have won the day.

Presently Nuthin had reached the body of the tree, and was descending.
There was really no need to urge him to haste, for he could not get
down to the ground a second too soon to satisfy his anxiety.

They found the others awaiting them below, and Mr. Gordon caught Nuthin
in his arms as if to express delight at his almost marvelous escape.
What if no one had noticed the absence of Albert, and they had hurried
away from the ruined camp, leaving him fast in the tree? He would have
been in for a terrible experience, and in the end it might have resulted
seriously for the boy.

"Are you badly injured, Albert?" asked the instructor, as he drew the
other on toward the point where the balance of the disrupted troop
crouched, trying to get out of the way of those furious bursts of wind.

"Pretty sore, sir, but nothing serious, I reckon," came the reassuring
answer, which proved that Nuthin did, after all, possess a fair amount
of pluck.

When they arrived in the vicinity of the spot where the mess tent had
stood, the rest of the troop greeted their coming with a faint cheer. It
takes a good deal to utterly discourage a bunch of healthy boys; and
while things looked pretty bleak, still they made out to consider the
adventure in the light of a joke. No one wished his companions to know
just how badly frightened he really was.

"Now we must get out of this," said Mr. Gordon, "and as we make our way
along, try and keep together as much as you can. Pair off, and hold on,
each to his mate. Ready?"

In this manner, leaving Dobbin, the horse to his fate, they deserted the
late joyous camp, now lying a seeming wreck. Yet things were not as bad
as they might have been, thanks to their wisdom in cutting down the
tents before more of them blew away.

The crash of falling trees could still be heard with every renewed
furious blast. But just as Mr. Gordon had said, these sounds proceeded
almost wholly from the lower region. That was the reason he declined to
seek safety in that quarter, preferring to push in the teeth of the
blow, because the rocky shelters were to be found there.

They made but slow progress, but as time passed on they managed to gain
some distance from the open space of the late camp, where the little
hurricane had so free a sweep.

As yet they had not been successful in discovering any sort of a refuge
worthy of the name. The rocks were piled up all around them, and they
had to do a great de