Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1889-11-15

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with the utmost possible strides of his
long, fleet legs.
The fire meanwhile was gaining every
moment, in spite of his tremendous ex-
ertion. Emmet could see that the smoke
closed in thicker, and feel that the air
was growing hot and oppressive.
But suddenly two little dark objects
appeared a few yards ahead, bobbing
above the waving grass. -
Emmet gave shout of sh9ht; it was
the black heads of Jake and Lib, ,nodding
as they ran. Their hats were off, and
they were running as fast as the wilder
ness of grass would let them. In an in
slant Comet was alongside, and, with
few sharp whoas and a hard pull at the
reins, Emmet managed to stop him but
few yards in front of the boys.
They ran to him with eager shouts,
their fright turned to joy at the sight of
him. But without waiting to answer
them he leaped forward, caught Lib by
the arm, and swung him up in front, then
helped Jake to scramble on behind.
"Hank tight to me, Yake," he said;
then. throwing an arm around Lib and
grasping the rope, he dug his heels into
| Comets ribs, and, with a shrill Hi
! Hi" set the steer off again at q swinging
pace.
| The crackle and roar of the fire could
plainly be heard as they started, and
Comet, either obiecting to his additional
burden or uneasy ut the smell and the
roar of the fire, began snorting and
throwing his head on either side omin-
ously.
Emmett feared that the steer would be-
come unmanageable, and, as last resort,
! determined to run him into the lake and
make him swim for it. Somewhere not
far below he knew there was an arm of
the lake about one hundred yards wide,
extending out considerable distance
into the fat, and this arm, or bayou, he
had hoped to reach.
He knew that Comet would not hest
tate an instant to plunge into it and swim
the steer had been known to swim
clear across the lake itself-and once
upon the other side he could soon make
his little party safe.
Suddenly the smoke lifted, and he
ventured glance backward. The sight
was appallingl The smoke, driven up
ward by the rush of heated air, was fly
ing above their heads, leaving the jump
ing flames in plain view.
The head fire was not quarter mile
distant, Emmet judged, and was bearing
down on them with terrible speed, the
flames shooting higher than he had ever
seen them rise before.
Little Jake and Lib clung to him with
out a word, while Comet threw his head
about and snorted more violently than
before.
But suddenly there was strip of
water before them; the arm of the lake
had been reached A moment more,
and they were into it with splash and
Commet was swimming with his heavy
burden and carrying it more easily than
he had been able to bear it upon land !;
but his body sank until the water came
up to Jake's waist, and nothing but the
nose and horns of the steer could be
seen.
But swimming was much slower work
than running had been, and by the time
the opposite shore was reached the fire
was already roaring at the other edge.
Emmett leaped off into the edge of the
water, and pulled Jake and Lib with
him.
"Here!" he shouted, giving them the
raees. ''Hank tight to i'm: ton't let M
loose off you can holt to m. You yust
so safe as to home now"
They obeyed manfully. and Emmet,
drawing matchbox from his vest
pocket, dropped upon his knees at the
nearest dry place, and, lighting a match,
held his hat over it until the flame had
touched the blades of grass which he
bent toward; then he stepped back into
the water and took charge of the steer
again.
The flames on the other side had now
reached the very waters edge, and
punches of burning grass were blown to-
woard them.
For an instant the heat was intense.
almost scorching. Great tongues of
angry flame Tapped over among the waters