CHAPTER X
GIANT AND THE MASKALONGE
The wind was making such a noise that little more could be said, and as the tornado increased all of the boys threw themselves on the ground, between a number of low bushes close to the lake shore. The rain was coming down in veritable sheets and the water was running into the lake in hundreds of rivulets.
"There goes something!" screamed Giant, as he caught sight of an object whirling over their heads. "Looked like a sail."
"It was the boat canvas," answered Whopper. "Maybe the boat will go next. Say, I'd just as lief be at home in my own little bed, eh?"
"Don't mention it," replied Giant, with a sigh.
For fully an hour the wind tore around them in a manner that alarmed the young hunters in the extreme. They could do nothing to save either themselves or their stores, and wondered what the morning would bring forth. More than one imagined that that was the last of the outing and they would have to return home.
But by daybreak the storm let up and the wind gradually died down to nothing but a gentle breeze. At eight o'clock the sun broke from under the scattering clouds and then all heaved a long sigh of relief.
"I never want to put in such a night again," said Shep. "I was afraid every minute was going to be my last."
"This storm undoubtedly did a great deal of damage," said Snap.
"I shouldn't wonder if—-oh, look at the top of yonder tree.
What is that?"