wing out
his chest.

The Doctor laughed. "It's half-past eight at night," he said. "And if
you'll remember half an hour ago, it's a very stormy night, too."

The Big Business Man stopped short in his walk. "Just think," he said
pointing up into the gray of the sky, with a note of awe in his voice,
"over there, not more than fifteen feet away, is a window, looking down
towards the Gaiety Theater and Broadway."

The Very Young. Man looked bewildered. "That window's a hundred miles
away," he said positively.

"Fifteen feet," said the Big Business Man. "Just beyond the table."

"It's all in the viewpoint" said the Doctor, and laughed again.

They had recovered their spirits by now, the Very Young Man especially
seeming imbued with the enthusiasm of adventure.

The path became constantly rougher as they advanced.

The ground underfoot--a shaggy, yellow, metallic ore--was strewn now
with pebbles. These pebbles grew larger farther on, becoming huge rocks
and bowlders that greatly impeded their progress.

They soon found it difficult to follow the brink of the precipice. The
path had broadened now so that its other edge was out of sight, for they
could see only a short distance amid the bowlders that everywhere
tumbled about, and after a time they found themselves wandering along,
lost in the barren waste.

"How far is the scratch, do you suppose?" the Very Young Man wanted to
know.

They stopped and consulted a moment; then the Very Young Man clambered
up to the top of a rock. "There's a range of hills over there pretty
close," he called down to them. "That must be the way."

They had just started again in the direction of the hills when, almost
without warning, and with a great whistle and roar, a gale of wind swept
down upon them. They stood still and looked at each other with startled
faces, bracing with their feet against its pressure.

"Oh, golly, what's this?" cried the Very Young Man, and sat down
suddenly upon the ground to keep from being blown forward.

The wind increased rapidly in violence until, in a moment, all three of
the men were crouching upon the ground for shelter.

"Great Scott, this is a tornado!" ejaculated the Big Business Man. His
words were almost lost amid the howling of the blast as it swept across
the barren waste of rocks.

"Rogers never told us anything about this. It's getting worse every
minute. I----" A shower of pebbles and a great cloud of metallic dust
swept past, leavin