Carolyn May had hidden her face on Miss Amanda’s shoulder and was sobbing quietly. Both of her human companions were painfully aware that breathing the smoke-filled air was hurting them. Mr. Stagg hurried the labouring horse on as rapidly as he dared. Cherry coughed every few steps; the man did not want to bring the horse to his knees. Their very lives depended on the animal. The roaring of the fire increased. Through the more open woods which bordered this path they saw the smoke advancing in a thicker wall—and one as high as the tree tops. Through the curtain of this smoke cloud red tongues of flame leaped forward to lick up hungrily patches of underbrush or to fasten on certain trees. “You’ve got to make it, old boy,” muttered Joseph Stagg, and he lashed the horse again. The spirited Cherry leaped forward, both the woman and the child screaming. “Hang on,” advised Mr. Stagg. “The road makes a turn just ahead, and that’s mighty lucky for us.” For he knew that the fire was roaring down toward them, the wind having risen to a gale. The crash of falling trees and the snapping of the fire was like the sound from a battlefront. The noise was almost deafening. “Is it far? Is it far?” gasped Amanda in his ear. “Too far for comfort. But keep your heart up.” As the man spoke, a blazing brand swung through the air and came down, right on Amanda’s shoulders. Carolyn May shrieked. Joseph Stagg brushed off the burning stick. Cherry mounted another small ridge and then they clattered down into a little hollow where there was a slough beside the road. The water was green and stagnant, but it was water. The man pulled in the hard-pressed horse and leaped down, passing the reins to Amanda. He whipped off his coat and dipped it in the mudhole. He drew it out dripping with water and slime. “Look out, here! Have to shut your eyes!” he warned his two companions on the seat of the buckboard, and threw the saturated coat over Miss Amanda’s head. The dripping garment sheltered Carolyn May as well. “Now, good horse!” he yelled to Cherry, leaping back to the seat. “_Gid-ap!_” The horse started up the slope. Another swirling brand came down upon them. Joseph Stagg fought it off with his bare hand. His shirt sleeve caught fire and he was painfully burned on the forearm before he could smother the blaze. It was growing so hot now that the leaves on the trees curled and were blasted before the flames actually reached them. Behind the fleeing buckboard the conflagration was on both sides of the narrow path. They were barely keeping ahead of the enemy. Another flaming brand fell, landing on Cherry’s back. The horse squealed and leaped forward at a pace which Mr. Stagg could not control. Maddened by the burn, Cherry had taken the bit in his teeth and was running away. The man threw down the reins. He could do nothing towards retarding the frightened horse’s pace. Indeed, he did not want to stop him.