IN THE NICK OF TIME
"What a lovely place this is!"
Jess was standing close to the water looking across at the opposite
shore. Mrs. Hampton, seated upon the bank, thought she had never
beheld a more beautiful picture of grace and maidenly charm. Her heart
thrilled as she watched her standing there. She was her own child, and
no one had any right to take her away. Her face, however, became grave
as she thought of Henry Randall. He was a determined man, she was well
aware, and he would exert every effort, and spend money without stint
to get control of the girl he believed to be his daughter. She felt
that affairs were nearing a crisis now. But she would fight, and, if
necessary, divulge the story of her own wretched sin. It would be a
startling revelation to the two young people, she was certain, but she
fondly cherished the hope that they would readily forgive her for her
dark deed of the past.
"Do you think John will come back early?" Jess asked, as she came and
sat down by Mrs. Hampton's side.
"He will return just as soon as he can, you may depend upon that," Mrs.
Hampton smilingly replied. "I hope he won't neglect his work to get
here."
"And will he go home every day?"
"He will have to, so long as we remain here."
"Why can't we stay here all the time?" Jess impulsively asked.
"How could we live, dear?" and Mrs. Hampton looked fondly upon the
girl's animated face. "You have never worked for a living, so have no
idea what it means. If we stay here long without caring for the place,
we shall all starve, and that would be worse than going back to
your--your parents, would it not?"
"But it is so nice here, and I am very happy." Jess gave a sigh of
contentment, and looked out over the water. "I wish we had a boat,"
she continued, "so we could go for a row. The lake is like a mirror,
and how wonderfully the trees are reflected in the clear depths. It is
all like pictures I have seen."
This conversation took place as the two remained by the landing after
watching John disappear among the trees on the opposite shore. At
length they went back to the house, and busied themselves with washing
the breakfast dishes, and tidying up the rooms. When this was at last
finished, they again went out of doors, and strolled along the shore on
the other side of the island. From here Mrs. Hampton pointed out the
mine on the mainland, partly concealed among the trees.
"My husband spent much of his time here," she explained, "and hoped
that some day the mine would be properly worked. But there doesn't
seem to be much chance now of anything being done. The place is
becoming overrun with bushes, so John says."
"Is there plenty of coal?" the girl asked, as she looked across the
water.
"I understand there is. My husband told me that there is an abundance,
and I always had confidence in his judgment. But many people thought
he was visionary, and in some unaccountable way they considered his
mine a joke."
"What a shame!" Jess declared. "They knew the coal was there, though,
didn't they?"
"Oh, yes. But, you see, my husband did not have the capital to develop
the mine, and people of means were unwilling to have anything to do
with the undertaking, owing to the difficulty of getting the coal to
the market. My husband always planned to have a little railway built
into the lake. He knew that it could be done, for he had a route
surveyed at his own expense. But that took the last cent, so there was
nothing left for further development. I really believe the failure of
his plans hastened his death."
"And would no one lend him money?" Jess asked. "Why didn't he come to
my father? He has plenty of money, and so has mother."
"Your father was appealed to time and time again, but he would do
nothing unless my husband sold out his entire right to the mine for a
small sum, which, of course, he refused to do."
"And is my father like that in business?" The girl's eyes were wide
with surprise.
"We found him so, at any rate. But come, dear, let us not talk any
more about this. It is a very painful subject to me, and I did not
intend to bother you with my troubles."
They continued their walk along the shore, around the lower end of the
island, and up the opposite side.
"I believe we are going to have rain before long," Mrs. Hampton
remarked, as she paused and looked at the sky. "I did not notice it
before."
"What a black cloud that is over there," Jess replied. "Why, it looks
like smoke."
Mrs. Hampton turned, and as she did so, she gave a cry of dismay, and
laid her right hand impulsively upon her companion's arm.
"It is smoke! And the wind is blowing it this way! See how it is
rolling toward us. Someone has started a big fire over there, and it
may do a great deal of damage, as everything is so dry."
