“Right-o!” added Fred. “Here are the first drops now!” and he put out his hand to verify his words.
“Raindrops as big as quarters!” shouted Gif. “Boys, I’m afraid we’re in for a soaking unless we get under some kind of shelter.”
“Well, I’m not in favor of standing under the trees,” said Spouter. “Not if there is any lightning coming.”
He had scarcely spoken when the sky at a distance was illumined, and a few seconds later came the low rumble of thunder. Then the wind gradually increased and the rain came down steadily.
“I guess we’re in for it,” announced Jack, shaking his head dubiously. “I don’t know of a single shelter in this locality.”
“Well, then, let’s take a double one if we can’t find a single one,” answered Andy, bound to have his little joke.
“If I remember rightly, there is some sort of an old cabin down at the foot of the hill,” said Fred. “Don’t you remember it, Randy? We stopped there once when we were out nutting a couple of years ago—the time we thought we heard an aëroplane.”
“Oh, yes, Fred! I remember that,” cried his cousin quickly. “It’s right down on the left of the road at the very foot of the hill. Come on, let’s run for it before the storm gets too bad.”
All were willing to do anything to get under shelter, and they broke into a run, making their way down the hill as rapidly as their outfits permitted.
They were less than half way down the hill when a vivid flash of lightning illumined the sky, followed almost instantly by a loud crack of thunder. All of the boys dodged instinctively and a moment later heard another crash behind them.