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Show Ask Mep Another a -- Courtney Ryley Cooper CI1APTER XI Continued But you care of will take your-elf- ? He promised and whirled, calling to a miner to start a rescue squad with canoes to Whoopee. Then he said to Jeanne: Tell the women they'll probably have to mix with the girls from Around the World Annie's when they get on the rafts. Jeanne handed a sack of dried potatoes to a waiting miner. Yes, Ill tell them. Theyve got enough sense to understand." send someone for Kay Joyce to be sure she gets out of And her cottage." The girl looked up. Ive already done It," she answered. Hammond turned away. It was like Jeanne Towers, to think first of the woman who had reviled her. Just as she had been able, with a pat of her hand, to forgive every Mow which Lew Snade had dealt her. A score of miners awaited him as he came down the narrow street from his cabin after a hasty dressing of his wounds. Ready for orders," said one of them. Hammond replied quickly, Weve got to hit for Loon creek. And start back-firing-." He led the way out of town and up the stream, dropping a man at Intervals of three or four hundred feet, at last to present a line nearly a mile long, waiting for the signal. Hammond gave it, with a shout that was picked up by the nearest man, sent onward, to be echoed and reechoed. Makeshift torches blazed, faintly yellow in the brighter glare. Flames leaped to life.. Then, with a steadily strengthening crackle, the marsh grass began to burn, while 'the workers under Hammond followed it slowly, to it at spots, and to be ready, once they reached the forest, to apply even more fire if, for any reason, the sweep of this onslaught did not take root there. It was the only chance the town had for salvation to send a fire against the wind and into the orest, that flame might meet flame and thus constrict its area of destruction. It was slow, choking work. The wind from the main fire was oven hot now; Hammond and his mm breathed with difficulty. They worked with wet bandannas wrapped around their faces to shield their nostrils; the bite of smoke and burning pitch cut through, nevertheless. Coughing, gasping for clean air, they went on. Then, as they slowly made their desperate way along the hot, tokened marsh wastes toward the forest proper, a worker straightened suddenly, shouting: Somebodys out there in the grass! Hammond followed the direction in which the miner had pointed. Deep in the marsh weeds a man had risen and was looking about him in bewildered terror. The light of the forest fire blazed higher, flashing against the heavy layers of smoke and glancifig downward through the haze. Hammonds eyes centered. Smoked out from his hiding place, even as a dozen forms of animal life were being smoked out, Bruce Kenning stood out there in a yellowed, inflammable sea transfixed with fear. Come this way I Hammond shouted thickly. His lips were heavYouve ily puffed and painful. got a bare chancel Put your coat over your head and make a run for it! For a moment, the man seemed about to obey. He even moved a few feet toward the advancing line of marsh fire, now throwing a wall of flame upward as it crackled along its line of defense toward the forest. Then suddenly, he changed his mind; he whirled and made for the smoky outlines of the deeper timber. He'll never get through there! a workman called. Afraid not, Hammond answered. Unless he knows a way to circle the main fire. Theres still a half mile or so of bush that isnt burning he might make the lake. Not if it's any hotter in there than it is here. The workman rubbed at smarting eyes. They were beginning to approach the end of endurance; at last, they were forced to turn back. The heat had become that of a superheated oven. Men were staggering, clawing at their throats. Nevertheless, they retreated with hope; the grass fire had reached the forest; a tree had blazed up with a booming explosion, the fire spreading to other trees about it But the hope faded. Even before they had reached the town again, embers were falling there. The wind heightened, blowing the smoke clouds over the huddled little settlement, like great billows of black-refog. The forms of men now were only faintly visible, as they worked at the burying of stores, or strove to lug down to the lake the possessions they deemed most valuable, their dogs snarling and fighting about them. Then a cry came, frantic. Help me, somebody Help me with my cabin. Its caught fire I The effort was useless. In another ten minutes a dozen structures were blazing; the clouds above seemed to have loosed a ver- re-ign- ten-fo- ot d high-pitche- d, 1 red-blac- k where hurrying refugees had thrown them, hopeful for rescue at a later time; tents, 1. What countries have dictators bedding, pieces of homemade furnihams and ture, bacon, at present? itable rain of fire. Heavy embers, cans of desiccated 2. Is there any guide to the food, blankets, as large as a mans