It came on, too, with terrible swiftness.
The thunder, at first a mere rumble, rose rapidly to crash after crash that stunned their ears.

The livid flash of lightning that split the southwest like a flaming sword appeared and reappeared with such intensity that it seemed never to have gone.

The wind rose and the forest groaned.

From afar came a sullen roar, and then the great hurricane rushed down upon them.
"Lie flat!" shouted Ross.
All except four or five who held the struggling and frightened horses threw themselves upon the ground, and, although Henry and Paul hugged the earth, their ears were filled with the roar and scream of the wind, and the crackle of boughs and whole tree trunks snapped through, like the rattle of rifle fire.

The forest in front of them was quickly filled with fallen trees, and fragments whistled over their heads, but fortunately they were untouched.
The great volley of wind was gone in a few moments, as if it were a single huge cannon shot.