The forest woman was hanging up the mess kits to dry when Tom and Hippy went out to water and rub down the ponies. She beckoned them to wait.
"I been thinkin" "bout what ye said of Peg Tatem, Cap"n Gray, and I don"t like it," she said in a tone low enough to prevent being overheard by the girls, who were preparing for bed. "Peg must have been mad "bout somethin" and I reckon it would be healthy for us to git out of here in the mornin" and camp as far away from Forty-three as we kin. What do ye say, Cap"n?"
"Don"t worry about Peg. We shall be out of this in the morning, anyway.
I have to leave you to-morrow, so take good care of the girls and don"t let Henry eat the bull pup."
"He had better not," growled Hippy.
The two Overland men went to their lean-to laughing, Mrs. Shafto feeding the night logs to the fire before seeking her own browse-bed, Henry taking up his resting place a little distance from her in the shadows and away from the fire. His fur coat was sufficient protection against the evening chill, but Hindenburg"s hair was short, and he was shivering when he crawled in and nosed his way under Lieutenant Wingate"s blanket.
It did not seem to the Overlanders as if they had more than dropped to sleep, though they had been asleep for hours, when they were startled by a terrific explosion, an explosion that shook the earth and made the forest trees above them tremble and a shower of pine cones rain down on them in a perfect deluge.
"Tree coming! Run!" shouted Tom Gray, at the same time firing his revolver into the air to urge the Overlanders to greater haste.
CHAPTER X
MYSTERY IN THE FALL OF A TREE
"Run to the river!" It was Hippy"s voice, this time raised in warning.
He feared that the wide-spreading branches of the falling tree might hit some of the party of Overlanders.
A branch from a smaller tree, knocked down by the larger one in its fall, gave Hippy a sidewipe and sent him flying down the bank.
"Jump inter the river!" screamed the forest woman. "It ain"t deep." Joe led the way, shouting as she leaped for the water. Had there been light, it would have been easy to see which way the tree was falling, but in the darkness one could only guess from the sound the direction in which the tree was falling. It landed with a mighty crash just as the Overland Riders leaped into the river, and for a few seconds it sounded as if the forest itself were going down. The girls listened to the crashings and the reports in awesome silence.
"All over!" announced Tom, in a tone of relief.
"I--I don"t see anything about a falling tree that necessitates scaring a person out of a year"s growth," complained Emma.
"You don"t, eh? Then you have something to learn," answered Tom rather shortly.
"At least there is nothing to prevent our going back and getting to sleep, is there?" questioned Nora.
"There is!" said Tom.
"Wha--what do you mean?" demanded Hippy, but Tom made no reply.
Grace found herself wondering what had caused the tree to fall. There was no wind, other than a gentle zephyr; the ground was dry and the tree was not a dead tree, as she discovered when she found that its foliage had blotted out the campfire. Either she had not heard the explosion as the tree burst from the ground, or else she had forgotten that circ.u.mstance altogether in the excitement of the moment.
"All right. We can go back now," said Tom.
"And to bed for mine," promised Elfreda.
"If my eyes serve me right, you have no bed," answered Grace laughingly.
"I don"t understand," wondered Miss Briggs.
"From its position, I should say that the fallen tree pretty well covers our camp," replied Grace.
"Yes, it fell on the lean-tos," Tom informed them.
The Overland girls groaned.
"The voices of nature seem to be trying to tell us something. Perhaps they are inviting us to get out," suggested Hippy whimsically. "What is your interpretation of the tree"s fall, you Nature-Cult Person?" he questioned teasingly, nodding at Emma.
"I think they are seeking to advise us to rid ourselves of one Lieutenant Wingate if we expect to be permitted to proceed in peace,"
answered Emma. "Why don"t you go home?" teased the little Overland girl.
"My wife won"t let me. Of course you are not bound by any such restrictions," reminded Hippy.
Tom suddenly broke into a run. The others followed, calling to him to know what was wrong, but the forester did not at first answer, as he sped towards their camp, leaping logs and other obstructions in his path.
"Hurry!" he shouted, upon reaching the scene.
"What is it?" called Hippy.
"We have set the woods on fire!" answered Tom.
What the party had supposed to be only the campfire blazing under the tree that had fallen across it, in reality was a forest fire in the making. In falling, the tree had scattered the burning embers of the campfire, and set fire to the leaves and pine boughs that covered the ground. By the time Tom Gray reached the scene the fire was running up the little saplings, tracing out their limbs until they resembled decorated Christmas trees, and leaping from tree to tree.
"Isn"t it beautiful!" exclaimed Emma enthusiastically, as the spectacle burst into view.
"You won"t think so before many hours have pa.s.sed," answered Grace, who, as well as her husband, fully understood what this blaze with so good a start might mean.
"Grab those spruce boughs near the lean-tos and follow me!" shouted Tom.
"Every one of you get to work. Stamp out what is left of the campfire, Hippy, so that it doesn"t spread towards the river and get away from us along the bank. Stir yourselves!"
Through the smoke, the flying sparks and the pungent, almost overpowering odors, the Overland Riders ran with their arms full of spruce boughs.
"What are we to do?" cried Elfreda. "I feel as helpless as a child."
After they had hurried around the outer edge of the fire, which was rapidly reaching towards them in little wriggling, snake-like streams of fire, Tom directed the girls to spread out, each taking several rods of front to protect.
"Beat it out as fast as you can. When you see a wriggler reaching for a tree, beat it out with your spruce boughs," he ordered. "Don"t try to put out a tree on fire. You can"t do it, and may set yourselves on fire.
Grace, you take the lower end of the line and keep the girls at work. I will look after this end. Should a.s.sistance be needed at any one point, shout and we will all concentrate on it. All of you be careful that you don"t get burned."
The girls quickly took up the positions a.s.signed to them, and began beating and whipping the "golden serpents," as Nora characterized them.
In a few moments each member of the party was coughing and choking, their arms were aching and tears were running from their eyes. In spite of their efforts, however, the advancing fire drove them steadily back.
The big trees soon began to char, and, within an hour, were glowing pillars of fire, as one after another broke into flames that mounted higher and higher. Had there been leisure to view it as a spectacle, the sight would have been a magnificent one, but the Overlanders had other things to occupy their attention. While in no way to blame for the fire, they felt that this was their responsibility, theirs the duty to stop it, and so they worked and fought, gasping for breath, now and then retreating for fresh air.
"Lie down every little while!" shouted Tom. "The air is better near the ground. Pa.s.s the word along."
His orders were shouted from one to the other and so reached the extreme end of the fighting front.