"But we are safe here on this island, are we not?" Jess anxiously
asked. "The fire can't surely cross the water."
"It can come through the air, though. Burning brands may soon be
falling on all sides, and wherever one alights another fire will be
started. We may have a shower of them here, even before the fire
reaches the lake."
"What are we to do, then?" the girl asked.
"I do not know except to seek refuge in the lake. The water is deep
around the shore of this island, so we could not go out very far."
"Perhaps John will come and take us off," Jess suggested.
"Let us hope so, dear," and Mrs. Hampton placed her right arm lovingly
around her daughter. "John will come, if possible, we can be assured
of that. No doubt he has seen the fire before this, and is hurrying to
our aid now. But, look, isn't the smoke getting thick!"
"And what is that roaring sound?" Jess asked. "It is growing louder."
"It must be the fire; it's getting nearer all the time."
"Oh, what shall we do ?" the girl cried, clinging now to Mrs. Hampton.
"We must keep close to the lake, dear, and, if necessary, take to the
water. We can wade out as far as we can, and may be able to escape
much of the heat of the flames."
Little was said for a while as the two stood there listening to the
roaring of the fire, every instant expecting it to leap across the
island. Neither did they have to wait long, for soon the air became
filled with blazing cinders. They fell with a hissing sound upon the
water and along the shore. In a short time the upper end of the
island, was on fire, and they could hear the crackle and roar as it
rushed through the underbrush, blasting the pine and fir trees in its
path.
"It is almost upon us!" Mrs. Hampton cried, clutching Jess fiercely by
the arm. "Let us go to the lower end of the island. Perhaps we can
get out upon the rocks there. Anywhere is better than here."
Hurrying along the shore as fast as possible, they soon reached the
place, and with difficulty made their way over the rough boulders which
lifted their heads above the surface of the water. But they could go
only a few yards, for when the outer rock was reached, they were forced
to stop, as the water was deep beyond. And here they huddled, clinging
to each other, every minute expecting the fiery monster to burst forth
upon them from the nearby forest.
As they crouched here and waited, they often turned their eyes across
the lake to where the boat was lying on the mainland. So thick was the
smoke that the opposite shore was greatly dimmed. They wondered what
could be keeping John. He was their only hope now, but he must come
soon or it would be too late, they felt sure.
It was not long, however, before this avenue of escape was almost cut
off. With white faces, and fast-beating hearts they saw the fire
sweeping along the shore of the mainland straight for the small boat.
Intuitively they both uttered a cry of despair, and stared with wide,
straining eyes as the flames rolled onward, every minute drawing nearer
to the landing. The fire now raged behind them, as it was raging on
the mainland. But still they looked shoreward. Even at the eleventh
hour John might arrive. What he would do if he did come they had not
reasoned out. Neither did they realise that nowhere on that lake could
anything live, ringed in by such a fiery furnace. They imagined that
out upon the water they would find refuge from the flames, so John with
the boat was their only means of salvation.
Soon, however, all hope of escape was abandoned. The fire was almost
to the landing, and great sheets of flame were leaping high over the
very spot where the boat was lying. As yet it was untouched, but in a
few minutes it, too, would be swept away.
And as they looked, they beheld the form of a man leaping, so it
appeared to them, right out of that wall of fire. Jess started and
leaned impetuously forward, and stretched out her arms as if to save
him.
"It is John!" she cried. "Oh, he'll be burned! He'll be burned!" She
buried her face in her hands to hide the terrible scene from view.
The next instant she lifted her head at Mrs. Hampton's startled
exclamation. As she looked, she saw that the man on the shore had
reached the boat as the flames were licking around it, and had sent it
reeling into the water. Seizing an oar, he drove the craft out into
the lake, just as the fire swept over the very spot where a minute
before it had been lying. Then he seated himself and began to row
straight for the island.
"He doesn't see us!" Jess exclaimed. "He is heading for the landing."
