“And I reckon, now, Eli?” Thad went on, after the guide had finished what he had to tell; “that you never saw the pine woods in better condition for a fire than they are right now?”
“Thet air a fact,” replied the other, emphatically. “Dry as tinder, an’ ef we doan’t git sum snow mighty soon, I guess as haow ther’ll be thousands o’ acres o’ vallerable land burned over afore Thanksgivin’ time.”
“Yeou must a seen sum lands thet hed be’n burned, on ther way up on ther train,” interjected Jim, breaking his long silence; “an’ yeou kin understan’ jest how lonesum they ’pears like, with ther tall pines astandin’ thar like flagpoles, black, and withaout ary limb; er else alayin’ in windrows on ther ground. Allers makes me feel bad tew see sech things.”
“And the game deserts a burned tract, too,” declared Allan.
“It sure dew,” Jim went on, with a shake of the head. “Yew never seen a more desolate region than sech a burned territory. Everybody moves aout quick as they can; fact is, most on ’em hes gut ther houses burned, an’ doan’t hev ter kerry much away with ’em. I hopes as haow it’ll snow er rain right soon, so’s tew save miles an’ miles o’ woodland.”
“And the fire wardens have their work cut out for them at this season of the year, you can easily believe,” observed Allan.
“Wonder now if we’ll see a real genuine forest fire while we’re up here,” remarked Giraffe, with considerable interest. “My! but she must look great to see them pines aflamin’ up like big torches. Now, you needn’t give me that look, Thad, because I haven’t forgot my promise, an’ I ain’t acarryin’ a single match along with me day after day. But if somebody else sets fire to the woods, I have as good a right to look as the next one, ain’t I?”
“Of course you have, Giraffe,” replied the scoutmaster, relieved, because this overpowering passion on the part of the tall boy had given him many anxious minutes since coming into Maine.
“Lots of these fires come after the loggers have done their work,” Allan volunteered. “You see, they leave a tremendous amount of stuff behind; all the limbs and branches of the trees they have cut down, as they are only after the main stem; so when this gets nice and dry, after a year or so, and a fire starts, with a brisk wind to whip it, what follows is more than I can describe. I saw one such fire, and we only escaped with our lives by the quick wit of a logger along with the party.”
“What did you do, Allan?” asked Bumpus, eagerly. “You know, I’m goin’ out with Giraffe to-morrow, and if we did meet up with a forest on fire, I couldn’t run like he can, with his long legs; so I’d like to know another way to give the old fire the go-by. Please explain how you cheated it. Why, Allan, it might save my life too, for all you know.”