wood; and
the hour of midnight, when Thad peeped forth, (and which he knew to have
arrived from the position of certain stars overhead), saw the last of
the fire vanishing in dead embers.

Thad sought the warmth of his blanket again in a hurry, for the air was
now nipping cold, especially after the snug nest had been temporarily
abandoned. And he must have gone right to sleep, for he did not seem to
remember anything after again creeping under the double folds of the
warm woolen covering.

Now, when one sleeps like most boys do, soundly, it is impossible to
figure how time passes when awakened in a hurry. So that Thad could not
tell what the hour might be when he found himself starting up hurriedly,
under the conviction that strange as it might seem at that season of the
year, and with the air frosty, there was a storm bearing down upon them,
for he thought it was thunder he heard.

Then came a tremendous crash, and the tent swayed, but did not fall;
though from the wild shouts that arose close at hand the young patrol
leader reckoned the same good fortune could not have befallen the other
shelter, because he could plainly catch the howls of Step Hen, Bumpus
and Giraffe.

Quick as thought Thad whirled over to the exit, and crawled out. And
what his eyes beheld was enough to startle anybody, let alone a boy. If
a genuine cyclone had not struck the camp on the Little Machias, then
something almost as bad must have dropped down upon them, Thad thought,
as he stared, hardly able to believe his eyes, or understand what it all
meant.

CHAPTER IV.

A TERROR THAT CAME IN THE NIGHT.

Why, the second tent had utterly left the place where Thad remembered
they had erected it. He had just a fleeting glimpse of something dingy
white careering along over the ground among the trees, and then it
vanished.

But there was a high time going on near by, where the contents of the
interior of the late tent were scattered around. Blankets heaved, and
legs were thrust out, while the owners of the same were screaming at the
top of their voices.

"Oh! what is this?" bellowed Bumpus, who seemed to be almost smothered
under the folds of his blanket, which he must have had up over his head
at the time the catastrophe came upon them.

"It's a hurricane, that's what, and our bally old tent has been carried
away!" shouted Giraffe. "Hang on to anything you can grab, fellers, or
you may be taken next! Whoop! let her come! I've got