The Boy with the U. S. Weather Men | Page 2

a Weather Station 68 Wall
and Upright Sun-Dials 86 The First Line of Defence Against the
Tempest 98 Solar Halo Seen in the United States 110 Solar Halo Seen
in Russia 110 The Dust that Makes Red Sunsets 122 An Army
Destroyed by Weather 138 Types of Upper Clouds 152 Types of Lower
Clouds 152 Types of Rain Clouds 152 Kite-Flying--The New Way 162
Kite-Flying--The Old Way 162 The Explorer of the Upper Air 172
Snow-Flakes from the Upper Regions of the Air 186 Snow-Flakes from
the Middle Regions of the Air 186 Snow-Flakes from the Lower
Regions of the Air 186 Ringing the Frost Alarm 192 Fighting Frost in
an Orchard--Night 206 Fighting Frost in an Orchard--Dawn 206
Bucking a Snow-Drift 212 Clear the Way! 212 Measuring the
Blizzard's Rage 224 Signals on Delaware Breakwater 236 Signal
Tower for Storm Warnings 236 Thermometers and Rain-Gauge 246
Pencil Drawings of Tornado in Dakota 256 True Tornado Forming in

Advance of a Dust Whirl 268 Tornado Dropping Towards Ground 268
Tornado Wrecking a Farm 276 Tornado Whirling Sidewise 276
Galveston Causeway Before and After the Hurricane 286 Shot from the
Gun of a Hurricane 296 Scale of Winds, Illustrated by Clipper Ships
304 Branch Lightning and Multiple Flash 314 Eiffel Tower Struck by
Lightning 320 Lightning Flash Striking Building 320 Mules Carried in
the Air Three Miles from Their Stable 328 Grand Piano Picked Up by a
Tornado and Dropped in a 328 Cow-Pasture

THE BOY WITH THE U. S. WEATHER MEN
CHAPTER I
ADRIFT ON THE FLOODED RIVER
"What is it, Rex, old boy? What are you after? Somebody else in
trouble, eh?"
Ross looked down through the pouring rain at his Airedale, who was
pulling at his trouser leg with sharp, determined jerks. The dog looked
far more like a seal than a terrier, his hair dripping water at every point,
while a cascade streamed from his tail. The boy was every whit as wet.
Here and there, through the slanting lines of rain, could be seen the
smoky gleams of camp-fires, around which, shivering, gathered the
hundreds of people who had been rendered homeless by the flooded
Mississippi.
The lad turned to his father, who was bandaging a child's wrist, which
had been broken during the work of rescue.
"It looks as if I ought to go, Father," he suggested, "that's if you don't
mind. By the way Rex is going on, there's something up, for sure."
"Go ahead, then, son," his father agreed, "the dog's got sense enough
for a dozen. Watch out for yourself, though, and don't get foolhardy,"
he added warningly, as the lad disappeared in the darkness; "you've got

to be right careful when the Mississippi's in flood."
"I'll watch out," Ross answered reassuringly, as he started off with the
dog, and, a moment later, the glow of the camp-fire was blotted out in
the falling rain.
"This is your hike, Rex," announced the lad; "you lead and I'll follow."
The Airedale cocked up one ear on hearing his young master's voice,
then, putting his head knowingly on one side, as if he understood every
word that had been said, he trotted to the front and splashed through the
pools of mud and water, his stump of a tail wagging with evident
satisfaction.
Ross was used to all kinds of weather, but a downpour such as this he
had never seen before. The rain fell steadily and relentlessly, with never
a pause between. The night was too dark to see clearly, as the sheets of
water were swept before the wind, but their force was terrific. Several
times the boy had to turn his back to the driving storm and gasp, in
order to get his breath.
"Where are you going, old boy?" again queried Ross.
The terrier paused, shook himself so that the drops flew in all directions,
looked up in his master's face, gave a short sharp bark and trotted on.
Ross leaned down, patted the dog, and followed. By some instinct of
his own, the terrier was keeping to a submerged road, though how he
managed to remain on it was beyond the lad's comprehension, for the
night was as dark as a wolf's throat and the path was under water half
the time.
Suddenly the dog stopped and looked back as though for guidance.
Before them was a swirl of water. In the darkness it was impossible to
say how deep the wash-out might be, or how wide. Ross hesitated. His
father had warned him against foolhardiness, and here he was facing
the crossing of a swift current of unknown depth on a pitch-black night.
Should he venture?

Rex barked, a short excited "yap" of urgency.
"I'll go as far as I can wade, anyhow," said Ross in response; "maybe it
isn't