"Nonsense; I'll have to take you the rest of the way on my back."
So, in the old-fashioned way by which children were carried pick-a-back, her arms and legs tight around him to leave his hands free to help him climb, he scrambled up to the shelf with his burden. It took some time to get her there, and the labor was tremendous. Although there was a strange chill in the air, sweat bedewed his brow.
"It was wonderful," said the girl. "I didn't know you were so strong. No man on the island could have done that."
"Well, we shall be safe here," said Beekman. "Look yonder."
They were directly opposite the entrance. As he pointed seaward the black clouds on the horizon were torn by flashes of lightning. There was a deep sigh of wind in the air, and the next moment, with a terrific roar, the strange and terrible storm broke. Truda shrank closer to the man. She was still sufficiently a child of nature to be awed by this display of its terrible force.
"It's worse than I thought it would be," said Beekman.
They were still more or less sheltered from the wind, and conversation was not yet difficult.
"I must go down again."
"Why?"
"I forgot Hano."