Page:By Sanction of Law.pdf/348

 was like the roll of continued distant thunder. The wind, too, was beginning to freshen into a gale. Lida's hair blowing to the wind despite her efforts to control it. As they stood a jack rabbit bounded across their path on its way to a burrow in the furze near the edge of the woods. A squirrel followed closely behind, chattering in a frightened way, as it ran.

A flock of crows that had been feeding in a field nearby, flying in the wind, cawed excitedly as they passed. A pair of blue jays, also fluttered by. The rumble grew louder as the velocity of the wind increased and the trees began to sway far over as if to seemingly almost bend and snap. Unconsciously fear seemed to grip the hearts of the two as they stood helplessly looking from one to the other. They were just about to start back for the woods and the cave when from far across the woods to the south could be seen a funnel-shaped blue-black cloud, darker than those which formed a background to it.

This funnel-shaped cloud twisted and gyrated from one side to the other coming ominously on toward them. Truman's arm was about the waist of the girl while she leaned unconsciously toward him for protection. They gazed at the cloud as if entranced out of their wills. The gale was so fierce by this time that they scarcely kept their footing. Truman uttered but two words: "a cyclone." Into Lida's face there crept not fear but confidence.

Truman realized that to run for the woods would be to court danger of death from flying tree branches and