PURSUED BY THE FOREST FIRE
Both the young lumbermen realized their peril fully and spurted down
the hillside and through the forest at the best speed they could
command.
On every side of them were tall pines, spruces, and other trees, with
here and there a patch of brushwood. The fire caught each tree as if by
magic, and the flames would run up from roots to top with the rapidity
of lightning, and then the tree would resemble some giant torch.
Sometimes a tree in the rear would burst open with the report of a
pistol, sending forth a new shower of sparks, which the wind caught and
wafted still further to the front of the conflagration.
The fire had reached more than one wild animal, and the young lumbermen
caught sight of wolves, foxes, and deer running madly to escape the
flames. The birds also flew around, uttering wild notes of distress as
they saw their nests destroyed.
Long before the shore of Pine Tree Lake was reached, the fire appeared
to be at their very heels. The sparks flew all around them, landing
on their hands and necks, and occasionally drifting directly into their
faces. To protect the children they carried the little ones close to
their breasts, yet they did not escape altogether, and added their
shrieks of fear and anguish to the general excitement.
"Oh, please take me away!" wailed Bertie. "I'll promise never to run
away again, never!"
"Oh, my hand is burnt!" screamed Gertrude. "Take me to mamma! Take me
to mamma!" And she continued to scream until she was exhausted, when
she lay limp in Dale's arms.
At last they could see the lake far ahead through the trees. Here was a
bluff, standing out fifteen feet above the water, and partly overgrown
with trees and bushes.
A puff of wind caused the sparks to whirl all around them, and each
staggered for a moment as he came out on the bluff. To both Dale and
Owen it seemed at that instant as if the whole world was on fire.
"Jump! Don't wait! Jump!" yelled Owen hoarsely, and then, with the fire
fairly roaring at his heels, each leaped into the lake with his burden.
It was a sudden plunge, especially for the children, and each
spluttered and kicked wildly when going under the surface. But the
plunge extinguished the sparks that clung to all, and for the time
being they were safe, so far as being burnt was concerned.
Just beyond the bluff the lake was fully fifty feet deep, so Dale and
Owen knew that, if they wished to save the children and themselves from
drowning, they would either have to swim to the opposite shore or to
the island upon which grew the giant pine. The fire was already running
all along the edge of the bluff, and threatened to cross the cove, on
the opposite shore of which was located the Wilbur lodge.
Each of the young lumbermen could have swum to the island with ease had
he been alone. But with an excited and kicking child in his arms it was
not so easy.
"Take me out of the water!" spluttered Gertrude. "Take me out!"
"We'll be drowned!" came from Bertie. "Oh, please put me on the shore,
please!"
"We'll take care of you, only keep quiet," said Dale. "We can't carry
you if you kick like that."
"And you mustn't hold too tight," put in Owen, for Bertie had him by
the throat in the tightest clutch his little hands could command.
But the children were too young to understand the situation, and they
continued to cry and kick and hold on as tightly as ever. All Dale and
Owen could do was to tread water, and more than once it looked as if
they would go down after all. Swimming from the vicinity of the bluff
was out of the question, and now the sparks and flying embers began to
come down around them, hissing and steaming as they fell.
"We've got to do something," came desperately from Owen. "Let us try
our best to reach the island."
"Yes, put me on the island," said Bertie eagerly.
"Then keep real quiet and I will, Bertie."
The little fellow released his hold just a little, and Owen struck out
with one hand. Dale tried to follow, but Gertrude could not be quieted,
and he gave up in despair.
"I know what I am going to do," cried Owen. "Take the boy a minute or
two. I'll get that tree trunk over yonder, and then we can ride on
that."
Despite his struggles, he passed Bertie to Dale and struck out for the
trunk in question, which lay partly in and partly out of the water, a
short distance up the shore. With the smoke and sparks all around him,
he caught hold of the trunk and floated it. Then he brought it over to
where Dale was treading water as before.
"Now sit on the tree," said Owen to the little ones, and they were made
to obey. Then, while Dale held them with one hand and swam with the
other, Owen got at the rear end of the trunk and pushed it ahead toward
the island.
"I see the boat! I see the boat!" suddenly shrieked Bertie. "Take me to
the boat!"
He pointed with his finger, and, looking in the direction, the young
lumbermen saw a steam launch gliding over the lake not a great distance
off. Both gave a yell and waved their arms, and soon the launch was
puffing in their direction.
When it came closer, they saw that the craft contained Mrs. Wilbur,
Jasper Nown, a nurse in a white apron and cap, and a man who looked
after the boats belonging to the lodge.
"My children!" came in a loud cry from the lady. "Oh, are my children
safe?"
"Yes, ma'am, they are all right," answered Owen.
