Searching frantically back and forth, Bob at last located the opening he sought, and dashed in. The others followed, and they all staggered along, tripping, falling, staggering to their feet, but always a little nearer their last hope of life—the lake!
They had covered perhaps half the distance when they were stopped short by a shout from a thicket to one side of the road.
“Save me, or I’ll be burned up! Save me!”
Had the Radio Boys been of another breed, they would have thought only of their own safety and paid no attention to the plea for assistance. But they were incapable of refusing aid to another, no matter how great their own peril, so they turned off from the road and presently came to the source of the outcry.
Prone on the ground lay Buck Looker, yelling lustily but making no other effort to save himself. Indeed, he was so unnerved by terror that had the Radio Boys not come to his assistance it is probable that he would have lain in the same place until the fire found him and put an end to his career. It was all they could do to haul him to his feet and drag him along with them, but they did their best, although this greatly retarded their own progress. And they could ill afford to lose time. The fire was rapidly closing in upon them.
Ahead they could see the opening through the trees which marked the end of the road, and they knew that the lake was only fifty yards or so past this. But even as they looked, some wandering breeze threw a tuft of flame into one of the trees ahead, the leaves and branches burst into flame, and the archway through which they would have to pass was outlined in fire.
Buck gave a howl of terror, and even the Radio Boys hesitated, appalled at the sight. They gazed desperately about them, but on every side the red tongues of the fire demon were lapping greedily at them. There could be no stopping and no retreat. To advance seemed almost as hopeless, but there was no choice left them.
Their chances were further diminished by the fact that Buck, overcome by terror, had fainted, and they were forced to carry his inert form between them. How they ever covered the remaining distance none of them could afterward tell. They had literally to run through the fire for twenty feet at the end, and when they emerged into the open space bordering the lake their clothing was afire in several places. Summoning the last remnant of their strength, they rushed toward the lake and threw themselves into the blessed coolness of the quiet water.
Words cannot describe the relief and luxury of that plunge. They splashed about, cooling their parched and blistered skins, reveling in their deliverance from the furious heat that pervaded the air. Close to the surface of the lake the atmosphere seemed cooler and less smoky, and it was possible to breathe and live.
At the first touch of the cool water Buck Looker had regained consciousness, but he was still overcome with terror and the fear of death, and did nothing but mutter and moan to himself. The Radio Boys took little further notice of him, however, but set about salvaging their radio set, which they had left close to the bank of the lake.