y, referring to the boat, "she's safe."

"_Voila! vite_!" shouted Marcelle, our volatile son of Vulcan, as the
first big drops of rain descended on him.

He sprang towards the sheltering tree with wild activity. So, indeed,
did we all, but the rain was too quick for us. Down it came with the
suddenness and fury of a shower-bath, and most of us were nearly
drenched before we reached our pine. There was a good deal of shouting
and laughter at first, but the tremendous forces of nature that had been
let loose were too overwhelming to permit of continued levity. In a few
minutes the ground near our tree became seamed with little glancing
rivulets, while the rain continued to descend like straight heavy rods
of crystal which beat on the earth with a dull persistent roar. Ere
long the saturated soil refused to drink in the superabundance, and the
crystal rods, descending into innumerable pools, changed the roar into
the plash of many waters.

We stood close together for some time, gazing at this scene in silent
solemnity, when a few trickling streams began to fall upon us, showing
that our leafy canopy, thick though it was, could not protect us
altogether from such a downpour.

"We'd better rig up one of the oiled-cloths, and get under it," I
suggested.

"Do so," said our chief.

Scarcely had he spoken when a flash of lightning, brighter than any that
had gone before, revealed to us the fact that the distant part of the
hitherto placid lake was seething with foam.

"A squall! Look out!" shouted Lumley, grasping the oiled-cloth we were
about to spread.

Every one shouted and seized hold of something under the strong
conviction that action of some sort was necessary to avert danger. But
all our voices were silenced in a dreadful roar of thunder which, as
Donald Bane afterwards remarked, seemed to split the universe from stem
to stern. This was instantly followed by a powerful whirlwind which
caught our oiled-cloth, tore it out of our hands, and whisked it up into
the tree-tops, where it stuck fast and flapped furiously, while some of
our party were thrown down, and others seemed blown away altogether as
they ran into the thick bush for shelter.

For myself, without any definite intentions, and scarce knowing what I
was about, I seized and clung to the branches of a small tree with the
tenacity of a drowning man--unable to open my eyes while sticks and
leaves, huge limbs of trees and deluges of water flew madl