"Oh, Tom, it's nothing to joke about!"
"That is true, Nellie."
"Say, I ton't vont no more oxcitements like dot!" cried Hans. "I vos schared out of mine vits alretty, ain't it!"
"We were all scared," said Fred. "But hadn't we better get inside again? We are all getting wet to the skin."
"The cabin is in an awful mess," declared Dora, and she told the truth. Daylight was streaming through a hole in one corner and the rain was entering in a stream.
"Let us get a tarpaulin and cover that hole," said Dick. "I'll do it," he added. "I can't get any wetter than I am," and he gave a short laugh.
"And I'll help," said Tom, who had recovered rapidly from his involuntary bath.
"We shall need a carpenter to make repairs," said Captain Starr, who had been working to shove off the fallen tree. "This smash-up is a pretty bad one."
The boys remained outside, and all went to work to remove the tree trunk and to cover the hole with a heavy tarpaulin. It was a task lasting the best part of an hour, and when it had come to an end, the rain was slackening up.
"We shall certainly have to lay up somewhere for repairs," said Fred.
"We can't continue the journey in this condition."