ry, and Cummings said
sharply as he pressed nearer the front of the fortification:

"Now we need all the eyes in the party. Keep a sharp watch, and fire at
the first moving thing you see."

On this occasion thunder and lightning accompanied the wind and rain,
and by the glare of the flashes it was possible to see as if at
noon-day.

Never before had the boys witnessed such a terrible tempest. The entire
heavens seemed ablaze at times, and the peals which echoed and re-echoed
from one point to another appeared to shake the mountain.

The wind was so powerful that even Poyor could not stand against it, and
Cummings said in a tone of deepest disappointment:

"Unless we choose to venture into the valley again flight is out of the
question. We must stay here and take what the Indians care to give us
when the storm clears away."

He had hardly ceased speaking when a flash of lightning nearly blinded
them; the earth shook most decidedly before the thunder peal came, and
then it was as if all nature was in convulsion.

The rocks forming the fortification were precipitated down the mountain;
the little party were hurled violently forward, and then intense
darkness and the most profound silence ensued.

Teddy reached out his hand to touch Neal; but the latter was not near
him.

"Neal! Neal!" he shouted again and again, and several moments elapsed
before he heard, as if far away, an answering cry.

"Where are you, Teddy?"

"Here, on the side of the hill. Come this way."

"I can't. I'm nearly buried in the sand."

From the direction of the voice Teddy knew his friend had been thrown
quite a distance down the hill, and he cried:

"Keep on shouting so I can find you."

"Don't move! Wait for another flash of lightning!"

It was Cummings who had spoken, and an instant later Jake was heard
begging for help.

[Illustration: The little party were hurled violently forward, and then
intense darkness ensued.]

"All the rocks of the fort must be on top of me. Will somebody help pull
them away."

The rain was yet falling in torrents: but the electrical disturbance had
ceased entirely.

That something terrible had occurred all knew; but what it was no one
could say.

When Jake implored some one to aid him the second time, Poyor cried:

"Let each remain motionless. I will find the engineer. The earth has
opened here, and I am on the brink of a chasm."

This order was obeyed, and the boys knew by the sound of the In