by Lilian Garis
CHAPTER XII
A RECORD BREAKER
"More showers than those of cakes and cookies," said Miss Mackin fromthe depths of her pine needle pillow. "Just hear that!"
Thunder rolled and the rain was finding its way through the trees.
"Whew!" Louise almost whistled. "Just hear the wild roar!"
Like a concrete body the "roar" rolled down the mountain, and with aterrific rip and tear it hit the tent.
"Oh, mercy!" cried Cleo.
"Hold on to your bunks!" cautioned Grace.
This they actually did, for the wind had struck with such cyclonicforce it seemed the canvas would be torn from its moorings.
"We have good shelter here," Miss Mackin assured the anxious ones."There is no need for alarm."
If they agreed with her no one said so, for the tent flapped andflapped and tried its best to follow the dare of that wind, until itseemed surely something must give way.
The night light had been brought inside, as Mackey secretly expected abig storm, and now just the faintest glimmer shown from its peg whereit hung by the front door.
To accommodate the company, three cots had been run together and thebeds arranged crosswise, blankets and cushions covered the rims, sothat it was considered possible, if not probable, that four girlscould thus sleep on the three beds. Over in a corner Helen andMadaline shared quarters with Margaret, so that any sort of sleep forthat night was rather uncertain even before the storm broke loose, andtried to break everything else loose with it.
Another blast and again Isabel called:
"Hold fast!"
Then there was a slam of something!
"What was that?" asked Miss Mackin quickly.
Heads were under blankets now and gave no answer.
"Did anyone fall out of bed?" she asked, a trifle anxiously.
"We're all right," came a muffled reply from the "buckboard" party onthe crosswise bed.
There was another queer slamming sound!
This brought the director to her feet, and having already pulled onher slippers she quickly proceeded to take inventory and count heads.
With the lantern in hand she made sure each bed was where it might beexpected to be, although she did have to pull down blankets toinspect, but when she got over in the corner to Helen's quarters----
"Where's Madaline?" she asked.
Helen ventured to poke her head from its hiding place and then feltaround beside her.
"She isn't--here!" came the surprising reply.
"Where is she? Could she have fallen out?" Miss Mackin gathered theblanket ends to look carefully under the cots, but no Madaline wasdiscovered.
"Oh!" shrieked a chorus, as a terrific gust of wind somehow succeededin blowing out their only light!
Such confusion as followed!
The girls screamed and howled. Corene begged them to keep quiet, andafter a moment or two that seemed like an hour, the wind was againroaring in solo, while the girls at last listened to the entreaties oftheir director.
"Please be quiet," she begged. "I turned the lantern suddenly and withthe wind it blew out. There, it is lighted again," and the welcomeglow returned. "But where is Madaline?"
Another and more careful survey of the entire tent was made, and couldthe girls have seen Miss Mackin's face now, they might have guessedhow intense was her alarm, for really, the little fat Madaline wasnowhere to be found!
Realizing this everyone jumped up and quickly slipped into emergencycovering.
"Could she have blown out the door?" asked Cleo.
Miss Mackin had herself wondered at that far-fetched contingency, andshe attempted to thrust the lantern between the curtains, but a sheetof rain drove her back into the tent.
"Where can the child be?" she murmured.
"She simply must have blown away!" wailed Corene. "Girls, come along!We must get her. She might blow into the lake!"
Storm and danger were forgotten now, for anxiety was too real to admitof anything merely probable.
Without being directed to do so each little Scout was getting intosome clothing, with the khaki storm coats on top and the chin strappedhats crushed firmly on the tousled heads.
"Look under every bed again," ordered Miss Mackin. It seemedimpossible the child could actually have left the tent.
"Not here!" came the melancholy report, as bed clothing and pillowswere tossed aside.
There was a moment of such suspense as might have frozen that stormand thus subdued its fury.
"We will have to go out and look for her," said Miss Mackin. "Buttonyour coats tight and don't leave each other. Each two take a lantern"(these had been quickly lighted and taken from their emergency line),"we must surely find her very near. She can't really have blown away."
They were down the steps, breathing hard and--yes--praying!
Darling little chubby Madaline! What could have happened to her?
The last girl had scarcely stepped down from the uncertain shelter ofthe tent when there was a call from within.
"Girls! Girls! Looking for me?"
