Stella's face turned white. "How shall we get down?" she said.

"We CAN'T get down," said Midge, cheerfully; "we'll have to stay
up. But the roof doesn't leak; I asked Uncle, and he said it was
perfectly watertight."

"But I don't want to stay up here in a storm," said Stella, and
her lips began to quiver.

"Now, don't you cry, Stella!" said Molly, who, if truth be told,
was on the verge of tears herself.

Meantime, the darkness was rapidly increasing. It was one of those
sudden showers where a black pall of cloud seems to envelop the
whole universe, and the very air takes on a chill that strikes a
terror of its own, even to a stout heart.

The three little girls sat looking at each other in despair.

Each was very much frightened, but each was trying to be brave. It
had all happened so suddenly that they had even yet scarcely
realized that they were in real danger, when suddenly a terrible
clap of thunder burst directly above their heads, accompanied by a
blinding flash of lightning.

Stella screamed and then burst into wild crying; Molly turned
white and gritted her teeth in a determination not to cry; while
Marjorie, with big tears rolling down her cheeks, put her arms
around Stella in a vain endeavor to comfort her.