Show The HELPLESS ANNE By Fiction RiChard N. N Wilkinson Wi Corner Comer THROUGH THROUGH the opening In tn the trees above the woods road Langford could see the dull glow against the sky It was growing brighter by the minute and now the smell of smoke was strong In his ears there was the distant and ominous S Fiction roar of ot crackling crackling crackling crack crack- ling flames He stumbled forward his breath a sobbing gasp gaspin gaspin gaspin in his throat his face white and drawn from the strain strata of running It seemed that he had run a thousand and miles though he knew it was not more than eight Eight at the most That meant there were still three to go before he reached the river Then hed he'd have to swim across and make another mile mUe up the slope to his cabin By then it might be too late By then th the fire might have swept down on the little log structure and destroyed it and what it contained Anne and little Bobby He closed his eyes tyes to shut out the picture After a while he be stood up and went on The glow against the sky was brighter bright red and orange and yellow Against It U he could see lee billowing smoke clouds and occasional showers of sparks That meant the flames had reached the ridge behind the cabin In another moment th they would be sweeping sweep sweep- hog ing down the slope toward his hi clearing His Ills spirits sank He lie choked as the smoke grew thicker tl icker and the theair theair theair air suffocating Above him he heard the wall wail of at a rising wind and above the wind there was the increasing roar of the fire Anne wouldn't understand until neW It ft was too late It couldn't be much more than a amile amile mile mlle he ha told himself H Ha H. called on his last ounce of ot energy enere and fought ahead Suddenly a wild hope beat in his hi heart He looked up and there at his V very 17 feet fee was water The river He lie had come faster taster than he thought But Dut abruptly th the hope died Looking across he stared into a solid sheet of flame fiame and smoke belching C sparks parks The entire slope elope 1 P of the th hill bill which was between the river and his cabin was afire Groaning he be tank auk to his bis knees kneel him the river hissed and nd steamed teamed as aa flying fragments fell feU Into it It its black depths mirrored the Ud licking nr tongues tongue of flame name with terrible beauty Va Watching with horrible lion Uon Langford's Langfords heart suddenly gave ave a bound He Re leaped to Si ble bI feet tee and plunged into o the water shouting Fifty feet from shore a adark adark dark silhouette had come into the path of orange reflection crazIly but moving steadily toward the shore Atop It it was a huddled bundle of something that moved and propelled the silhouette forward forward forward for- for ward with awkward clumsy strokes T T LANGFORD WADED in to his armpits armpits arm arm- pits and then started to swim He called again and a voice answered answered answered an an- him telling him to go back But he And presently the silhouette ranged alongside and Annes Anne's frightened eyes were looking lookIng looking look look- ing Into his own Bobby he gasped Hes here under the blankets And I saved the hens too too and a lot of at our personal things Langford helped push the Im he- he I raft ashore But it wasn't until Anne had alighted and he be had bad carried Bobby to safety that h he ha discovered the raft was the hencoop hencoop hen hell coop hed he'd made for Annes Anne's chick ens Four or five boards were laid across its top and lashed together together together to to- gether with part of at the wire It n was the only thing thine I l could carry Anne was saying I took the boards from the fence The chickens are all aU In the burlap burlap bur bur- lap bag and our things are sunk in a box on the other sIde of 01 the river Langford stared at her and for forno forno forno no accountable reason he began to laugh It was a curious sound not notI wholly rational But the incon incongruity incongruity neon I gruity grotty of it was justified for it ft had occurred to him what a stupid fool hed he'd been to think Anne helpless |