“How are you making it, Mary?” asked Tom, as he climbed out on a branch.
“I’m all right,” she said. “This is fun—just climbing down out of a tree,” and her laugh showed that her nerves were in good shape, for which Tom was glad. But then, Mary Nestor never was the sort of girl to go off in a faint. She was a brave girl, and that was why Tom liked her so much.
Together the two made their way down out of the pine tree, leaving the plane impaled on the branches over their heads.
“Poor Hummer!” murmured Tom, with more feeling than he cared to show.
“Yes, and poor us, too, perhaps, Tom!” exclaimed Mary.
“Why, we’re all right!” he exclaimed, as they reached the ground. “Hardly scratched.”
“Yes; but look! The fire! It’s all around us!”
Then Tom realized the peril he had all but forgotten—the peril of flames. As Mary spoke, the fire, with a sudden burst, leaped a gap hitherto open and the young people were in the midst of a raging conflagration—blazing trees and bushes all about them!
CHAPTER XIII
JUST IN TIME
Mary Nestor had borne up bravely during the previous trying experiences. But the discovery that the fire was all about them unnerved her and filled her with horror.