Show 1 J mi The G Fiction HELPLESS ANNE Richard H. H By Wilkinson 81 51 a Corner lu ier luI I THROUGH the opening In 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 Minute and omi ominous no us 3 Minute 3 Fiction roar oar of ot crackling crackling crackling crack crack- ling flames He stumbled forward his breath a sobbing gasp gaspin gaspin in hi his throat his face white and drawn from the strain of running It seemed that he had run a thousand thousand 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 up the slope to his cabin By then it might be too late By then 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 to shut out the picture After a while he stood up and went on The glow against the sky was brighter bright red and orange and yellow Against it he could see billowing smoke clouds and occasional showers of sparks That meant the flames had reached the ridge behind the cabin In another moment they would be sweeping sweepIng sweepIng sweep- sweep Ing down the slope toward his clearing His spirits sank He choked as the smoke grew thicker and the theair theair theair air suffocating Above him he heard the wail of a rising wind and above the wind there was the increasing roar of the fire Anne wouldn't understand until it was too late It couldn't be much more than a amile amile amile mile he told himself He called on his last ounce of energy and fought ahead Suddenly a wild hope beat in hi his heart He looked up and there at athis athis athis his very feet was water The river He had come faster taster than he thought But abruptly the hope died Looking across he stared into a solid sheet of flame and smoke belching sparks The entire slope of the hill which was between the river and his cabin was afire Groaning he sank to his knees Before him the river hissed and steamed as flying fragments fell feU Into it Its black depths mirrored the licking tongues of flame with terrible beauty Watching with horrible fas fascination fascination ina- ina tion Langfords Langford's heart suddenly gave a bound He leaped to his feet and plunged into the water shouting Fifty feet from shore a adark adark adark dark silhouette had come into the path of orange reflection crazily but moving steadily toward the shore Atop it was a huddled bundle of something that moved and propelled the silhouette forward forward forward for for- ward with lith awkward clumsy strokes T L LANGFORD WADED in to his armpits 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 and a alot alot alot lot of ot our personal things Langford helped push the Im im- raft ashore But it wasn't until Anne had alighted and he had had carried Bobby to safety that hew he- discovered the raft was the hencooP hencoop hencoop hen- hen coop hed he'd made for Annes Anne's chick chicka chick a ens Four or five boards were laid across its top and lashed to- to together to-l to gether with part of the wire j jIt It was the only thing I could 1 jl carry Anne was saying I took the boards from the fence The chickens are all In the burlap bur bur- burlap lap bag and our things r are ar 1 sunk In hi a box on the other side j of the river Langford stared at her and t f fo fono no accountable reason he began t bj t laugh It was a curious sound no no not wholly rational But the inc incongruity incon gruity of it was justified for it ha ba occurred to him what a stupid fa fahed f hed he'd been to think Anne l helpless |