Chapter 27

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 anticipated 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 reassuring 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 shore 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 assured. 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 passed 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 bump 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 mass 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?"

"Just what it war, younker," replied Cale; "an' it's a feelin' better some, already."

Thad moved back. He seemed to know that Jim was just itching to have a few words with his father-in-law; and that the opportunity seemed ripe. Besides, Thad was more or less curious to know just what that clinching argument might be, which Jim meant to advance, and which he seemed so positive would bring the determined old man around.

When Jim took his place, Cale gave him one look, and then turned his head away. "I wisht yew wudn't feel like yew does agin me, Dad Martin," Jim started to say.

"Stop right thar!" burst out the other, as his old temper began to sway him again. "I don't want anything ter do wid yer, Jim Hasty. Time was when I vowed ter pin yer ears ter a tree, if ever ye showed up hyar agin; an' I meant it, I shore did. Then sumhow, thinkin' o' that leetle gal, an' how she sot sum store by ye, kinder flabbergasted me, an' I dassent stay around whar ye was, lest I do all I'd threatened, an' it'd break her heart. So I kim hyar ter my lonely home, thet ain't hed a single ray o' sunshine in it sense ye stole her away. But I don't forgit it, Jim Hasty, an' I ain't never agoin' ter forgive ye, er make up. So don't waste yer breath atryin'."

But when Thad saw the grin on Jim's face he knew the guide felt encouraged. His reception had been far less stormy than he had had reason to expect from all he knew of the violent temper of his respected father-in-law. And knowing that Jim was getting ready to spring his surprise, Thad almost held his breath while listening and watching.

"I tole yeou I kim here 'cause she sent me," Jim went on, in a pleading tone. "It grieved her gentle heart all this while 'cause she cudn't see yeou, Dad Martin. She sez as haow it's jest gut tew stop! She wants yeou, and wants yeou bad. An' so be they's another as ort tew see yeou. Here's ther message Little Lina sends tew yeou by me, her husband. Sez she, 'take this tew him, an' when he sees the face o' my baby and knows thet we calls him Leetle Caleb, p'raps then he'll forgive yeou, Jim, fur takin' me away; an' come back tew us all. Tell him we want him the wust kind, Leetle Caleb an' Lina!'"

He had thrust something into the hand of the old poacher as he spoke. Thad felt almost like giving vent into his overwrought feelings in a yell. Why, all the excitement attending the race with the forest fire had not been a circumstance to the thrill that swept over him when he saw that hard-hearted old man staring at the pictured faces of mother and child on that bit of cardboard, and then, filled with a return of the old love, pressing it wildly to his bearded lips.

And Thad knew, just as Jim had said, that the message which Lina had sent in the form of her baby's picture, had broken down the barrier of the old man's pride and obstinacy; for in another moment he was squeezing Jim's hand convulsively.