"Yes," she answered, "and the wind is driving the fire this way."
"How far away?" he inquired calmly.
"Two or three miles."
"You will have to go, Miss Yardely," he answered quickly. "The fire travels quickly in such timber as this. You must not mind me——"
"You want me to run away and leave you to die," cried the girl. "I shall do nothing of the kind. I would sooner die myself! I could never respect myself again. There must be some way out of this difficulty, only I don't know it. But you are used to the ways of this wilderness. You must tell me what to do, and quickly, and I will do it. Oh—if we only had a canoe!"
"We haven't," he answered thoughtfully, "but the next best thing, we could make, and——"
"What is that?"
"A raft!"
"A raft?" she echoed, hope lighting her face.
"Yes. If by any means you could get me down to the lake-side, I could instruct you in the construction. But how you are going to do that——"