It was Madaline's voice and she was in that tent!
"Where have--you been?"
"Oh, Madie, we were almost dead!"
"Madaline, Madaline! We thought you were gone!" The chorus washysterical.
"Child!" gasped Miss Mackin. "Where were you?" She held her by bothshoulders as if fearful she would disappear again.
"Under the tent," replied Madaline, still gasping for breath. "Thelittle trap door was open, you know, and I got so scared of that awfulstorm I just dropped down. I never thought you would miss me."
"And didn't you hear us?" demanded the excited Grace.
"Couldn't hear anything but the storm. Wasn't it dreadful?"
"Not half as bad as you hiding away like that," Isabel was almostcrying. "Why ever did you do it?"
"Why----"
"Never mind, children," soothed the director. "She didn't think wewould miss her and I suppose she was terrified, but it isn't wise todrop out of sight, especially at night. Get out of your clothes now.The storm is almost over, and to-morrow you will all have somethinginteresting to write in your journals."
"I heard something slam," Corene recalled.
"That was the door. It hit me on the head," said the innocentMadaline.
"Was it your head that made the bang?" Even in the present excitementGrace could not resist the joke.
But the girls were not sleepy. They declared they didn't care if theynever slept again so long as Madaline was all right, and when theyfinally did turn into bunks they placed the adventuress safely andsnugly in the buckboard, between the two largest girls, Corene andIsabel.
"You won't drop down any more cracks this time," declared Corene.
"Wasn't it awful woozy down there?" asked Julia.
"Not a bit. Just nice and tight and you couldn't even hear the rain,"said Madaline.
"I hope you didn't upset my woodpile," called out Julia.
"And I had a pretty fern growing in a tomato can. I'll bet you smashedit," charged Louise.
"Children, dear, try to quiet down," entreated the director. She couldnot be severe, for indeed she had been a very badly frightened youngwoman in the hour just passing.
"Tell us a story?" begged Julia.
"Yes, do, and then maybe we'll doze off," bribed Margaret.
"Very well, if you promise to keep quiet and try to get to sleep, Iwill," agreed Miss Mackin.
Of course they promised, and she began; but hardly had she warmed upto her subject when a loud calling, shouting and yelling soundedthrough the slash of the retreating storm.
"What--now!"
"Mackey! Mackey!" came the call.
"The girls from Norm!" exclaimed someone.
"Yes, surely that's they. What can have happened?" gasped Miss Mackin.
By now the voices were near the tent and it was evident the cries werenot fraught with terror, instead there was laughter, shouts and galesof it defying the winds and rain
.
"Let us in! Let us in!" cried the victims, and quickly as the tentflap was loosed in came such a looking flock!
"Our tent blew away!" gasped Bubbles, she who so often indulged inthat popular song.
"Blew away!"
"Yes, from over our very heads!" The five young women--they wereactually five of them--dripped water and laughter in equal proportions,for the rain they brought in with them was now running in healthylittle puddles all over the nice, new floor.
There wasn't much room to stir around without getting the beds wet,but as soon as the Norms could control their unseeming joy, MissMackin tried to find a few spots. This was done by pushing the bedsinto still more compact quarters, until Corene suggested they standthem on end and sleep standing up.
"Do you mean to tell us your tent is gone?" demanded Miss Mackey, whenher third shower--the drenched Norms--squatted down to "rip off somewater-soaked garments."
"We do. Exactly that. It blew away and we didn't even have time toblow a kiss to it," declared Bubbles.
"Where are the others?"
"At the bungalow. They ventured in, we hope they'll get out all right,but we wouldn't try it. Imagine that prim old couple having such adelightful surprise."
"I'm so tired I can sleep beautifully on the floor," declared anotherof the storm victims. "And please don't let us demoralize your squad,Mackey. They'll be all cross babies in the morning." Their own scarewas then recounted and the surprise party made doubly welcome, wheneveryone insisted they could "get to sleep now," that there was somuch "lovely company around."
Blankets were easily spared from the cots as the night had not cooledoff too suddenly, and the Norms, being all around sportswomen, didn'tfind the pine boards and good blankets such a poor sort of bunk afterall, so sleep was wooed and won finally.
They must have realized the morning would bring to them some strenuousduties, for what about reclaiming Camp Norm?