CHAPTER XII

HEAVEN’S ARTILLERY

Ted’s guess was a perfectly correct one. Before they were half down the mountain side the rain began to come down in sheets.

Added to the rush of wind and water there was the bewildering addition of thunder and lightning. The thunder kept up the rolling roar as the sound bounded from mountain slope to mountain slope, and the flashes of lightning almost blinded them. The quality of it was deceptive. It revealed obstacles in the path which were imaginary most of the time, and by constant flashing made the lanterns of little or no use. Two of them had already been puffed out by the wind and the rain drops on the others caused them to sputter and hiss. It was with a sense of feeling rather than seeing their way that the boys pushed on.

“Isn’t there any place that we can duck into for shelter?” Buck shouted in Ted’s ear.

“I don’t know of any,” he replied. “This is all new country to me.”

“How about that old house?”

“We’re nowhere near it,” was the discouraging answer as Ted kept on going.

They were frantically seeking a shelter, for there was no thought in their minds that they could ever make camp with safety. They could see the fires in the camp below, now rapidly being put out by the storm. The rain had increased in violence and it gave every appearance of being a violent summer storm.

The glass on one of the lanterns cracked and broke and the wind promptly snatched out the dancing flame. But their chief help in their flight from the storm was the lightning which flashed with great brilliance. Although it created illusions it served as a guide and kept them from running on dangerous ground.

There was a severe crack of thunder, a dazzling flash of electrical fire hard on its heels, and a big tree near them seemed outlined for an instant in quivering fire. The monarch of the forest split in two, and one portion came down with a rush and a roar that bewildered them.

“That was close!” yelled Drummer, as they came to an abrupt halt.

“We have got to get under some kind of a cover,” cried Ted, peering around him. “If we don’t we may have a tree down on top of us!”

“Let’s try that rock over there,” Buck pointed out, and they dashed in the direction of the somewhat vague rock which loomed off to their left. When they reached it they were grateful to find that it afforded a slight shelter at least from falling trees, though as a covering for rain it was a total failure.

The rock was small at the base and towered above their heads, mushrooming out as it went up, until the top was a flat surface which would hold all five of them without crowding, had they been in any mood to sit on the top of the big rock. But they crouched at the base of the big stone and there prepared to make the best of it, striving to keep the two good lanterns going, for in their present predicament even a little light was welcome.

“This is better than nothing at all!” declared Bob, pushing his back up as close to the rock as it would go.

“We’re safe from falling trees, anyway,” observed Charlie, as he set his useless lamp to one side and jammed his hands into his pockets.

“Not the dryest place in the world!” chuckled Ted.

The rain slanted right into their faces, causing them to avert them, and the drippings from the top of the rock spattered over them. A thin trickle oozed down the sleek sides of the big stone and made their backs more wet than ever. Their plight was not a happy or a comfortable one.

“What I wouldn’t do with a good old fire right now!” sighed Drummer, shivering slightly.

“Here, hold your hands over the top of the lantern,” directed Ted, and Drummer followed his instructions and found the warmth welcome.

“I wonder how the fellows in camp are making it?” Ted worried, as the lightning flashes grew less frequent. “Of course they have the tents, but I wonder if they knew enough to loosen up on the tent ropes so as to take the strain off of the pegs? I won’t be surprised if we get back and find that half of the pegs have been pulled out of the ground!”

“How does that work, Ted?” Bob asked, with interest.

“Why, when a storm is coming up a camper must loosen up on his tent ropes, because when the canvas gets wet it pulls pretty strongly on the ropes, and if they haven’t been attended to they pull right out of the ground. If that business hasn’t been done I’ll have only myself to blame, for I neglected to tell you all about it. Never gave it a thought, though I should have at the time we dug the trenches around the tents.”

“It is a mighty good thing that we did dig the trenches,” put in Buck, all crouched in a heap. “Those fellows would be good and wet by this time if we hadn’t.”

“I don’t doubt but what they are right now,” said Ted, seriously. “With a fall of rain like this those trenches couldn’t possibly carry off all of the water. I think that we’ll all have to do some drying out when we get the fires started again and get back to normal!”

