t fluttered down, striking the earth with a crash. It was the roof of
the barn.

All this had happened in the fraction of a second that had elapsed while
Ross was picking up the crippled lad, and by the time that he had flung
him across his shoulder, the tornado had passed over the neighbor's farm
and there was nothing left of the barn but a black bare spot. Before the
out-flung roof had struck the ground, Ross was running from the track of
the swiftly-moving destruction, with his chum on his shoulder.

The boy knew well that in ninety seconds or less, the tornado would be
upon them, and while it swayed with a malicious eagerness from one side
to the other, as though seeking for its prey, there was no doubt that it
was rushing straight at them.

Second by second, the moaning grew louder, with an uncanny sucking sound
as though the monster were licking its lips over the destruction yet to
come. The air grew more oppressive and more still.

Twenty yards from the club-house, Ross found Dan'l crouching on the
ground, quivering with fright.

"Mistah Anton, Mistah Anton," he cried, "we's all goin' to be killed!"

"Run, Dan'l!" cried Ross, as he sped past. "Run north-west! Follow us!"

White with terror, the aged negro rose and started to run, but before he
had gone two yards, his steps slowed down.

"Thar's Mammy," he said, aloud. "Ah can't leave Mammy, nohow. Thar's no
one to look after her."

He turned back with unsteady steps, hurrying towards the negro quarters,
almost facing the approaching finger that seemed to point at him as he
ran.

Ross never looked back. His terror and the terrific heat of the air
choked his breathing and he gasped as he ran.

A sudden swirl of air clutched at his feet. He stumbled and almost fell.
The crippled boy's crutch slipped to the ground. Anton slid to the earth
and a second swirl picked Ross's feet from under him and threw him to
the ground.

Then, with a roar and a confusion which stunned the senses, the Thing
struck! A legion of hands tugged at them. The earth rose up in a cloud
of dust around them.

Towards them the tornado swerved, then away, just a fraction out of its
course, and swung back again towards them. As in a dream, Ross saw the
crutch, which had slipped out of Anton's grasp, not five yards from
where they lay, move restlessly, then, touched by an unseen hand, rise
up. While two heart-beats lasted, the crutch stood still and perfectly
upright, and then flew st