"You don't know that," grumbled Bess.

"Yes, I do. Unless the sound is made by some human being. And that
seems impossible. There is no wild man about, of course, Rhoda?"

"Not that I ever heard of," said the girl of Rose Ranch. "Nobody
wilder than our cowboys," and she tried to laugh.

"Well, then, we must not pay any attention to the noise," said Nan,
the practical.

"Come on, now," said Rhoda, starting to one side with the pony she
led. "Bring them all over here and I will hobble them. Then we can
find some place to sit down and wait for the storm to pass. It will
rain terribly after the wind. It always does."

"That is all right, Rhoda. I had forgotten about the tornado," said
Bess. "What I want to know is: Have you got your rifle safe?"

"Of course. And it is loaded."

"Then I feel better," Bess declared. "For if that dreadful
thing--whatever it is--comes near us, you can shoot it."

"I can see plainly," laughed Nan, "that you do not believe the
noise is supernatural, Bess."

"Humph! maybe you could shoot a ghost. Who knows?"