Off in the west was a bank of yellowish clouds that seemed rolling and tumbling over and over in their eagerness to advance. At the same time there was a sobbing and moaning sound to the wind.
"Oh, Alice. I think there is going to be a terrible storm," gasped Ruth a moment later, suddenly realizingly that danger impended.
Indeed the wind was rising rapidly, and the clouds increased in size.
Now confused shouts could be heard out in the farmyard, and some men were running about, rounding up a bunch of cows.
"What"s the matter?" called Mr. Pertell, coming out on the side porch.
"Cyclone coming!" answered the proprietor of the farm. "It"s going to be a bad one, too!"
CHAPTER XI
AT ROCKY RANCH
With a howl, a rush and a roar the storm was upon them. Never had the moving picture girls or their friends ever seen, heard or imagined such a violent wind.
The sky was overcast with yellowish clouds, edged with black, which were torn and twisted in swirling circles by the gale. The air itself seemed tinged with a sickly green that struck terror to the girls" hearts.
There was a crash that rose high above the howl of the wind, and someone called:
"There goes the roof off the corn crib!"
Inside the house there were confused shouts and calls. The house itself rocked and swayed.
"Oh, what shall we do?" sobbed Ruth.
"Let"s go out, before it falls down on us," cried Alice.
Clinging to each other they made their way downstairs. Their father came after them, followed by other members of the moving picture company.
"Is--is there any safe place?" faltered Mr. Sneed, as he look anxiously about.
"The cyclone cellar," answered one of the farm men. "All hands had better take to that. We"re out of the path of the worst of the "twister," but it"s best to take no chances. To the cyclone cellar!"
"Where is it?" asked Mr. Bunn, looking around the room, as though the place of refuge were kept inside the house.
"There!" cried the man, pointing to a small mound of earth, in which was set a sort of trap door. "Go down in there!"
A number of farm hands, as well as members of the family, were making for this haven. It was a veritable cellar, covered over, and used for just such emergencies. A flight of steps led down into it.
"Where are you going, Russ?" cried Ruth, as she saw the young operator turn from the side of the porch where he had been standing.
"For my camera!" he answered, shouting so as to be heard above the noise of the wind. "I"m going to film this--too good a chance to lose."
"But you--you may be hurt!" she faltered.
"I"ll take a chance," he replied, as he turned into the house.
Into the cyclone cellar rushed the frightened members of the film company, as well as the farmer"s family and helpers. The wind was howling and shrieking, and several crashes told of further damage being done to the buildings.
Russ, in spite of the commands of Mr. Pertell, set up his camera to get pictures of a cyclone in actual operation. The bending, and in some cases breaking, trees showed the great force of the wind, and the unroofing and demolishing of small outbuildings gave further evidence of the power of the storm.
Russ took his position in an open spot, where he would be in less danger, and got picture after picture, showing the retreat into the underground place of refuge.
The wind was so strong that he had to force the legs of his camera tripod deep into the earth to prevent the apparatus from being blown over.
With a crash the roof of one of the smaller barns was sent sailing far away in the air, and Russ got a fine view of this, though he narrowly escaped being hit by a piece of wood.
"Russ, come in here!" called Mr. Pertell, through a crack in the trap door of the cyclone cellar. "I forbid you to risk your life any further."
"Just a minute!" begged the operator.
"Please come!" cried Ruth.
"All right," he answered, and catching up his camera he took his place in the cellar. And then, as suddenly as it had come up, the wind storm died away. The sullen black and yellow clouds pa.s.sed onward, and the sun came out. Those in the cellar emerged.
"Well, it might have been worse," the farmer said, as he looked about.
Considerable damage had been done, but his place, and that of his neighbor, were out of the direct path of the cyclone, so the larger buildings escaped. No one was hurt and after the excitement Russ went about, making views of the demolished places, and of the standing grain, which had been blown almost flat.
"I don"t believe I"d like to live in Kansas," said Ruth as she re-arranged her hair, tossed about by the wind.
"Nor I," laughed Alice, in a similar plight.
"Oh, we get used to it," remarked the farmer, with a laugh. Yet how he could laugh as he surveyed the ruins of his buildings was rather strange. "We don"t get a "twister" every day," he went on, "and we"re glad when we escape alive. A few shacks more or less don"t matter. We count on that. I"m sorry you folks got such a bad opinion of Kansas, though."
"Well, we"ll give her a chance to redeem herself," said Mr. Pertell. "I guess we"ll have to change some of our plans."
"Oh, don"t let this storm hinder you," urged the farmer. "We won"t have another in a couple of years. Once a cyclone sweeps over a place we feel relieved. It doesn"t often pay a return visit."
He and his men were soon busy taking an account of the damage done which, fortunately, was not as great as seemed at first. One cow had been killed, but the farmer remarked, philosophically, that anyhow he was to have sent her to the butcher shortly.
There was a little delay in making the moving pictures, but finally the work of getting out the films was under way, and, if anything, the storm rendered them more effective. Russ was able to work in the views he took of the cyclone, and altogether the drama that was made in Kansas was quite a success.
Once again the players were on their way, and this time they were not to stop until they reached Rocky Ranch, unless something occurred to make it necessary.
The remainder of the trip was uneventful, if we may except a slight accident by which the train was derailed. No one was hurt, however, and it gave Russ a chance to make a little film.
Then, late one afternoon, the party of moving picture players with their properties and baggage reached the station of Altmore, the nearest railroad point to Rocky Ranch. The station was little more than a water tank, and there was not much of a town.
"Oh, what a dreary place!" complained Miss Pennington, as she and her friend Miss Dixon surveyed the scene.
"The end of nowhere," agreed the other. "We shall die of loneliness here."
"I guess it will be lively enough for you out at the ranch," said Mr.
Pertell. "But I don"t understand why the wagons aren"t here to meet us."