Despite his struggles, he passed Bertie to Dale and struck out for the trunk in question, which lay partly in and partly out of the water, a short distance up the shore. With the smoke and sparks all around him, he caught hold of the trunk and floated it. Then he brought it over to where Dale was treading water as before. "Now sit on the tree," said Owen to the little ones, and they were made to obey. Then, while Dale held them with one hand and swam with the other, Owen got at the rear end of the trunk and pushed it ahead toward the island. "I see the boat! I see the boat!" suddenly shrieked Bertie. "Take me to the boat!" He pointed with his finger, and, looking in the direction, the young lumbermen saw a steam launch gliding over the lake not a great distance off. Both gave a yell and waved their arms, and soon the launch was puffing in their direction. When it came closer, they saw that the craft contained Mrs. Wilbur, Jasper Nown, a nurse in a white apron and cap, and a man who looked after the boats belonging to the lodge. "My children!" came in a loud cry from the lady. "Oh, are my children safe?" "Yes, ma'am, they are all right," answered Owen. "Thank Heaven!" she murmured, and when the launch came up beside the floating timber, she strained each little one to her breast, and kissed them over and over again, while the tears of joy streamed down her cheeks. "I am so thankful you saved them," she said. "Come aboard the launch, both of you. Where did you find them?" "We ran away, and they came for us up at Mirror Lake," said little Bertie. "But, oh, mamma, we aren't going to run away again!" and he buried his head on her shoulder. "No, no, I'll never, never run away again," burst out Gertrude. "Poor Polly is burnt up!" and she too began to cry. In a few words, Dale and Owen related how they were on their way to a distant lumber camp, and how they had discovered the two little runaways just about the time the forest fire swept down upon them. Then they told of the run to the bluff, and what a narrow escape they had had from the flames. "It was Providence that led you to find my children," said Mrs. Wilbur devoutly. "We have been searching for them for hours. They got Fanny, here, to go into the lodge for something, and then ran away, and we could not imagine where they had gone. I was afraid they might have been drowned. Then the fire came up, and I did not know what to do. Jasper, our man, advised that we take to the lake, so here we are on the launch." "The fire isn't working around to the lodge just now," answered Owen. "The wind is shifting to where it came from." "No, no, the whole place will be burnt up for a certainty," came from Jasper Nown. His face plainly showed that he was badly scared. "Fortunately the visitors we have been expecting have not yet arrived," went on Mrs. Wilbur. "But there are several more servants at the lodge. Do you think we had better go back for them?"