AN EXCITING MOMENT
“Yes, there is smoke—and fire behind it!” cried Hiram. “And see—the wind
is changing—whew!”
The biplane boys had been so engrossed in their own affairs that they
had not noticed until now that a dense, high-up vapor had gradually
clouded the sun. All of a sudden, however, some new current of wind
drove the smoke downwards. As it struck the hill it wound around it like
a veil. It came so thick and fast that it began to choke and blind them.
Filmy cinders and a growing heat in the air were to be observed.
“See here, Dave,” spoke Hiram, “hadn’t we better get aloft?”
“Look at that now,” chimed in Elmer, pointing across the broad surface
of the hill.
The three young aviators stood quite spellbound for a moment, witnessing
a new and novel spectacle. The top of the knob was covered with a great
growth of dried-up weeds, fine and fibrous. From time to time, as the
branches dropped away from the parent stem, they had rolled or were
blown part way down the hill.
Great masses in the aggregate had lodged on shelves and crevices among
the rocks. Now the sweep of the strong breeze had suddenly arisen and
the suction of the hot, swirling air moved these accumulations. They
blew over each other and together. Gaining a momentum, here and there
rounded masses began to wad up and grow as they progressed in their mad
course.
“I have heard of those,” said the young airman. “They are called
tumbleweeds.”
“Snowballs!” shouted the excitable Hiram. “Look at that now!”
A blast of hot air sent a perfect shower of sparks and smoking filaments
over the brow of the hill. These ignited the rolling spheres, some of
which had become gigantic globes. At one time over a hundred of the
strange, rolling balls were set aflare.
“Fireworks!” added Elmer. “It’s a pretty sight, but—whoof!”
A great sphere, all ablaze, landed against the speaker, burst like
fluffy thistle down, and scorched him slightly.
“All aboard!” ordered Dave, sharply. “Don’t waste a second, fellows!”
“Yes, high time, I’m thinking,” declared Hiram, making a run for some
cooking utensils he had been using in preparing their lunch.
The _Comet_ as usual was in perfect shape for a speedy flight. Dave, at
the pilot post, his assistants in their accustomed places, a touch of
the self-starter sent them off on a sharp tangent away from the hill and
across the tinder-like fields of weeds.
“Just in time,” spoke Hiram, as they arose to a higher level, above the
crest of the hill. “There’s a grand sight for a fellow, if there ever
was one.”
Each of the aviators was enwrapt in the vivid panorama beneath them. Far
as they could look—south, north, and west—acres and miles of flame-swept
surface greeted their vision. By this time the sparks had ignited the
swamp. A solid wall of flame seized upon the dry stalks with a roar. The
hill was now the center of a glowing caldron of fire.
“That was pretty quick,” remarked Dave. “We were lucky to get warning in
time.”
In places where little thickets beneath them were burning, entire sight
of the ground was shut out for the heat or smoke. They were now too high
for the heat or smoke to reach them. The fire, however, was of
considerable extent, and even on the distant horizon there seemed no end
or beginning to the great conflagration.
They passed over a long lake. It was shallow, but at that spot the body
of water had presented a barrier to the immediate forward progress of
the flames.
“See,” spoke Hiram, “the fire is eating around the edges of the lake to
the other side. Dave,” he suddenly shouted, “there’s a house!”
“Yes, and it’s on fire, too,” echoed Elmer.
The lake was about half a mile wide. Its beach was lined with clumps of
flags and reeds. These had fed the flames around the body of water in
two directions. At the south end of the opposite shore of the lake, the
fire had entirely surrounded a small, cultivated patch with a rude log
cabin in its center. This structure was blazing fiercely. To the west
and the far north the fire was sweeping in giant strides, licking up
everything that came in its path.
There was just one space between the onrushing and the backing up
section of the conflagration. This was a little stretch of beach. As
they approached it, the young aviator made a veer with the biplane that
told his companions of a sudden change of purpose.
“What is it, Dave?” asked Elmer, quickly.
“Don’t you see?” replied Dave. “There are a woman and child down there.”
“Gracious!” shouted Hiram—“why, so there are! She’s running for her
life! No, she’s stopped. Now she’s stepped into the water. She’s wading
in. Dave, Dave, do something!”
It was truly an exciting situation. All three of the boys now saw in
plain view the forlorn fugitives of the fire. A woman, terrified and
frantic, was visible. She carried a young child in her arms. Apparently
she had just come from the burning cabin.
Behind her a rushing wall of fire pursued. West and north a half-circle
of solid flame told her of impending doom. She ran out into the lake,
but there she faltered, not ten feet from shore. It seemed that she
realized that she could not get far enough beyond the fringe of flags to
escape the fire, and she stood rooted to the spot in helpless despair.
“We have a bare five minutes before the flames reach her,” said Dave,
his tone a trifle strained and unsteady, but determined. “Fellows, we
must take her aboard.”
“Can we land all right?” questioned Elmer.
“We’ve got to, even at a risk,” replied Dave.
“It means a big added weight,” suggested Hiram. “Something has got to go
out.”
“Lighten up the best you know how,” directed Dave rapidly.
It was no careless trick to land. Dave strained every sense and nerve to
carry out the projected rescue safely. Hiram and Elmer knew the part
expected of them. The former reached back in the pocket, or compartment,
containing their equipment and supplies.
“Help me, Elmer,” he said hastily. “Toss it out,” and he dragged a can
of water within reach, and his companion sent it whirling over the edge
of the machine.
Two out of four heavy rods, duplicates of a part of the steering outfit,
followed, then a large bag of sugar. Hiram selected from the food supply
articles that could be readily replaced at the first town they might
reach.
“That will do,” he announced, just as the _Comet_ sailed downward,
struck the ground, and glided to a stop.