arm, and blazeven bunks and rustic length of sentences when one is ing fiercely, were falling thickly; it mattresses, bedsteads and chinaware were scat- preparing a lecture? seemed impossible that a wind could tered about in the 3. How is GPU (Russia's secret indiscriminately carry anything so weighty. Spruce water to await sorting when danger police) pronounced? needles, half burnt, or untouched, 4. By what title was Commodore drove in upon the town like the pelt was gone. That time was yet disPerry known tp the Japanese? of a sleet storm. The night was tant The wind lessened again, the KHow fast do bullets travel? electric with sparks. Get to the lake! shouted Ham- smoke lay thick and deep. An airAnswers plane motor sounded, swiftly apmond. The town's done for! 1. The principal dictatorships For a time the proaching. ship He was among the last to go. Up in long banks, as its pilot are Russia, Austria. Italy, Geron the hill, the cottage which he circled, Buto find a break in the blanket many, Turkey, Hungary, strove had built for Kay was a mass of of Then lgaria. Albania and Mexico. beneath them. invisibility crawling flame. Farther on, Bruce lower it came, searching desperate2. There is the generalization Kenning'g cabin stood outlined, its ly; at last it showed sentences should not be long. that faintly through roof already caving. His own cab- the n as haze the aviator in was red with destruction. spotted the rafts and made certain Thus he watched his past, its of clear stretches of water where hopes, its dreams, its agonizing dis- a landing would not endanger life. appointments, die to the touch of an Again the ship banked. Then it torch. At last, he seemed to flat to the surface turned away, gaunt from physical of the lake, drop water in great splashing and mental pain, and followed the waves as it bounced eerily along, lake. down to other refugees the settled in long surging leaps, and All that night the airplanes roared finally taxied toward the shallows. the ships above Sapphire lake It halted, motor idling. The cabin which had left with the beginning door opened. A forester swung out of the fire, to seek pumps and tanks to a slippery pontoon. and dynamite, the ships summoned Wheres Jack Hammond? he by Sergeant Terry, the ships of the shouted to the dripping miners, who, forestry division. They drummed wet hands to their nostrils, had half and zoomed and snarled, like the air risen from the bar. Jack waved. force of some hidden army, working Then, hands to his puffed face, he high in the clouds, where no one rose and splashed forward, the pimight see. lot and forest ranger, each with nosSmoke had cut off all vision, save trils that of near-b-y objects. The wind hurry.shielded, shouting for him to had lessened its intensity somewhat He reached the plane and clambered from the pontoon into the cabin, the ranger slamming the door as he followed. The motor snarled with acceleration; quickly the pilot swung about and abruptly sent the ship into the air. Hammond leaned close to the ranger. Whats up? he shouted. Terry sent me after you. Wants you to take charge of one of the airplane shifts ; splitting up the work so we can all get a little rest. Terrys busy below. We're going to head in up here somewhere to try to block off the blaze. Terry says you know the country. Hammond nodded and was silent, looking out the side of the cabin. They were moving swiftly down the lake; dimly, very dimly beneath, were revealed the life rafts. Hammonds eyes searched every one there was a time when he would have looked thus for only one person, Kay Joyce. But now he found himself wondering which of the huddled patches of gray down there on those giant squares was Jeanne Towers, and if she were safe from 0 Courtlier 19 Rjlcy Cooper. WXU Service. with possessions, tar-cover-ed ttnda A Quiz With Answers Offering Information on Various Subjects Twenty-fou- words is a safe r Calm With tjie Calm The silentest thing is a bomb until it explodes. Dont peck and pound at conditions when thcy'ra calm. The man who is always after new friends gets therunning most snubs. The worlds real revolution is the steady change to a better and fuller sense of humanity in the hearts of men. Creditors are grateful to debtors who pay promptly, but there is no use denying there is a sense of triumph in collecting an old account. Belief may be one part credulity and all the rest a desire to get something. maxi- mum. 3. GPU is pronounced Gay pay-oo- h but only by foreigners. Russians do not mention the name, sometimes referring to them as men. the three-lett4. For diplomatic purposes Perry created for himself the title of Lord of the Forbidden Interior, but, of course, he did not actually hold such a title. er 5. Military rifles drive their bullets at speeds of from 2,000 to h The 3,000 feet per second. of one the speediest, bullet, is capable of traveling almost a mile a second. Ger-lic- deep-brow- It Was Slow, Choking Work. and brought with its