Blacker, denser, and darker, on they came. Far away the sound of the
storm could be heard, while now the forked lightnings and peals of
thunder were almost incessant.

Crouching under the shelter was our party. Mr Ross and the three boys
were in the centre, while the stalwart Indians took the outside
positions, each man with a grip of iron upon the poles and canvas.

Very strange and very different were the sensations of the boys. "This
is glorious!" said Alec, who had often, with his Highland friends, been
caught in storms amid the hills of his beloved Scotland.

"Wait until it is over," said the other boys, "and then we will tell you
whether it is `glorious' or not."

"Hold on!" shouted Mr Ross. For, in almost an instant, a dark as like
as midnight was on them, broken only by a vivid flash of lightning,
while the very ground seemed to shake under the awful thunder. Then the
storm in all its fury was upon them. How they escaped seemed a miracle.
Great trees all around them were bent and twisted and broken, and went
down in scores, until the air seemed full of the falling trunks and
branches. Large branches fell upon the frail roof under which they were
sheltered, but fortunately, while some holes were made, none of them
were large enough to break through or injure them, and those that did
fall on them were really a benefit, as they helped to hold down the
canvas over them.

Fortunately these tornadoes are not of long duration. With a speed of
perhaps over a hundred miles an hour they sweep along with irresistible
power in their wild career.

Their fury is soon spent, and years may pass ere they occur again. As a
very heavy fall of rain immediately followed this hurricane or tornado,
our party were obliged to remain under their frail tent, which, in spite
of the fury of the winds, thanks to the strong arms of the Indians,
skillfully directed by Mustagan, had been kept from being blown away.
However, some of the larger branches that had fallen upon it had pierced
the roof in some places, and now, like out of a huge funnel, about a
gallon of water suddenly struck Alec on the back of the neck, and caused
him to change his position, while he fairly howled from the suddenness
of the dousing.

"Is that sousing `glorious,' Alec?" asked Frank, who was doing his best
to dodge the little streams that through some other rents were trying to
reach him.

"Well, no, not exactly," was Alec's answer;--"this beats an