But the wind was blowing right toward Uncle Fred's ranch houses, and he and the cowboys knew they must hurry to plow the safety strip of land.
And so they began. Back and forth the teams of horses pulled the plows, turning the dry grass under and leaving only bare earth on top. Then other cowboys came, and the farmers and ranchers who had been telephoned to, and soon many were fighting the prairie fire.
Nearer and nearer it came. The horses, smelling the smoke and seeing the flames, began to snort and prance around.
"Only a little more now," cried Uncle Fred, "and we'll be safe!"
Back and forth the plows hurried, turning up strip after strip of damp ground. It was so hot now, because the fire was nearer, that Daddy Bunker led the children back a way.
"Could the fire get ahead of me if I ran fast?" asked Russ, as he watched the flames and smoke.
"Yes, if the wind blows hard the fire can go faster than the fastest man can run," said Captain Roy, who came up to where Daddy Bunker stood. The captain was thirsty, and wanted a drink of water from the pail Daddy Bunker had carried from the house.
"Do you think you can stop the fire?" asked Violet.
"Oh, yes, we'll stop it now all right," the former soldier answered. "We started to plow just in time."
And so it happened. The flames and smoke in the burning tall grass rolled right up to the edge of the plowed strip, and then they stopped. There was nothing more for the fire to "eat," as Russ called it. Some little tongues of fire tried to creep around the ends of the plowed strip, but the cowboys soon beat these out by throwing shovels full of dirt on them.