“Righto!” Gale agreed immediately.
They set off swiftly, going through the thick growth of trees as a short cut to the opposite shore where they had left the motor boat. Progress was impeded somewhat by the brush and trees which were abundantly thick. In the midst of the woods there was an ear-splitting clap of thunder. A flash of flame and one of the giants of the forest tottered.
Bruce snatched Gale out of danger and they hovered trembling while the tree crashed safely to one side of them, its branches sweeping leaves and brush from its neighbors.
“That was close!” Bruce whistled expressively. “We’ve got to run for it, Gale.” He took her hand in his and they ran forward. “The island is no place to be caught in a thunderstorm—there are too many trees.”
They reached the shore just as the rain started coming down in torrents. They ran along the beach to where the motor boat had been.
“Gone!” Gale gasped.
The placid waters of the bay were now tossing waves stirred with the storm and current from the ocean. The motor boat had been drawn from the shore and was now afloat far out of reach.
“What’ll we do?” Gale wanted to know. “We can’t stay here. Suppose we use the canoe to get to shore.”
“We wouldn’t make it,” Bruce declared instantly. “The canoe would be capsized before we were half way across.”
Behind them trees creaked as they were bent in the force of the wind. The boy and girl were nearly swept from their feet as a sudden gust of wind and rain drenched them.