It was almost two o' clock．A cold wind had come up, over the lake．As a black cloud moved across the sun, Walt, a small boy, looked up．'I smell a storm (暴风雨) ,' he thought.
Shorty, a man of forty, had gone into town．He had said he would be back before two．He had told Walt to watch the boats and the shop．There were no people around．They had all gone out on the lake to fish.
So Walt went to work on one of the boats．From there he could hear the telephone if it rang．And he could watch the door.
It was a little after two when the stranger came．Walt saw him stop by the shop．The stranger looked in for a minute．Then he went down to the boats．He was a big man in a coat.
Walt called to him, 'Do you want something, sir?'
The stranger looked at Walt and said, 'No, thanks.' Then the stranger moved slowly away．As he went on, he looked at the boats one by one.
Walt sat there with his eyes on the back of the stranger's coat．He thought, 'I can smell something as I smell that storm．I hope Shorty comes back soon.'
The story happened ______.