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Page 36
CHAPTER X
WHEN THE BLOW FELL
A faint, cooling breath, wafted across the desert, fanned the
cheek of Hi Lang. He inhaled deeply of it, not once, but several
times.
"It is here!" he muttered, "I hope it may be a light one." Saying
which the guide rose and walked briskly to the ponies' tethering
ground. The animals were restive, they were stepping from side to
side and an occasional snort was heard, but they quieted down when
he went among them and spoke soothing words, petting an animal
here, restaking another one there until he had spoken to each
bronco in the outfit.
The guide's next move was to step to Hippy's tent and awaken him.
"What is it? Have the desert pirates returned?" questioned Hippy,
sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
"No! Something worse is coming. Do not awaken the young ladies
just yet. Come out I will show you a great sight."
Hippy sprang up and followed the guide. Hi paused by the embers of
the camp fire long enough to stamp them out.
"So they do not blow about and set our equipment on fire," he
explained.
"Where's the sight?" demanded the lieutenant.
"Look yonder!" directed Hi, pointing toward the western horizon.
The mist had disappeared from the sky like magic and the stars
once more shone out with all their former brilliancy. Off to the
westward, however, there were no stars to be seen. In their place,
stretched clear across the horizon, lay a cloud, black as ink.
"Watch the upper edge of the cloud," said the guide in a low tone.
"It is rolling like the surf," exclaimed Hippy.
"Yes, and in that cloud are tons upon tons of sand that the cloud
is carrying along with it. We'll lose a stretch of our desert here
in a few moments."
"Is there nothing that we can do to protect ourselves, Hi?"
"Not a thing. The equipment has been securely packed. I had Ping
put the rifles in a sack and stand them upright in a hole in the
ground so we may find them after the storm. Without weapons we
should be in a bad way, especially if our friends, the pirates,
return, but I reckon that what's left of that crowd will be pretty
well sanded. This storm is going to pile right up on the range
that we left behind us."
A distant, menacing roar now became audible to the two men, such a
roar as one can hear by placing an ear to the opening of a conch
shell, but magnified perhaps a million times.
The cool breeze, that had shortly before warned Hi Lang, now
became a chill blast, moderate, but plainly thrust ahead by a
mighty force behind it.
"Good night!" exclaimed Lieutenant Wingate. "That breeze must have
been born up in Iceland. Talk about your heat on the desert!
Perhaps we shall have some cool weather here after the storm
passes."
Hi Lang laughed.
"Don't fool yourself, Lieutenant. It will be hotter than ever to-
morrow, blistering, sizzling hot; and the water courses probably
will dive deeper into the earth and give us no end of trouble to
find them. I---"
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