“The lightning is letting up, but listen to that thunder!” remarked Buck. “That’s heaven’s artillery for fair!”

A full and weary hour dragged by while they remained there in the shelter of the big rock waiting for the storm to cease. The lightning had moved on across the mountain and the thunder was about to follow. The rolls of the pealing concussions now came to them in a more muffled state and the rain was beginning to thin out though it did not cease to fall. They had hopes of making a break when the thunder and lightning had passed away.

“We won’t stay here just for the sake of the rain,” said Ted. “We couldn’t possibly get any wetter than we are, so as soon as we are sure that there will be no more lightning we’ll make a dash for it.”

“Better be careful of your dashes,” warned Buck. “The ground has become very slippery and we’ll have to watch our steps.”

“We’ll keep our eyes wide open,” promised Ted. “I guess we can go now.”

The five wet and stiff boys stood up straight, stretching their aching muscles. After the game of the evening, the chase over the mountains, and the thorough wetting, all of them felt worn out and stiff. It was with genuine pleasure that they looked forward to the return to the camp, for the exercise alone.

“It isn’t going to do us much good to get to camp,” said Drummer. “There won’t be any wood to start a fire with.”

“This storm has taught me a big lesson,” said Ted. “Hereafter we’ll have a shelter for a pile of dry wood, for just such an emergency as this. But don’t forget, Drummer, there are warm blankets for us to wrap around us when we do get there.”

“That is so,” the other realized, brightening. “That will help a lot.”

They hurried away from the big rock and made their way to the best of their belief toward their camp. They had not gone very far, however, before Bob cried out in dismay.

“My lantern is going out! Guess all the oil is burned up.”

With a flutter his light went out, leaving them with but one good lantern among them. For a moment they were at a loss, for the mountains were very dark and slippery and if the last light went out their case would not be a happy one.

“Well, we still have one left and there must be a little oil in the other lanterns,” said Ted. “We’ll push along with the one light and if that goes out we’ll refill my lantern with the oil from the others.”

They continued on their way for some time, moving in the general direction of the camp. The ground was indeed muddy and treacherous and they were compelled to watch every footstep. As they rounded a point on the mountain Buck paused and pointed to a light below them.

“Hello, we have certainly wandered off of our course, all right! There is the cabin of that unsociable fellow that the farmer told us about.”

They looked down into the slight valley to the cabin before them, noting with some envy the lighted windows, speculating on the warmth and cheer which was inside. The light in the cabin was a good one and the square panes of glass released broad floods of yellow illumination. As they looked the door opened and a tall man came to the door looking out.

“Duck the lantern!” whispered Buck, and Ted dropped it behind a bunch of bushes.

The man looked up at the sky, apparently wishing to see if the storm had passed over. He was much as the farmer had described him and he was dressed in an odd costume for a backwoods cabin, for he had on a soft white shirt and white flannel trousers.

“My, my, what a nice looking pioneer he is!” muttered Buck as the man retired.

“Buck, do you know what I think?” asked Ted, slowly.

“What?”

“I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if that man is the one who has been annoying us in our camp!”

There was a moment of silence and the boys all looked at Ted. “What makes you think so?” Buck asked.

“You remember what that farmer told us about the very unfriendliness of the man? I wouldn’t be surprised if he just resented our camping anywhere near him and he tried to chase us away.”

“You think he is the man we chased, with the lantern, tonight?”

“I don’t know. Anyway, he had time to get back to his cabin and change his clothes. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to find that he is the one. But come on, we won’t get anywhere by just standing around here.”

They continued on their way to camp, talking over Ted’s theory, and the more that they talked of it the more plausible it seemed. They felt that they had made an important discovery.

“Maybe he has tired of his effort to scare us away,” said Buck.

“I hope so. We’re not going, anyway.”

“Hurrah, there is the camp!” cried Charlie, as they reached the bottom of the slope and started across the basin towards the tents.

Ted was in the lead and he quickened his steps, looking ahead into the darkness. There was a sound of scrambling and jumping which he could not understand and the spot looked curiously empty.

“Why, the tents are all down!” he exclaimed, running forward.