"Hold on! Wait a minute. I think I hear voices!"
The horses were held back, not without difficulty, and then as the noise of their galloping, and the sound of the creaking wagon ceased, there was heard the unmistakable shouts of cowboys, and the rapid firing of revolvers.
"There they are!" cried Alice.
"Oh, if daddy is only there!" Ruth replied.
"Go on!" cried Paul to the German, and again the horses were given their heads.
But now, even above the noise made by the wagon and the galloping steeds, could be heard the welcome shouts which told that some, at least, of those left behind were still alive. The girls were crying now, in very joy, though their anxiety was not wholly past.
On and on galloped the horses. And then Paul cried:
"There's a way! There's a way out! The fire hasn't burned around the whole circle yet."
He pointed ahead. Through the smoke clouds could be seen an open space of grass that was not yet burned, and beyond that sparkled the waters of a wide but shallow creek.
There was safety indeed! They had escaped the flames by a narrow margin.