| Show THE M E M HEART 1 E A 10 IT night GT ilni ww A STORY or OF THE GREAT AT kr N NORTH 0 ti T oy cy VING E ROC M ay y 7 acs ts ioway OY i it haft braf iv CHAPTER 13 th the spirit of the east CH company H under captain donald fan s thy they trotted swiftly lip with the of hard trained infantry and toad stood lu in column of fours while the tha of ficera ficere sought bought the head of of at who dally daily promptly ay sent a nt lor for the Y young g forest re ranger agar and in I 1 less than it 11 takes in the telling those these two ined been w ILL it V V es ste cm the tha amb woodsman and the soldier were ready to grap grall pie with t the a enemy light marching ale it hita to were dumped up upon the ground amend and ad th atio b hard muscled led men do took to ed the hills bills and the timber under quick decisive old orders two tw 0 he later ter wagons arrived with commissary eup up plus plies and ad the smoky maky blackened vol val ley wok took on a military air it was sas a titan struggle and it was b indicative of the force that has haa con COD acted doul nature the be human at toil ing I 1 in semidarkness i dk beneath be threatening forest choked by the smoke lie baad ed by the almost sh able I 1 a heat beat menaced by the tha flames that at a any Y moment might sweep list here or there among the rocks and ad declivities of the uneven hilla a and ad out cut off escape P that was the great danger they guarded against th the possibility of getting hemmed in G guards were de wiled tailed to watch the vang vanguards van guards d of the foe to note the speed of the flames the lie a ot the timber the iha lie lines that were likely to go fastest follow following mg the different growths but in the mystery oils and ad the WIC silence of it mingled bounds its they were impotent and ad each man had bad to take care ot him lit belf elf the mighty boom of falling petri patri a aichs archs of fit the a forest hoary with a thou a sand and earb of age crashing through ob obstructing branches shook the earth esh each so moment with eb aeao such to pard us fill wealth and world econ OKI and add prudence pruden a trembled at 1 the sacrilege f age it was a carnival of waste a ad sacrifice le of the gifts of god gd and add cloo among g all it those who fought it with to aud heart and hand band and brain the there A was was none who 11 knew its worldwide import 8 so we wall I 1 who lam lamented anted it so keenly a as the loan lean brown forest ringer ali whose s special do at to toe it was and to t think lunk a dozen miles of gov er trails would he have p prevented bated if cried the leader with so an oath th gueren out 1 in n the valleys beyond the heavy smoke 1 had ad obscured it the setting betting sun eun entirely 0 over ree the he don crest of the co cot coast t range ranee it had op spread ad up to the tha ft beaff ors ens drifted at afar on the changing wind and all th the distant valley illy of the wll wit jur lamelle notte raw kneff that the forest fires were burning in the hills th the 8 papers paper throughout the state tot told laid of it that day and ft t awakened no more interest int than would he hae at nodal cao is tended in tha announcement ot of a heavier run an of than was a usual d I 1 in the columbia they war were to too common those these fires fire that Is tW POrted with the national wealth each year yea too m much part ot every r y do day life and nd th they ey dian didn did not know w t that h t this bills was to be a worker marker of time in the no coast country time A was when ban they were war unknown these mo monsters of a tong long PAS past t time it was pas when those thee first for eit ro mangera unger the silent rod red aid sien of ibba hills had burned out the under ad we brush s ii each year so thet that a pony oy might igo any anywhere here unhindered the silent targets rangers had gone with the Y years passed to the hunting v grounds viento and add the tha I 1 via oil chiv ulab and now the great baa allied it its dry ary fil foliage liege and ad 1 lia pitch the little growths had bad sprung pg up as aea son on after evaeon A on the vines had bad crept bilt between woe and it a red man might not act pens limle th the fodnes fastnesses fast nesses ss without i built t lia so go destiny took talk up the land and blaed p sled with it that hot dry august A all 11 through the early houra boom of the tong long night they labored dirty black read ened tattered of men run end ning here and it there digging like mad ad is in th the wide trench that A as to at stop p the t I 1 burbace a I 1 ce rome flames owing flawing to anely SLY at t the he towering true trees while the be guards brought twenty minute tidings ot f the approaching fira fir lit high all against the dun moke fight eved ened sky BUY the dark canopy or of the east belt whispered red and ad moaned ad aa it if to la igind ibind lear or and from am time to time sundry sandry a haggard sol erani lipped hoped erac specter of 1 a man cand lifted drifted his bia bloodshot him cahot ayea toward it it was baill III he hie own his bis future of the Off bing rth despite the a men angle ol of Hamp denB dena besets the unrecorded deed and ad tp the 38 unfinished troll trail of tb abe yellow vellow pi pines at the south and it it pulled a at life hi heart pathetically