JIM DELIVERS HIS MESSAGE.
"Can we make the pond, Jim?" asked Thad.
He knew from what little the guide had said before, that it was a
considerable distance to the body of water to which Jim had intended
heading; and with the almost exhausted giant on their hands, it did not
not seem likely they could get there before being overtaken by the
flames.
"Not ther big pond," Jim called back; "it's tew late naow fur thet; but
they's a littler un 'baout half way. Thet'll hev tew dew fur us, I
guess."
Cale seemed able to walk, after being thus supported, and they started
off. One thing Thad noticed; and this gave him more or less
satisfaction. They were heading now directly away from the fire, and not
keeping alongside, as before.
This gave them a new chance to escape, unless that change of wind came,
which was liable to occur at any moment.
Hardly had they been moving for a minute than Thad thought he felt
something wet fall on his nose. He could hardly believe it, but when a
second and a third followed, he became positive.
"It's raining, Jim!" he shouted, partly because of his new excitement,
and also on account of the racket the fire caused.
"Thet snow storm's gut 'raound et larst," called back Jim; and Thad knew
from that the heat of the atmosphere had melted the flakes ere they
fell, causing them to turn back into water.
It was all the same though, since both were bitter enemies to fire; and
presently the merry war of the elements, that has gone on since the
world began, would be in full play.
He wished that it would come down as never before; indeed, it would need
to be a record fall, to extinguish those monster flames that were rising
like a red wall over the treetops now. But since the woods beyond would
be undergoing a gradual soaking, possibly the fire might find it more
and more difficult to get a foothold, and finally die out from lack of
fuel.
Thad was astonished at the meekness of the giant. Why, he seemed to have
lost his grip on things, and let them carry him along just as though he
were a big baby. That would seem to indicate he must have been severely
hurt while escaping from the burning forest. For aught they knew he may
have been struck on the head by a falling limb from a tree, which would
account for his dazed condition.
At any rate, it was fortunate for the entire party that this proved to
be so; because any delay at this stage of the game must have proven
fatal.
All of them were panting, but it was more from the intense heat than
weariness. Thad hoped the pond would show up soon. He was half choked
with the smoke, and coughed with nearly every breath. A drink of cool
refreshing water, he believed, would make him feel a thousand per cent
better.
There could no longer be any doubt about the anticipated change in the
wind having taken place; for the fire was certainly coming after them,
full tilt. Jim, too, was beginning to cast glances over his shoulder;
and when a runner does this Thad knew it was a good sign that he is
anxious about something. It may be the presence of a rival sprinter back
of him; in this case that racer was the fire.
"Will we make it, Jim?" Thad found himself just forced to ask, in order
to relieve the terrible sensation of suspense that gripped him.
"Dead sartin!" came the reassuring reply; "thar she be, right naow!"
And looking ahead Thad saw the sheen of a body of water in the dull glow
of the forest fire. It was not a large pond, but would offer them an
asylum, where in all possibility they might laugh at the efforts of the
fire to get them.
When they gained the shore Jim kept pushing on until a point had been
reached that was opposite to the course over which they had just come.
This threw the water of the little pond between them and the source of
danger.
Thad drew a long breath of relief as he realized that their race with
the flames was over, and safety assured. The giant sank down upon the
ground, and scooping up the water in the cup of his hand, drank
savagely, showing that he must be almost parched with thirst.
Feeling a little the same way himself, Thad followed suit; and never in
all his life had water tasted as refreshing as then. After that, he just
stood and watched the terrible panorama that was being gradually
unfolded before his eyes; listening to the roar of the devouring element
as it seized whole rows of pines in its grip, and enveloped them with a
mantle of flames.
Thad was fairly awed by the sight. He had never dreamed it could be so
terrible, even when his imagination played at its liveliest clip. He saw
the leaping billows toss higher and higher; he watched them play tag
with one another; and all the while realized what havoc was being made
with that splendid forest. When the fire had passed on, or been finally
extinguished by the downpour from above, it would leave blackened and
smouldering trunks where just a brief while before the glorious pines
stood in all their robes of green.
The heat was rather fierce, too, and often they would bend forward to
lave their faces in the cooling waters of the pond. Long since had the
rim of ice around the edge of the pool vanished, as though by magic;
this was on account of the warmth that had taken possession of the
atmosphere while the conflagration lasted.
But Thad was satisfied that they were going to escape, for the main body
of fire had already gone rushing away before the wind. Only straggling
trailers worked in behind the pond, and they were already feeling the
effect of the rain that was now falling heavily, though at other places
it must have taken the form of snow.
