“But——-”
The thunder roared again. A light patter on the leaves and ground announced the first drops of the storm.
“Which tree was it you saw smoking?” asked the young fellow.
Nan looked around to find the tall, broken-topped tree. A murmur that had been rising in the distance suddenly grew to a sweeping roar. The trees bent before the blast. Particles of sawdust stung their faces. The horses snorted and sprang ahead. Tom had difficulty in quieting them.
Then the tempest swooped upon them in earnest.
Chapter XXVI. BUFFETED BY THE ELEMENTS
Nan knew she had never seen it rain so hard before. The falling water was like a drop-curtain, swept across the stage of the open tract of sawdust. In a few minutes they were saturated to the skin. Nan could not have been any wetter if she had gone in swimming.
“Oh!” she gasped into Tom's ear. “It is the deluge!”
“Never was, but one rain 't didn't clear up yet,” he returned, with difficulty, for his big body was sheltering Nan in part, and he was facing the blast.