Page:O'Higgins--The Adventures of Detective Barney.djvu/125

 mud and water, facing the impossible prospect of a whole night spent in this storm-mad wilderness.

He began to move forward nervously up the road, with a vague idea that he might find some sort of shelter; but the darkness was so intimidating that after a few hesitating steps he stopped again and waited for the lightning. It showed him the road rising before him in a long uneven slant. He began to hurry, tripping over stones and floundering into ruts and puddles. In the black tumult of the rain, the woods seemed to be rushing past on both sides of him; they halted, when it lightened, cowering; but when the darkness and the thunder leaped on them, they started off again in a panic.

Soon the panic was in Barney’s legs. He had forgotten the loss of his boot heel, and the road seemed to rock under his uneven steps. A tree fell with a splitting crash of branches somewhere near him, and he leaped to escape it. His heart stampeded him. He