"Thank Heaven!" she murmured, and when the launch came up beside the
floating timber, she strained each little one to her breast, and kissed
them over and over again, while the tears of joy streamed down her
cheeks.
"I am so thankful you saved them," she said. "Come aboard the launch,
both of you. Where did you find them?"
"We ran away, and they came for us up at Mirror Lake," said little
Bertie. "But, oh, mamma, we aren't going to run away again!" and he
buried his head on her shoulder.
"No, no, I'll never, never run away again," burst out Gertrude. "Poor
Polly is burnt up!" and she too began to cry.
In a few words, Dale and Owen related how they were on their way to
a distant lumber camp, and how they had discovered the two little
runaways just about the time the forest fire swept down upon them. Then
they told of the run to the bluff, and what a narrow escape they had
had from the flames.
"It was Providence that led you to find my children," said Mrs. Wilbur
devoutly. "We have been searching for them for hours. They got Fanny,
here, to go into the lodge for something, and then ran away, and we
could not imagine where they had gone. I was afraid they might have
been drowned. Then the fire came up, and I did not know what to do.
Jasper, our man, advised that we take to the lake, so here we are on
the launch."
"The fire isn't working around to the lodge just now," answered Owen.
"The wind is shifting to where it came from."
"No, no, the whole place will be burnt up for a certainty," came from
Jasper Nown. His face plainly showed that he was badly scared.
"Fortunately the visitors we have been expecting have not yet
arrived," went on Mrs. Wilbur. "But there are several more servants at
the lodge. Do you think we had better go back for them?"
"Don't go near that shore!" cried Nown. "We'll all be burnt up, take my
word on't!"
"Jasper, I was talking to these young men, not to you," said the lady
coldly.
"Yes, madam, but you know the fire----"
"You seem to have lost your head completely since the fire started."
"I think it's safe enough to go back to the lodge," said Owen.
"So do I," added Dale.
"They don't know anything," interrupted the frightened Jasper. "The
sparks----"
"If you don't want to go back we can land you on the island," said Mrs.
Wilbur. "I fancy you'll be safe there."
But Jasper Nown did not wish to be left alone, and so he reluctantly
agreed to go back to the lodge, and the bow of the launch was turned
for that point on the lower shore. In the meantime the wind continued
to shift, and by the time the lodge landing was gained they saw that
the fire near the cove was dying out.
At the boathouse they found the missing servants, who, under the
directions of a cool-headed forester, had gone back to the lodge for a
basket of provisions and some blankets.
"We were going to take to the other boat, if it became necessary," said
the forester. "But the fire has shifted, and if it don't shift back
this place won't be touched."
At the boathouse the two young lumbermen retired for a few minutes,
and wrung the water from their shirts and emptied their boots. As the
weather continued hot they suffered nothing from their plunge into the
lake, nor were the children affected.
As the wind continued to shift, it became certain that the lodge would
not be touched, and Dale and Owen determined to go back to the Paxton
camp and learn how matters were going on there.
"I will let you have horses," said Mrs. Wilbur, and ordered one of her
servants to bring out the animals.
"You see, we've got all our belongings at that camp," said Dale. "We
haven't much, but what little there is we shouldn't like to lose."
"I hope you save everything," said the lady of the lodge, and then she
added: "You must promise to come and see me as soon as the fire is out."
The steeds were good ones, and fresh, and the young lumbermen made fast
time when once on the road. The sky overhead still hung heavy with
smoke, and there was a strong smell of burnt pitch in the air. Along
one section of the road the flames had eaten their way in the form of a
circle, and here they came upon a number of snakes twisting and curling
in their death agonies. They gave the reptiles a wide berth, and lost
no time in leaving the locality behind them.
When they at last dashed into camp, they found that the men were all
out, cutting down trees and plowing up the ground at a corner of the
claim, for that was the one spot threatened by the fire. Stabling the
horses they got their axes and spades and joined the gang.
"Hullo! back, are you?" shouted Gilroy, who was pitching in as hard as
anybody. "Glad to see you. We were afraid you'd been pinched by the
flare-up!"
"We came pretty close to it," answered Owen.
"Didn't get to the other camp, did you?"
"No," came from Dale; and that was all that was said, for the present
needs were too urgent to admit of further conversation.
Working as they had seldom worked before, the lumbermen cut down the
trees and brushwood, and turned up the soil with plows, picks, and
spades. Then as the fire kept coming closer, Gilroy ordered some of the
timber blown up with sticks of dynamite--a dangerous proceeding in the
midst of such hurry and confusion. The sparks kept coming on faster and
faster, and then came a mad rush of wind that sent the fire clear over
the line upon which they had worked so faithfully.
"It's no use, boys!" sang out the foreman. "We've got to give it up.
Back to the cabin, all hands, and let us save what we can down there!"