“I guess most of us would,” nodded Buck. “But everything is against us. How would you like to snuggle down under that canvas right now?”
“Ugh, not while it is as wet as it is!” cried Drummer. “I’d rather stand up around the fire all night!”
“Is everything soaked, blankets, sweaters and everything?” Ted asked.
“Yes,” replied Buck. “As soon as the canvas fell on the stuff it all got soaked, at least in the tents where the poles went down. I don’t know about the other two.”
Some of the boys rummaged under the canvas and found that blankets were damp and not too wet to put on, and immediately they returned with blankets over their shoulders. Others had not been so lucky and they crowded close to the fire. As morning came on another group went out and hunted for wood, bringing back a large supply. The fire had been effective but not perfect, and the smoke had chased them from side to side of the fireplace.
It was the first really disagreeable camp experience that these boys from the club had ever had and some were plainly discouraged by it while others enjoyed the novelty and adventure of it. The conversation by the fire became more cheerful and soon jokes and laughter took the place of brooding silence. The five who had trailed the man with the lantern told their experiences and those who had remained in camp told theirs.
“We were just standing around watching your lights when the storm was first heard,” related Plum. “We hoped you’d come down right away, but you didn’t and then the old storm hit and we dug for the tents. We sat in there pretty dry except for some water that came in around the bottom of the tent and then all of a sudden there was a little blow and the tent I was in came down! Seemed like the canvas on one side just collapsed, the back pole seemed to come down in a hurry and I guess we knocked the rest down when we tried to get out from under. The rest was the same as we was, scrambling out of tents and looking for somewhere to go, when we thought of the truck and climbed in there.”
“I knew that it blew pretty hard when we were up there under the rock,” remarked Ted. “But I didn’t know that it blew hard enough to blow down the tents.”
“The wind must have been stronger down here than it was up there,” suggested Bob.
“That is hardly possible, because the wind always blows harder on a higher level than in a basin, such as this spot is. I can see how a wind would blow down one tent but it seems funny that it should blow down four of them. However, I guess it must have just swooped down in a sudden gust and done the job.”