Jim was apparently more or less anxious about Cale. He feared the old
man might have received serious injuries that needed attention; and
taking advantage of the first opportunity that presented itself, he
confided his fears to Thad, knowing full well that the boy was something
of a doctor, in his way.
So the scoutmaster sat down beside Cale. He saw that the other was
getting back to something like his normal self, now that he had in a
measure recovered from the exhaustion resulting from his fight for life
with the flames.
"Did you get badly hurt anywhere, in the fire?" Thad asked, trying to
put on a professional look, so as to inspire some confidence in the old
man.
The giant for the first time, seemed to wake up. He felt of his head,
and winced a little as though it pained him.
"Ther burns they don't amount ter much," he said, in his heavy voice;
"but thar be a bad bump on my head as hurts sum."
"Let me look at it," asked the boy. "I've picked up some knowledge of
medicine, and perhaps I can do something to make it seem better; if
nothing else, cold water may reduce the feverish feeling some."
And Cale allowed him to examine his big head, with its mass of hair that
was like a lion's mane in thickness, having been protected from the fire
by the skin cap he wore. Perhaps it was the presence of that same cap,
as also the shock of hair, that had saved Cale from having a broken
skull; he certainly did have a lump there as large as an egg, that must
have been very painful; and it was no wonder he had seemed dazed at the
time he rushed into his cabin, hardly knowing why he came there, unless
he had been laboring under the impression that Little Lina was still
waiting to be saved from the fire.
Fortunately Thad happened to be carrying a little bottle of witch hazel
in his haversack, which he often found exceedingly useful. This he got
out, and after warning the other that it might sting a little at first,
he poured some of the extract on the lump; and then wetting a piece of
rag with it, he laid this over the wound, Cale's cap holding it in
place.
"That's all I can do for you," Thad said. "But it's not a serious thing,
and in a few days you'll be all over it. But you must have had a fearful
knock. Was it a limb that fell on you?"
"Just what it war, younker," replied Cale; "an' it's a feelin' better
some, already."
Thad moved back. He seemed to know that Jim was just itching to have a
few words with his father-in-law; and that the opportunity seemed ripe.
Besides, Thad was more or less curious to know just what that clinching
argument might be, which Jim meant to advance, and which he seemed so
positive would bring the determined old man around.
When Jim took his place, Cale gave him one look, and then turned his
head away. "I wisht yew wudn't feel like yew does agin me, Dad Martin,"
Jim started to say.
"Stop right thar!" burst out the other, as his old temper began to sway
him again. "I don't want anything ter do wid yer, Jim Hasty. Time was
when I vowed ter pin yer ears ter a tree, if ever ye showed up hyar
agin; an' I meant it, I shore did. Then sumhow, thinkin' o' that leetle
gal, an' how she sot sum store by ye, kinder flabbergasted me, an' I
dassent stay around whar ye was, lest I do all I'd threatened, an' it'd
break her heart. So I kim hyar ter my lonely home, thet ain't hed a
single ray o' sunshine in it sense ye stole her away. But I don't forgit
it, Jim Hasty, an' I ain't never agoin' ter forgive ye, er make up. So
don't waste yer breath atryin'."
But when Thad saw the grin on Jim's face he knew the guide felt
encouraged. His reception had been far less stormy than he had had
reason to expect from all he knew of the violent temper of his respected
father-in-law. And knowing that Jim was getting ready to spring his
surprise, Thad almost held his breath while listening and watching.
"I tole yeou I kim here 'cause she sent me," Jim went on, in a pleading
tone. "It grieved her gentle heart all this while 'cause she cudn't see
yeou, Dad Martin. She sez as haow it's jest gut tew stop! She wants
yeou, and wants yeou bad. An' so be they's another as ort tew see yeou.
Here's ther message Little Lina sends tew yeou by me, her husband. Sez
she, 'take this tew him, an' when he sees the face o' my baby and knows
thet we calls him Leetle Caleb, p'raps then he'll forgive yeou, Jim, fur
takin' me away; an' come back tew us all. Tell him we want him the wust
kind, Leetle Caleb an' Lina!'"
He had thrust something into the hand of the old poacher as he spoke.
Thad felt almost like giving vent into his overwrought feelings in a
yell. Why, all the excitement attending the race with the forest fire
had not been a circumstance to the thrill that swept over him when he
saw that hard-hearted old man staring at the pictured faces of mother
and child on that bit of cardboard, and then, filled with a return of
the old love, pressing it wildly to his bearded lips.
And Thad knew, just as Jim had said, that the message which Lina had
sent in the form of her baby's picture, had broken down the barrier of
the old man's pride and obstinacy; for in another moment he was
squeezing Jim's hand convulsively.