ht, don't forget it. And say, not a
drop leaked in on us through that bad part in the roof. Shows what a
little common-sense can do for things, don't it?"

"All I can say," remarked Phil, from over the fire, "is that I'm sorry
for any one who might be unlucky enough as to get caught in that
howler. If they missed being struck by lightning, they ran a big chance
of getting crushed under a falling tree."

"Yes," added Ethan, "and at the best they'd be soaked through and
through. It's no fun to feel that way all night. You start to shivering,
and then like as not your teeth rattle together like you've heard the
minstrel end-man shake his bones when he sings. I've had a little
experience, and I know what I'm talking about."

The man in the lower bunk had been listening to all this conversation.
Phil noticed he seemed to have an additional line across his forehead.
Perhaps the storm had also kept him awake. Possibly he had often thought
of how uncomfortable it would be for any one he happened to know, who
might have been caught in the open woods by the howling gale.

They were eating breakfast some time later, when the man from his bunk,
since he preferred to lie there while so many were around the small
cabin, called out to Phil. He had long since recognized the patent fact
that the Bradley boy was a leader of his set; and that the other three
only too gladly looked up to Phil, not on account of his being
independent with regard to means, but because he had the attributes of
leadership in his person.

"Do you think the storm has slackened for good, Phil, or will it come
back again for another siege? It seems to me the wind has changed, and
is blowing much more evenly."

"When I took that look out just a bit ago," Phil told him, "I noticed
several pretty good signs that seemed to tell we had got to the wind-up.
It wouldn't surprise me, because these hard storms are not the ones that
last for days. We could go out now, if we didn't mind getting wet from
the dripping of the trees."

The man had something on his mind, Phil saw. During the night he must
have been thinking deeply. Perhaps conscience was gripping him more than
ever, and the coming of that fearful storm had been the "last straw on
the camel's back."

"I hate to ask any further favors of you, Phil," he finally said, with
an effort, "but a great fear has taken hold of me during the night. With
every fresh howl of the wind I seemed to hear a cry for help! It