Dave pointed to the glow. It was brighter now.
"Yes, it's a fire sure enough," was the ranchman's remark. "And traveling fast, too."
"Wind's blowing her this way," remarked Pocus Pete, who had joined the two. "Got t' get busy, boys." That last to the cowboys who were now up, ready for business.
"A prairie fire!" cried Mr. Bellmore. "How are you going to fight it?"
"There are only two ways," said Pocus Pete. "By plowing, or by firing a strip so wide that the main fire can't cross. We won't have time to plow. We've got to fight fire with fire. Come on, boys."
"Oh, if we only had water!" murmured the engineer.
"It wouldn't do us much good," said the ranchman. "When that fire gets here it will be a mile or more wide, and no hose would reach that far."
"That's right," chimed in Dave. He had not seen many prairie fires, but he knew something of their danger. "I guess we'll have to back fire. Though we could send for some plows, Dad."
"Yes, and I think I'll do that," the ranchman said. "The wind may shift, and I'd feel better if I had some plowed furrows between that blaze and my cattle."
Plowing and burning a strip are the two principal methods used in fighting prairie fires. The dry grass of the plains, when it starts to burn, goes like tinder. If it can be done in time, it is often effective to light another fire in front of the one that is rolling forward. This consumes the grass on which the flames feed, and when they reach that spot there is nothing for them to burn. And if one stands on the area burned he will be comparatively safe. Of course care must be taken not to get singed in the back-fire.