Acting upon the impulse of excitement, she rose to her feet, and
balancing herself with difficulty upon the rock, she called aloud three
times. As the third call sounded forth, the rower paused, and glanced
around to his right. At once the boat swerved to the left until its
bow pointed straight for the pile of rocks.
"He sees us! He sees us!" Jess cried. "It must be John, and he will
save us!"
"While watching the approaching boat, Mrs. Hampton was listening most
anxiously to the fire sweeping down upon them from the rear. The air
overhead was black with dense volumes of smoke, and already she could
feel the hot breath of the on-coming monster. A more ominous roar than
ever caused her to turn partly around. There stood the trees, gaily
dressed in their robes of green, unaware that in a few minutes their
beauty would be gone, and they would be left mere gaunt and shrivelled
spectres. From their low position, and protected by the trees, the
vast clouds of smoke did not greatly affect them, but swirled high
above. This could not be for long, as already the woman had caught the
first glimpse of the fire among the trees. Would the boat reach them
in time? That was the question she asked herself, as she looked again
in its direction. The rower was straining every effort, and he was now
but a few yards away. On and on rushed the boat, and as the rower
turned his face toward the women they were startled to see, not the one
they had imagined, but Eben Tobin. There was no time, however, for
questions now. As the boat neared the rocks, the boy rose to his feet
and reached out a fending oar. There was a bump, a grating sound, and
a roar from Eben.
"On board, quick," he ordered. "The fire's on top of us!"
Quickly the women obeyed, and scrambled from the rock into the boat,
nearly capsizing it as they did so.
"Set there, an' be still," Eben commanded, as he pushed away from the
shore, seated himself, and again dipped the oars into the water. He
headed the boat around the lower point of the island, and rowed hard.
So taken up were the women with watching the fire, that they hardly
looked at their rescuer. Had they done so they would have been greatly
shocked. The hair had disappeared from his head, his face, arms and
hands were red and swollen, while his shirt was entirely charred across
his chest and shoulders. His blood-shot eyes, and the haggard
expression on his face told their own tale, although he gave no outward
sign of his suffering. He rowed as he had never rowed before, for the
lives of the women depended upon his exertions.
Eben had been rowing only a few minutes when the fire reached the lower
end of the island. It burst with a mighty roar from among the trees,
and hurled its flames out over the rocks where the women had been
huddled but a short time before. They shivered as they watched the
fearful sight, and silently clung to each other. But even now they
were not beyond danger. The flames, as if angered by losing their
human prey, reached out over the water in a final effort to seize the
fleeing ones. Showers of blazing embers were poured forth, and fell
around the boat, and at times upon the occupants. The women were now
kept alert and busy extinguishing these brands by hurling the largest
overboard, and by dashing water with their hands and a small baling can
over the others. The heat was intense, and at times almost unbearable.
The smoke, too, was blinding and suffocating. This, added to the heat
and the roar of the fire, made their position a veritable inferno, from
which there seemed no way of escape. So far as they could tell the
country all around them was aflame.
Eben uttered no sound, but pulled strongly at the oars. Occasionally
he turned his head in an effort to see the mainland toward which he was
urging the boat. The fire was sweeping down along the shore, and he
could tell by the sound how far it had advanced. In a short time it
would be opposite them, and if thus caught between the flames on the
shore and those on the island their fate would be sealed.
Almost instinctively now Eben guided the boat, and in a few minutes
more it grated upon the beach and brought up with a jerk.
"Get out quick," the lad ordered, as he threw aside the oars and leaped
ashore.
Without a word the women immediately obeyed, and no sooner had their
feet touched the ground than their rescuer caught each by the arm with
a firm grip.
"Come," he gasped. "Guess we're in time."
They hurried up the bank, which here was quite steep, and in another
minute Eben halted, before an opening in the side of the hill.
"Gee! I struck it right," he panted. "It's the mine. Bend yer heads
an' come on. I'll show ye the way."