The air was thick; the sense of calamity more convincing.
Going outdoors, Mrs. Burton looked up at the sky. The funnel-shaped, yellowish white cloud was coming closer, but not so close as the extraordinary pillar of sand. Then she saw Mr. Simpson and ran forward to meet him.
“Get the girls out of their tents quickly, or the tents will be down upon them.”
There was a great bell fastened to a post near one of the tents for use in emergencies, but Mrs. Burton could not have reached it in time. However, before she got there it had begun ringing and the girls had run quickly out in response.
Some instinct must have taught them the proper thing to do, for, in an instant, they had dropped flat down on the ground. There was no place nearby to take refuge—no cavern in the rocks—only the flat surface of the mesa.
It is extraordinary how few people show nervousness or cowardice in the face of unexpected danger.
Now, of the little Camp Fire party, none of whom knew anything before of the perils of an Arizona storm, and entirely unprotected as they were, only Gerry Williams and Marie were frightened.
When Gerry came out of her tent she was clad only in a thin little wrapper. As soon as she looked up at the sky and heard the muffled roar of the oncoming storm, which in a strange way seemed only to increase the stillness nearer by, quite senselessly she started running—running alone along the top of the mesa as if she meant to plunge over for safety.
Sally Ashton, who had followed nearest her, made no effort to stop her. Indeed, Sally flew straight to her sister Alice’s arms and they quietly lay down beside each other, covering their faces with their hands. For it is an odd thing how many differences members of a family may have and yet, in a moment of peril, they are reunited, deserting many an affection which had seemed a stronger tie than blood.
But, fortunately for Gerry Williams, Vera had seen her loss of judgment. Vera it was who had aroused soon after Polly had left her tent and, guessing at once what was about to take place, had rung the bell. For Vera had the gift for sudden, quick action without waiting for advice.