"Bless my overcoat!" cried Mr. Damon. "We seem to have gotten out of the frying pan into the fire!"
"How?" asked Tom. "We are partly sheltered here, though had we stayed in the cave in spite of——"
A deafening crash interrupted him, and following the flash one of the giant trees of the forest was seen to blaze up and then topple over.
"Struck by lightning!" yelled Ned.
"Yes; and it may happen to us!" exclaimed Mr. Damon. "We were safer from the lightning in the open. Maybe——"
Again came an interruption, but this time a different one. The very ground beneath their feet seemed to be shaking and trembling.
"What is it?" gasped Ned, while Goosal fell on his knees and began fervently to pray.
"It's an earthquake!" yelled Tom Swift.
As he spoke there came another sound—the sound of a mass of earth in motion. It came from the direction of the mountain trail they had just left. They looked toward it and their horror-stricken eyes saw the whole side of the mountain sliding down.
Slowly at first the earth slid down, but constantly gathering force and speed. In the face of this new disaster the rain seemed to have ceased and the thunder and lightning to be less severe. It was as though one force of nature gave way to the other.