few armfuls and in a minute we'll have things snug."

The young reporter hastened to the cave mouth and in a few trips had
gathered up several huge armfuls of wood-drift of all kinds from
under the great trees all about. He was just re-entering the cave
when there came a flash of blinding light so brilliant that it
seemed as if the sky itself had split wide open. A bluish glare
enveloped the forest and the lightning flash was instantly followed
by a crash of thunder that shook the ground under the boys' feet.

"Well, they don't do things by halves in this country," remarked
Billy as he re-entered the cave after a second of being temporarily
stunned by the terrific flash.

It didn't take the boys long to have their wood in a blaze and as
the smoke did not, as they had feared, fill the cavern, they assumed
that there must be some opening above through which it escaped.
This fact they verified shortly when, after the storm had been
waxing in fury for half-an-hour, a perfect torrent of water came
tumbling in from the rear of the rocky cavern.

"Hark!" exclaimed Billy as the boys busied themselves trying to
scrape out a water-course that would divert the flood from their
fire. From far in the rear of the cave came a plaintive sound of
"Mi-ou, Mi-ou."

"Cats!" cried Lathrop.

"Cats nothing," was Billy's scornful reply; "here, let's have a
look."