the there was waa etall till A stretch of almost impenetrable timber near the summit of the big ridge which must be cut through before the fled alamea reached it or all would be lost shall we make tt it john asked the OW owner desperately ot at dally daily who a ran by I 1 ID the smoke with wet rags to tie the over ever th the Is mouths mouth of the men mea ought to if the wind stay ataye where it 1 in it was t two a 0 clock and that hour in the al Ble sapling world outside when all i the abens are am at so an ebb T then a all suddenly I 1 satiny destiny 1 laughed jabid il dealina cido tough laugh w a aa whooping sst ad that roee com AS aa the tha elemental clemm tal ebb bb tide turned hell broke loose upon the tha land and and heaven was not fire encompassed the world orld its U increased roar r changed to t the thunder of the spheres it appalled tho the hearts of men stayed their hands in fright all throughout the dark darkness a ot of telling rolling smoke wherein they worked between ltha ahe raging torrent and the east belt that mighty voice commanded cesia ces turn lion 1 instantaneously without orders as one ona man where there was no DO comma ni cation n save sai e between those a few feet apart t they Y hopped d 1 their their tattered blankets their axes they straightened from their labor leaving the dr brosi 4 cuts in the trunks here and add there thare above the solemn thunder hoarse hearts voices began to call it was the time to quit and they realized it instinctively out out out they cried to on each eh other cubar in the auak get gel out get out fl alter sandry working near the up adix x of the pushing line ime saw me men be ginning gaining to run past him back along the I 1 trench it and ud the be cutting ha 11 tilted lifted do dea pe leiato tu eyes eye to the ridge whose dim treat crest he could see between tile the holes boles so BO use near had bad they won to victory only a to few more big pines piece a it dozen eap filings linga a adt scant few yards of trench and add it would be dorm done the long ISO lane of safety stretched across aaros the neck of the east belt stop stop stop he be cried with a great vols voice that came fr from in the very depths of it his L lungs lunga with willi bouard borrowed ed power stand standby by me ma men for god s sake asks tend stand by I 1 14 he saw dim shapes falter be halt it I 1 turn or to toward ward him and start on A again in h he raised his hia stentorian brynd flying gigmes halted a moment upped stopped against their will by its compelling pow power bat I 1 in johnny easam all right hat but I 1 am in going to stay who it 11 stay my w with ila me ae out of the dense obscurity curn came cut col ling ills a huge fantastic figure aad ad toad stood beside him without a word wood la in the ten stan sion of the in time sundry bandry reach reached 0 out a hard hand and gripped the giant a about der A dozen men and wove we ve won son be or cried ed lie ha saw the baiting shapes lar turn a other gather another and another to retrace trade their steps and spring back into the darkness every man of t them h w was wr LIT western born bora find and th the mo taunt t had g gone 0 he homo he leaped fiddis himself olf tor ter the handle ot of a saw sticking out from the bole of a foot sugar plus pine sod and the he whining song bong ot of the cross a cuta cut za rose again under the dwarfing dwar fing roar met fourteen men had bad heard and we an that call and they were ere alone 1 in the purgatory of heat a and it smoke it all it the b e rest e t w efera u e bunning funning tor their b d lae lives live s d down ow n t the he c cleared le ared fa tall 1 1 towa toward r the valley ley beyond the dip krom time nine to time sandry glanced upward at the increasing light the sugar pine tell 1 1 with rending reading wax roar harr eiph sua and d with harris 1 w who h he ad saw W lot for the first time had bad been pulling w with 1 th him he be ran to the 0 next lie he saw as be ran that one of f th the lo 10 men working like a fury to tell t the h e saplings ap was murphy who had grent greet ed ad his hia pom pomposa Dilli north wan poulan all grieving I 1 irony Y in the old days day lie he had bad a moment a 4 vague wonder at this odd stripe of humanity humania that could hold such prejudice fight with basin it dens C a a men in savage vage enmity to jet join their took 6 later late with wita happy of at the no call 11 of gold and was still willing to turn back bach to fight with lit on death 9 brick b because as be had bad rate returned d their taunt ot of east and it west one by one in silence in a tension that drew the skin shin tight on their faces they saw the 14 Mina coulm ining 9 and monarchs arch I 1 fall all the kindling saplings Bap linga let laid ou on earth Gs the trench much narrower and shallower crp cr P upward to the rid ridge go against time against heat the that scorched or ched their bare arms and tort tortured ed tasir jallits ts against a st astl fling atmosphere the that t dr drove ve them and nearer to the mith earth breath breata they drew the last ind cut bent the last big plus pine creating crashing toward linseed the north th rhe ridge was clear in the more increase ing slow glow LA howa evil cried oil santry with tae in tri fr ph of a general on A vict victorious orlu