“But they can be asleep.”
“That’s right,” Poke broke in. “Remember, we were right on the spot, as you might say, and mighty little we worried till Sam happened to be bothered by an uneasy conscience or something. And so——”
Sam cut short Poke’s philosophical observations.
“Never mind that, now! Step, you’d better hustle over to the other side of the lake and wake ’em up. Poke, go along with him, and rout out any neighbors you can find. The rest of us will stay here and hold back the fire as well as we can till help comes. Orkney, take Herman and the Trojan and work along to the left. The Shark and I will go to the right. And Step and Poke, hurry—both of you!”
Step needed no urging. Away he went, on the run, with Poke close at his heels.
CHAPTER XX
THE BIG FIRE
Sam’s generalship had the virtue, at least, of not attempting impossibilities.
It had been shown that by concentrating effort the boys could check the fire for a comparatively few yards; but it was just as clear that such a break in the line of its advance would figure little in the general result. In short, so far as the club was concerned, the fire was out of control. It was spreading rapidly. How far it already had extended Sam did not know. To gain information on this point was one of the reasons for the division of his forces. He had no expectation that Orkney’s squad could accomplish more than he set as a task for the Shark and himself; and this was to do a sort of picket duty, keeping watch on the flames, hindering their progress, if possible, and preparing to report conditions accurately, when reinforcements should arrive.
It quickly became evident that the fire was covering a wide area. Sam and the Shark could catch the gleam of flames far to the right. Seemingly, though, the progress of the conflagration was most irregular. The ground was broken, with many little ravines and small swampy patches; the growth varied in density; the wind apparently had had much greater effect in some places than in others. The two boys moved along at a fairly rapid pace, for the most part; though they halted now and then to extinguish some blaze in bush or grass tuft, where a flying brand had fallen. The smoke was annoying rather than overpowering; for while it was rising in great clouds, these were caught by the strong breeze and swept away. By keeping a little back from the fire line the boys found that they avoided the worst of this trouble, most of the smoke passing overhead. Of course, they could not escape it wholly. Again and again the acrid gray fog closed about them, and left them coughing and gasping for a moment, while the air was again clearing.
Being bent on observation, Sam pressed on. He made mental note of what he saw, and was little encouraged thereby. It was a big fire, and it was going to be bigger still. The chances were excellent that the whole district about the end of the lake would be burned over.