“Don’t see anybody,” answered Fred, and shoved the door still farther back. Then he plunged into the cabin and one after another the others followed.
If the outside of the place looked dilapidated, the inside was just as bad if not worse. The floor was thick with dirt and so were the walls, and in the upper part a number of birds circled around wildly in an endeavor to get out by way of several small openings.
“Not much of a place to stay in, but a whole lot better than nothing,” was the way Gif expressed himself.
“Perhaps we’ll have to stay here all night,” remarked Jack, as he shook the water from his cap.
“I hope no tree comes down and hits this place,” remarked Randy. “A good big tree could knock this cabin as flat as a pancake and leave us under the ruins.”
“You’re a cheerful bird, I don’t think,” answered Spouter. “Just the same, I don’t think there is any danger of a tree hitting the cabin. All the big ones around here have been cut off and the second growth doesn’t amount to much.”
The boys stacked their outfits in the middle of the floor where only a few drops of rain could get at them and then stood by the broken-out window and the doorway looking at the storm. Fortunately the rain was driving from the rear of the place, and as this seemed to be more or less tight only a small quantity of water came into the cabin.
“I’d hate to stay in such a rank place as this all night,” said Fred, as the downpour continued, punctuated every now and then by flashes of lightning and cracks of thunder. “But what are we going to do if this storm keeps up?”
“Oh, it may stop before night comes on,” answered Jack. “Anyway, we’re simply out for sport, so we might as well make the best of what comes,” and he smiled grimly.