t from the Gun of a Hurricane 296
Scale of Winds, Illustrated by Clipper Ships 304
Branch Lightning and Multiple Flash 314
Eiffel Tower Struck by Lightning 320
Lightning Flash Striking Building 320
Mules Carried in the Air Three Miles from Their Stable 328
Grand Piano Picked Up by a Tornado and Dropped in a 328
Cow-Pasture

THE BOY WITH THE U. S. WEATHER MEN

CHAPTER I

ADRIFT ON THE FLOODED RIVER

"What is it, Rex, old boy? What are you after? Somebody else in trouble,
eh?"

Ross looked down through the pouring rain at his Airedale, who was
pulling at his trouser leg with sharp, determined jerks. The dog looked
far more like a seal than a terrier, his hair dripping water at every
point, while a cascade streamed from his tail. The boy was every whit as
wet. Here and there, through the slanting lines of rain, could be seen
the smoky gleams of camp-fires, around which, shivering, gathered the
hundreds of people who had been rendered homeless by the flooded
Mississippi.

The lad turned to his father, who was bandaging a child's wrist, which
had been broken during the work of rescue.

"It looks as if I ought to go, Father," he suggested, "that's if you
don't mind. By the way Rex is going on, there's something up, for sure."

"Go ahead, then, son," his father agreed, "the dog's got sense enough
for a dozen. Watch out for yourself, though, and don't get foolhardy,"
he added warningly, as the lad disappeared in the darkness; "you've got
to be right careful when the Mississippi's in flood."

"I'll watch out," Ross answered reassuringly, as he started off with the
dog, and, a moment later, the glow of the camp-fire was blotted out in
the falling rain.

"This is your hike, Rex," announced the lad; "you lead and I'll follow."

The Airedale cocked up one ear on hearing his young master's voice,
then, putting his head knowingly on one side, as if he understood every
word that had been said, he trotted to the front and splashed through
the pools of mud and water, his stump of a tail wagging with evident
satisfaction.

Ross was used to all kinds of weather, but a downpour such as this he
had never seen before. The rain fell steadily and relentlessly, with
never a pause between. The night was too dark to see clearly, as the
sheets of water were swept before the wind, but their force was
terrific. Severa