"Is that all? Why, it is hardly worth mentioning. And you did give me a start, to be sure. I'm glad we finished our supper before those clouds took to leaking."
It seemed a trifling thing just then; but in the end it was freighted with momentous happenings connected with the fortunes of those two young pioneers of the Ohio.
Presently the rain was coming down hard, so that the two lads were only too glad to crawl under the shelter that had been built.
In less than an hour Sandy was bemoaning the fact that he had not, while he was about it, made the wattled roofing twice as thick, as it would have shed the rain to better advantage.
That was certainly a night they would not soon forget; and of course it was Sandy who complained the most, for Bob could take his punishment in grim silence, Indian fashion.
"When morning comes, we must try to get home!" declared the younger pioneer, as he crouched there and shivered.
"We are so wet now that nothing could make us feel any worse," declared Bob. "I am going to try to weave a heavier roof, for the night is hardly half over."
"A good idea," echoed Sandy.
They set to work; and by the time an hour had gone by, were able to keep the furious rain from beating in on their guns.
Sleep was entirely out of the question, and they could only sit there exchanging a few words to cheer one another up, and praying for the morning to come.