Jim nodded and his face got stern. "I have expected it all day. The fire will roll up the valley and I don't know where it will stop. We must break camp to-morrow and pitch farther along." He turned to Carrie. "Can you be ready to start for the settlement in the morning?"
"No, but this doesn't matter, because I'm not going."
"You must. The bush will burn like a furnace."
"Do you and Jake mean to quit?"
"You ought to see we can't quit."
Carrie smiled. "I do see it, but if you have good grounds for stopping, so have I. Your grounds, in fact."
"Shucks! You're ridiculous. In a way, of course, I don't want you to go."
"Thank you! Was it hard to own that, Jim? However, you won't have to make the effort to send me off, because I mean to stay."
Jim turned to Jake. "This job is yours; I don't see why you put it on to me. She's your sister and you ought to have some control."
"My control doesn't count for much," Jake admitted with a grin. "Besides, I allow you are the head of the firm."