proached that of a cyclone. They had been in storms at sea, and a
gale was no new thing to them, but this surpassed anything of the kind
they had ever seen.

"I'm mighty glad we weren't caught out in this," shouted Bert into the
ears of Tom and Dick. "I never thought it _could_ rain so."

And his astonishment was shared by his friends. "Rain" hardly seemed an
adequate word to describe the torrents that poured down. The sky seemed
fairly to open, and the rain descended in solid sheets. The ranchmen took
it all calmly, however, and loafed lazily in their bunks, smoking pipes
and gazing contemplatively up at the roof. Weather conditions they had
learned to take as a matter of course, as all men do who earn a living in
the open, and they accepted philosophically what Dame Nature meted out to
them.

The fury of the storm continued unabated for perhaps half an hour, and
then began to slacken perceptibly. The wind still tore at the rude
building and the rain continued to fall heavily, but with less of their
former violence. The rattle of the rain on the roof grew less deafening,
and it became possible to make one's self heard without being under the
necessity of shouting.

"I reckon the worst of it's over," remarked Sandy, after a time; "but
this here rain ain't goin' to stop fer an hour or more, and I vote that
to while away the ted-ium of this here interval some one o' you
shorthorns tells us a yarn. You're all good liars, and yuh ought to be
able to make somethin' up if yuh can't rec-lect nothin' thet really
happened."

"Ef it comes t' that," exclaimed Chip in a resentful tone, "what's the
matter with you goin' ahead and turnin' the trick. There ain't nobody
here that knows better'n you how to keep the recordin' angel workin'
double shifts."

There was a laugh at this, but when it subsided Sandy had his answer
ready: "It ain't a question o' lyin' with me," he explained. "I've been
in so many scrapes that only a man of extraordinary intelligence and
iron nerve like myself could 'a' pulled out of, that there ain't no call
for me to make up nothin'."

"That stuff sounds all right as long as you're sayin' it," said Chip
skeptically; "but jest to prove it, supposin' you take the bit in your
teeth an' spiel off one o' these here adventures o' yourn."

"Well, mebbe I will," replied Sandy thoughtfully, "mebbe I will." He
paused reflectively a few moments while he filled and lighted his pipe.
The rain still beat steadily a