of their waking hours were spent in the water. 
Suddenly, a great roaring reached their ears, 
and, almost immediately thereafter, the cave 
was filled with swirling water. Instantly, O-Go 
and Thwacker plunged into the creek, only 
to be caught in a rushing torrent, which hurled 
them hither and yon, buffeting them terribly. 
A cloud-burst from the hills above had them 
in its grip. 
It was impossible to swim in that mad rush 
of water. All that O-Go and Thwacker could 
do was to keep their noses above the surface, 
and much of the time they could not do even 
that. It was fortunate that they were not 
pounded to death by the rocks rolled along in 
the terrible current, or brained by blows of the 
uprooted trees, which were tossed about as 
though they were as light as straws. 
As it was, O-Go and Thwacker received a 
severe beating during their swift ride on the 
crest of the turbulent waters. From start to 
finish of their wild journey, neither caught 
sight of the other; and it was not until the 
next evening that O-Go knew that his friend 
still lived. 
The cloud-burst had been a matter of only 
a few minutes duration, but the damage done 
by it had been tremendous; for, despite the 
retarding effect of the wide pond, a great tree 
trunk had been hurled with mighty force 
138 
