ky, which had been overcast since
midday, was now inky dark, and great drops began to fall. It was a
calamity, but one for which everybody was fully prepared. The patrols
rushed round the camp loosening ropes, lest the swelling hemp should
draw the pegs from the ground, and took a last tour of inspection to see
that no bed was in contact with the canvas.

"If you even touch the inside of the tent with your hand you'll bring
the water through," urged Catherine in solemn warning; "so, for your own
sakes, you'd best be careful. You don't want to spend the night in a
puddle."

It was a new experience to sit inside tents while the storm howled
outside. Rain up at Llyn Gwynedd was no mere summer shower, but a
driving deluge. Servers in waterproofs scuttled round with cans of hot
tea and baskets of bread and butter, and the girls had a picnic meal
sitting on their beds. One tent blew over altogether, and its distressed
occupants, crawling from under the flapping ruin, were received as
refugees by their immediate neighbours. Fortunately the storm, though
severe, was short. By seven o'clock it had expended its fury, and passed
away down the valley towards Craigwen, leaving blue sky and the promise
of a sunset behind. Glad to emerge from their cramped quarters, the
girls came out and compared experiences. There was plenty to be done.
The fallen tent had to be erected, and various cans and utensils which
had been left outside must be collected and wiped before they had time
to rust.

"This is the prose of camp-life," said Catherine, picking the
gravy-strainer out of a puddle and rinsing it in the lake. "I hope we
shall get the poetry to-morrow again."

"Oh, it's lovely fun when it rains!" twittered some of the younger ones.

Mr. Arnold came down from the farm to inquire rather anxiously how the
camp was faring after the storm, and particularly to have news of the
girls who had been in the lake. He had left Mrs. Arnold in bed, still
rather upset with the shock of the accident.

"I feel responsible for bringing you all here," he said to Miss
Teddington. "I shan't be easy in my mind now till the whole crew's safe
back at The Woodlands."

"We've taken no harm," Miss Teddington assured him. "The girls kept dry,
and they're as jolly as possible; indeed, I think most of them
thoroughly enjoyed the rain."

Llyn Gwynedd, after showing what it could do in the way of storms,
provided fine weather for the next day. The ground soon d