the last peal dying softly away, and
for answer to his question he had only the deep regular breathing of a
sound sleeper.

"He must have been tired," thought the boy, and creeping closer to the
cabin window he thrust out his hand to let in more air, but found the
window wide open as it could be.

"He must have found out how hot it was and done that himself," thought
Rodd, as he knelt softly upon the bulkhead to try and breathe the fresh
air; but it was hot and half suffocating, while the blackness was
intense. One moment there was a faint quivering somewhere above, and
just enough to show him the murkiness of the sea which spread out from
beneath him far away like so much blackened oil touched for a few brief
instants with streaks of gold.

"Why, there isn't a breath of air," thought Rodd, and then he started
back, dazzled by the brilliant glare of the lightning, which made him
involuntarily close his eyes and keep them shut till the terrific crash
of thunder, which seemed to burst exactly over his head, had gone
rolling away as if its echoes were composed of gigantic cannon balls
passing slowly down metallic tunnels right away into space.

"That was a startler," said the boy to himself. "How awful, but how
grand! It's rather hard to think that the danger's in the lightning,
and that there is nothing in the thunder to hurt."

Then once more all was black silence above and below, and all beyond the
cabin window seemed to be solid.

"I never saw a storm like this at home," thought the boy. "Uncle can
sleep!"

There was another brilliant flash, but this time Rodd felt prepared and
did not shrink. He only knelt, gazing out of the stern window,
impressed by the grandeur of that which he had seen.

Behind him he felt that everything in the cabin had been as light as
day, but away from him all around he had looked upon a vivid picture, a
gloriously wondrous cloudscape stretching far above and reflected far
beneath in the smooth, oily, gently heaving sea--a grand vision of
mountains of blue and gold and purple, which quivered before his eyes
for a few moments in such vivid intensity that his eyeballs ached; then
all was black again for a few moments, and then came the deep-toned roar
as of hundreds of distant mighty cannons; not a sudden, sharp, metallic
crash as in the last instance, but a deep murmurous intonation which
made the woodwork of the schooner tremble.

Rodd felt no fe