Thad saw he was very nearly overcome with the smoke that had entered his lungs, as well as the burns he must have received. And just then the boy realized something of the real horror of a terrible forest fire. At a distance it might seem a glorious spectacle; but close at hand its dreadful nature was revealed.

Jim knew that this was neither the time nor place to waste a second in trying to enter into explanations. Those could all keep until a more convenient season. Cale Martin was all but played out. He swayed as he stood there, and Thad could see that the wonderful strength that had many years before made him the marvel of the lumbering camps, as Jim had told him, was very nearly utterly exhausted.

And yet so great a hold had his dislike for Jim Hasty taken upon his nature, that at sight of the man in his home he frowned blackly.

"We gotter mosey outen this right smart, Cale," said Jim, boldly. "Keep ther talkin' till we is safe from ther fire. Plenty o' time then tew tell me what yew wants tew say. I kim hyar tew see yew 'cause Lina, she made me. Naow, let's be headin' fur ther pond, 'less we wants tew be roasted an' stewed an' b'iled."

The giant did not seem inclined to make the first move to save himself; and it burst upon Thad's mind that he was really in some sort of a daze.

Perhaps the heat of the fire had affected his head, and he could not gather his wits. He may have headed straight back to the cabin, through the border of the fire, simply because of that intuition which will carry a man, walking in his sleep, past dangers and difficulties.

Jim must have guessed something of the same thing. That would account for his daring to leap forward, and catch hold of Cale's sleeve, though he had to beat out a small conflagration at the same time.

"Help me get him away!"

Jim did not say this, but his look did, as he turned toward Thad; and the boy instantly sprang forward to take hold of Cale's other arm. The giant, strangely enough, did not seem to offer any objection. Perhaps he realized that he was in a bad way, and that if left to his own devices must surely perish there. And life may even have been sweet enough to accept it at the hands of the man whom he believed had so terribly wronged him in stealing away his girl.

The instant they stepped out of the cabin Thad was appalled at the change that had taken place. Surely they could not have been inside for more than three minutes at the most; and yet so rapidly had the smoke and fire headed in toward the cabin of Old Cale that it was a fearful spectacle which burst upon their vision now.

The crackling of the flames, the crash of falling trees, the howl of the wind,--all these made a combination that was deafening. Added to it was the fierce glow of the fire itself, rising and falling as new patches of woods fell into its never satisfied maw.

Thad began to wonder how it would all end, and whether that wish of his to look on a real forest fire was not going to end in a tragedy. But he shut his teeth hard together, and determined to play his part, as a true scout should.

Jim was still there, and Jim would know what to do. The fire warden of the past had learned many ways of outwitting the red-tongued enemy; and there was hope of escape so long as he could remain on deck.

And so Thad drew in a long breath, half choked as he was, and waited to see what course the woods' pilot would take.

CHAPTER XXVII.

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 antic.i.p.ated 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 rea.s.suring 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 sh.o.r.e 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 a.s.sured. 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 pa.s.sed 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 b.u.mp 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 ma.s.s 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?"