Struck by his companion's tone, the younger lad looked up and, grasping his crutch, limped to the door. He took a glance at the sky and whistled in a low and thoughtful way. "Look at those clouds to the north-west," said Ross. Then, pointing to the south-west quarter, "And look at them there!" Anton looked, his eyes dilating. In the north-west, swarthy, curling wreaths of vapor that seemed as though they rose from a monstrous burning straw-stack writhed their way upward to a great height, the upper portion seeming to tremble threateningly, as though there were a shaking fist within the swirl, hidden by clouds. The column was smoky and threatening, yet a whitish light came from beneath it suggesting phosphorescent vapors. To the south-west were clouds of a different character, darker and more compact. They were not blacker than many clouds preceding a heavy rainstorm, but they had an uneasy motion. From these came no whitish phosphorescent light; instead, there was a greenish glitter, like a snake's eyes seen in the dark. There was something evil and sinister about them. The air was reverberant, sounds could be heard to a great distance. The farm animals were unquiet and moved restlessly. Anton wiped the perspiration from his forehead with the back of his hand. He glanced up at the weather-vane. "It ought to pass to the east of us," he said. Ross also looked at the weather-vane, and then at the advancing cloud. He knew that nearly all such storms traveled to the north-east. "It may pass us," he said, "but sometimes they swing north." "I know it," Anton answered, and fell silent, watching the coming of the storm. In the distance a faint moaning was heard. The two huge cloud masses from the two quarters of the sky, as though advancing to give battle, hurled themselves toward each other, the whitish cloud of the north-west towering above the sinister black cloud of the south-west. For a moment, almost as if they paused, a strip of blue sky could be seen between them, then with a sudden rush, the two collided. So solid seemed the masses of the clouds that both boys started, expecting a clap of thunder. Yet never a flash of lightning appeared nor was there any sound. In the whirl of the two meeting clouds there was a minute of confusion, and then, slowly, a long funnel, like a black finger, began to reach towards the earth. Both boys saw it at the same time. "A tornado!" cried Anton. "Let's get to the cellar!" cried Ross, and started to run, but Anton grasped him by the shoulder. "No," he said, "we're safe here; it'll pass to the east over the farm lands and won't hit anybody." In a few seconds Ross saw that the crippled lad was right, and, themselves safe, the boys watched the passing of the tornado. "It's going about thirty miles an hour," said Anton, figuring rapidly, "and it's all of fifteen miles away. There won't be much left of it by the time it passes here. We don't need to worry."