CHAPTER XVII
THE LANDSLIDE
"Whether that's so or not," said the trembling Horace, "I feel thatI've learned a lesson. I own up that I'm terribly afraid of lightning;but after this I'm going to face it, even if I have to lie out in thestorm, rather than take chances."
It became difficult to carry on any sort of conversation, what with allthe racket around them. The wind blew, the rain fell in sheets, and thethunder boomed so continuously that one deep-toned roll hardly diedaway before there would come another crash that made everybody start.
Still they were a thankful lot of boys as they lay under the ledges andcounted the minutes creep past.
"We've managed to keep our jackets tolerably dry after all," announcedJosh, at a time when there happened to be a little slackening of thegale; "and that's what everybody couldn't have done under the sameconditions."
"Well, I should say not," another scout declared; "I know lots offellows who think themselves extra smart around town, and yet put themup here and they'd either have been knocked out hiding under a treethat was struck, or else soaked through to the skin."
"It takes scouts to figure things out when the supreme test comes,"said Josh.
"Yes, _some_ scouts," added Felix, drily; as much as to tell Josh notto plume himself too highly, because this was not his bright thought.
A more terrific peal of thunder than any they had yet heard except thatone outburst, stopped their talking for a brief time.
"I really believe the old storm is coming back to try it all overagain!" cried Billy Button, in dismay.
"They often seem to do that," remarked another boy. "That has puzzledme more'n I can tell. What's the explanation, Mr. Witherspoon?"
"Well, as near as I can say," replied the scout master, "it's somethinglike this. Most storms have a regular rotary movement as well as theirforward drift. On that account a hurricane at sea has a core or center,where there is almost a dead clam."
"Yes, I've read about that," interrupted Josh. "Sea captains alwaysmention it when they've found themselves in the worst of a big blow.It slackens up, and then comes on again worse than ever."
"But always from exactly the opposite quarter," the scout mastercontinued.
"You can see how this is, for the wind coming from the east up to thetime the core of the gale strikes them, is from the west after thecenter has passed by. We may be about to get the other side of thislittle storm now."
"Listen to it roaring, up on the mountain?" cried Horace.
"I wonder what those other fellows are doing about now?" Josh was heardto say, in a speculative way.
"Of course you mean Tony Pollock and his crowd," observed Tom. "Unlessthey've been as lucky as we were they're feeling pretty damp groundthis time. Still Tony is a shrewd fellow, and may have discovered somesort of shelter before the downpour came."
"I hope so," Horace went on to say, for he was not at all cruel bydisposition; "because I wouldn't want a dog to be out in this blow,much less boys I've known all my life, even if they have been an uglylot."
There was a short interval of violent downpour. Then all at once thestorm again slackened, and soon the rain ceased.
Horace had been whispering to Tom, and the pair of them now started tocrawl out from under the shelter.
"Where are you going, Tom?" asked Josh, wondering what the strange movemeant.
"Just mean to take a little walk over here," was the reply; "we'll beback in a few minutes. Horace is curious to see if it was the big oakthat was struck."
"I'll go along, if you don't object," said the always ready Josh.
"Me too," called out a second scout.
Accordingly several of them followed Tom and Horace out from under theledges. There were at least six in the group that hurried along towardthe spot where the splendid oak had been noticed an hour before.
They were compelled to pick their way along, for little streams ofwater flowed in almost every direction; besides, the trees wereshedding miniature Niagaras that would be very unpleasant if receivedin the back of the neck by any one passing underneath.
In this fashion they neared the place. Every boy was keenly on thelookout.
"Why, I don't see anything at all of the tree, and yet it certainlystood high above those smaller ones over there!" exclaimed Horace,presently, with a curious little quiver of awe in his voice.
Ten seconds later they had advanced far enough to pass the barrierformed by those lesser forest trees. Then the entire group of scoutscame to a sudden stop and simply stared. Horace even rubbed his eyes asif he half believed he might be dreaming.
The big oak was gone!
Where it had stood they saw a shattered trunk not more than twenty feethigh. Upon the ground in every direction lay torn and twisted limbs andsmaller branches, just as they had been violently hurled when thatterrible electric bolt struck with such amazing force.
"Whew!" gasped Josh, "there's an object lesson for you, Horace!"
"It's the same for each one of us," added Tom, gravely; "and for everyscout who ever hears of it."
"Supposing we had taken refuge under that fine old oak," suggestedFelix, with a shrug of his shoulders; "not one of us would have everknown what hit him."
"I've seen all I want to, Tom; let us go back," said Horace, who lookedrather white by now. "Besides, I think it's going to pour down againshortly."
"That's right," added another scout; "you can hear it coming overthere. Everybody scoot for the home base."
They lost no time in retracing their steps, and just managed to reachthe friendly shelter of the ledges when the rain did come down, ifanything harder than ever.
"There'll be a big boom in the river after this!" remarked Felix, whenthe rain had been falling in a deluge for ten minutes.
"I think it must be next door to what they call a cloud burst; wouldn'tyou say so, Mr. Witherspoon?" asked another boy.
"It seems like it," he was told by the scout master. "Meantime we oughtto be very thankful we're so well provided for. No danger of beingfloated away this far up on the mountain. But the rain is going to stoppresently."
"Getting softer already!" announced the watchful Josh.
"I didn't have any chance to ask you about the big oak?" Mr.Witherspoon continued.
"There isn't any," remarked Felix; "only a wreck that would make youhold your breath and rub your eyes."
"Then it was struck by that terrible bolt, was it?" asked the scoutmaster.
"Smashed, into flinders," replied Josh. "You never in all your life sawsuch a wreck, sir."
"We'll all take a glance at it before we leave this place," the leaderof the hiking troop told them. "But from the way things look there's agood chance we may think it best to put in the night right here, wherewe can be sure of a dry place for sleeping."
"That strikes me as a good idea, sir," said Tom, promptly, for he hadbeen considering proposing that very plan himself, though of course hedid not see fit to say so now.
"All I hope is that the river doesn't sweep away a part of Lenox," oneof the boys was heard to say. "You remember that years ago, before anyof us can remember, they had a bad flood, and some lives were lost."
"Oh yes, but that was in the spring," explained Josh, "when the heavysnows melted, and what with ten days of rain the ground couldn't takeup any more water. It's a whole lot different in June. Besides, we'vebeen having it pretty hot and dry lately, remember, and the earth candrink up a lot of water."
"Still, you never can tell what a flood will do," George was heard tosay; but as they all understood his way of looking at the worst side ofthings none of the other boys took much stock in his gloomypredictions.
"We must hustle to find some dry wood, so as to cook our supper, andkeep warm afterwards," Felix told them.
"Leave us alone to do that," Josh announced. "No matter how hard it hasbeen raining you can always get plenty of dry stuff out of the heartof a stump or a log. And thank goodness we brought an ax along withus."
"Sa
y, did you feel anything then?" called out one of the other boys."Seemed to me the rocks might be trembling as they did when itthundered extra loud. There it goes again! Get that, fellows?"
They certainly did, and a thrill of wonder and sudden anxiety passedover them when the trembling sensation became even more pronounced.Then they realized that a strange rumbling sound had arisen. It camefrom further up the mountain, and yet drew rapidly closer, increasingin intensity, until it began to assume the proportions of a terribleroaring, while the rocks vibrated in a sickening way.
"Oh! it must be an earthquake!" shrilled one scout, in alarm.
"Lie still, everybody!" shouted Mr. Witherspoon; "don't think ofcrawling out. It's a landslide coming down the side of the mountain!"