abatement only greater suffering to these refugees, dependent upon the lake for their lives. Deep in the broad waters, the life rafts, huge affairs each capable Oi bearing a hundred persons, floated with their clusters of human freight, lying flat on the soggy logs and covered by equally soggy blankets. There was no air as such, save the thin layer which lay close to the water. Otherwise, all was fetid death; oxygen had been almost eliminated. Resin and wood fumes cut the nostrils; heat and smoke poison loaded the atmosphere to a point of suffocation. The person who would escape death or smoke sickness must lie with nostrils only inches from the lake; an attempt to breathe for long the poisonous air above meant fatality. No one slept. No one even thought of it. The threat of death by flame or suffocation had eradicated even the need of it; sleep is a necessity of peace; insomnia a blessing in time of danger. Jack Hammond was not on a raft. He lay on a shallow bar, his eyes closed, his head barely above water. All about him were evidences of life; here a dripping hand emerged to wipe at a steaming face, there a man rolled uncomfortably, spurting water as lie cooled his hot mouth. All those who had labored late in the town were here; groans attested to the pain of miners who, struggling too long, had rushed for the lake with their clothing aflame. Now, with the touch of water aggravating the torture of their burns, they had no surcease. They could only lie and suffer and wait. Here, too, were the dogs; many, bush-wis- e, waiting philosophically. Oth- ers, impatient, broke at limes from the water, only to return whimpering. Daylight had come; it meant little in the way of visibility, save for a few moments when the wind freshened again, whipping away the smoke lung enough to permit a fleeting view of the surrounding country. The town was gone, except for smoldering log squares where cabins had been. But over on the Alaskan side Wouldn't you know it? a miner asked sarcastically, as he raised his head for a moment to look about him. Everything weve got in the world gone but Around the World Annie's dance hall wasn't even touched! Yet everything was not gone. The shallows of tho lake were splotched fumes or suffocation. Got fire fighting equipment? Plenty. Hose and tankage?" Yeh and dynamite. Been bringing up a lot of Indians from around Takla lake they know their business. Ought to; they set enough fires down in that region so they can get paid for putting them out. They were at quite an altitude, but still in fog. "This smoke gbes up plenty high, Hammond said. Even as he mentioned it, he became aware that the air had cleared, that he was breathing deeply for the first time that day. The ranger leaned closer. Not smoke; clouds, he shouted. The visibility's hell. Getting colder freeze-u- p probably. Hope so. The forester grimaced. No one hoped that more than he. Then: Know any place we could get in up here, to start cutting off this blaze? If we can back-fir- e down below and cut 'er off here, itll save a half billion feet of timber. That was the job now, to save timber. But in saving it, Hammond knew, lives must be risked, perhaps lives given. He pointed toward Whoopee. We can work through the inlet, he said. The fire missed that. The smoke raised for a few minutes, and I got a look. It's dear. Thus the grueling task began, airplanes which banked and skimmed the surface of the lake, which took desperate chances, which dropped recklessly downward through the smoke pall to discharge their cargoes, then took off as desperately with no dear knowledge of shore or tree-to- p line. Wading whites and sloshing Indians slopped off the pontoons to splash ashore and there stand waiting until other chancetaking pilots, Timmy Moon among them, should bring up the long lines lightly-wove- n of small-borehose, the collapsible tanks and portable pumps which would allow water to be sent thousands of feet into the forest. Boxes of dynamite were unloaded. Sacks were carried out by the bale. Hour after hour, into the deep night and again to daylight, (the dogged task continued with short respites for rest as the shifts changed. Dynamite boomed and trees crashed to earth. Long, ragged lines of men, gasping for clean air, waving wet sacks monotonously, attacked the smoldering earth. The air grew hotter, more horrible. But suddenly Hammond paused in his commands and looked up, blinking. He put out his hand, swiftly retrieving it, close o his eyes. Snow! he shouted. It's started to snow! Keep going, fellows! We've got help from upstairs! d, no uk co.vn.xim YOU GET EXTRA PROTECTION AGAINST BLOWOUTS-ei- ght extra pounds of rubber are added to every 100 pounds of cord by the Firestone patented GumDipping process. By this process every fiber in every cord in every ply is saturated with liquid rubber. This counteracts dangerous internal friction and heat that ordinarily cause blowouts. 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