us sold field now tor for the and add overl art I 1 but even a as he be dropped his hia saw and ad ran calling his bla me men collma collins big vows voice me ama through the wiling smoke with the 1 calm I a of finality at ain t no over at its it B a ninety toot tot drop on an to b bard 4 lock OCR beyond that ridge sandry stopped in hla his tracks his head cleared as if with a whiff of suit salt air by that call 1111 T the lie on anea had closed I 1 in with the I 1 in aft act of their kind to be ba together in danger as it if so the danger were tea lea senei but the estor easterner est or was undaunted then well we 11 take to the east belt athen h he tied cried even though it I 1 is a crown abrown fire and coming fast I 1 think our or trend trench will hold it it W with it Is all confident confidence he be turned to the be so bouab nth instinctively the men a had bad drawn draw in behind him the neck ot of the east belt was waa a wavering wall of 1 lama he be and 4 glanced baad long along the tha fall fail and the trench long lone streamers U a of dole dame buom libking across it the halt belt looked tor for hail bail happened th the little bunch orar of lights fighters 3 were hemmed in ringed around cund by fire death faced the them on every old aide the then US as tho the owner sent bent a searching look to every quarter b be sprang tor f ward here he r a he cried her here let into it every or man or ou 1 in 1 I bayl AYI at tho fit mat crest of the tha sheer bear ridge sm an old abandoned tunnel aped in the gloom a dim haven of refuge I 1 its mouth we was overhung I bg b by vines vine it its re coast cess my mysterious mastern stern a in san dry sprang to I 1 its edge and turned back for the men to pass paea they stood a small mail silent bunch sexual gazing in wordless const consternation ernd at the red ad canopy 0 isow o bow in hell bell did it get across oss la the tall said collins colling hoarsely but one by one they stooped and it entered J the a small email black bole in the earth it ran backward into the ridge abarca coures the height ot of tall led man anel its be floor uneven with the heaps heap of 0 earth fallen from the tha root roof since some borne long forgotten prospector had carved it out act here tor for a moment they breathed more easily standing close together ft a sweating panting waiting miss of how mity S dry stood at the mouth the wat last to enter ile ho looked out in hushed hashed aum ium at tile the 0 unchained mad ness does of tile the burning world the great fire had reached its danith it mom came handling booming and add roaring to the tall all anil and the trench tre ch its sound bound was waa Indes crIth able the the heat grew until the flesh on sundry sandry a arms arma and ad face rosa in ID lilia blis ie A sheet of name flame rt shot s sheer beer across the ibo tunnels a mouth stuck rolled let into it so and it here and bat there h a gasping breath ended in a moan mean i there was 11 no air to 11 awat breathe he lille like tri trapped spind amah th the men here hard and there feeling tor t r an opening a crevice vic to ded crawl wa 1 into to way away fr from the agony a of hea heat t sod and on suffocation ff call and add then they lost t control of ol of th themselves CiC my lily god retail cried murphy af arphy shrilly 1 cast cant toad bland lit at L let ia an me out so an 11 die an get ut of over he C came nm groping to the entrance facing the increasing heat beat his far tace was US a madman d s his mouth open PC his bis ingers fingers crooked like talons but of at the mouth that waa a as a t the he gats gate of list hell ho be met at the easterner ademer a at straight figure against aga unest the light beyond no said sundry sandry sternly go back i and lie down ft hat ta he shrieked what you do damned a J johnny houy you it I 1 and add he flung forward A smooth mouth black muzzle came forth and pushed its brax brazen a menace lot into his i I 1 lace do I 1 II 11 shoot bout th tha 6 first man that at tempts temple to pass pasa me eaid it sandry saddy hoarsely raving ng and cursing he backed away mora mom chaa ona a ot of the fut fourteen D egged begged it to be allowed to pass and one of the lumberjacks lumber jacks from sacramento muttered cedill deliriously of at calling his bid bluff 11 but bit t the awful 1 its d dragged by and sandry alto stood d at the do entrance the flames plus passed and all measurement of light and heat beat he lost sight eight of the figures at hla his feet he fol fait I 1 himself deal g go darkwa ing 19 out at I 1 in the darkness S letz he mutt red little 9 I 1 iltz et I 1 R b ben he come came to hims himself a if again men were or crawling across ere a him he could a be breathe the better ad and it the light had bail I 1 les nenod H he sat up wincing at the amov ing of his hia scorched ski aikin n over the muscles muscle underneath crawled out with the rest real and ad on one by one they rose to their feet fed the gret greit timber a ol 01 the east halt belt farther do down stood serried orr and green th tho effort had bad not been in vain the holocaust was waa checked the belt was safe back t toward d the north stretched a forest of tell tall ill blach it spikes picked out he hera and ad there thera by heavy spots pots of fire 15 1 acollins big voice come through |
