Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1898-03-24


tinder in the long-continued hot and
dry spell, and before the destroying
flames they disappeared rs snow be-
fore the sun. 1t was only about half
an hour since 1 first noticed the
smoke, and now we could hear dis
tinctly the distaW crack and roar OF
the flames, and every now and then
the heavy, resonant swish and boom
as some great king of the forest fell,
crashing through the smaller growth
beneath it. The twilight was coming
swiftly on. We began to get thor
oughly frightened as the fire came
nearer and nearer.
A great cloud of cinders and smoke,
the advance guard of the all-devour-
ing enemy, began to blow in our faces
and fire the dry underbrush at our
feet. A breeze had sprung up. We
might have died for it two hours be-
fore and not received it, but now,
when its presence was most deadly, it
appeared to give greater velocity to
the already furious pace of our de-
strovlng enemy.
applied the whip vigorously to the
old horse, and he seemed to put forth
his oest energies, but the crazy wag-
on was so heavy that we did not get
along any faster than a good trot.
The girl beside me was pale, but
her lips were firmly set and her eyes
burned with lustrous, determined
light. She would not finch, L saw.
She came of stern stuff, this tender
young girl, and the fierce, stubborn
spirit of her Dutch ancestry was stand
ing her now in good stead. I knew
Tess would not faint or scr0am or do
anything foolish or wild, but would
be a comrade to me in our danger,
with courage equal, if not superior,
to my own.
On came the fire. TWAS now with
in half q mile of us and roaring like
wild beast in sight of his prey. A
great cloud of smoke and cinders pre-.
ceded the flames and blew right in our
faces, making our eyes smart so that
we could scarcely see, and griming
and peppering our flesh till it felt raw.
A flock of teal-great big, beautiful
fellows-swept over us, flying toward
the lake, uttering loud, discordant
cries. Now and then one of the num-
ber would fall to the ground, its
wings, perhaps, singed by the flames
over which it had passed. Four
beautiful deer, massive stag with
magnificent antlers and three soft-eyed
does, came at full bound from the
covert to the left of the road, the buck
leading in frightened run and the
females following with that startled,
almost human, look in their large
eyes that one notices in animals at
bay. A long, glossy black snake
writhed its swift way through the un-
derbrush, across the road and was
lost to view in an instant. I scarcely
knew how L managed to see all these
minor features in the play which after
wards came so near being a tragedy,
but every little thing is indelibly i'm
pressed upon my mind, even to this
hour.
Our old horse was now fully alive
to the danger we were in. He trembled
and shook in every limb and drew the
ricliety old vehicle along at rate it
had never gone before. L hel3 the
reins and spoke encouraging words to
him, and tried to comfort the brave
girl at my side. Tess was trying to
keep the cinders off us with little
silk parasol-one Of my gifts to her
bat soon there were so many holes
burned in that dainty relic of civiliza-
ton that it became veritable colan-
der, through which poured red-hot
binding food OF sparks and smoke. A
great kissing. cracking cinder lighted
on her Tam -Shanter and that soon
was so near a blaze that I pitched it
off and threw it away. Tess looked
like an angry goddess. Her long brown
hair had escaped from its fastenings
and swept out behind in the wind our
passage created. AS she held the
reins while warded off great blaz-
ing fir bough that came hurting down
upon us, with her eyes sparkling with
excitement, her face pale as ashes,
and her lips set, she looked like an
other Queen Boadicea driving her
chariot of wrath over the necks of her
proud Roman insulters. Even in
| those moments of agony / wondered
how she kept up so marvelously.
We were now about half way home
and almost in the belt of fame. Things
might now get better, and if we could
hold out for another half hour there
was chance of our getting off with
our lives. I tried to speak, but my
throat was so parched that 1 could not
utter o sound.
The heat was frightful. Clouds of
dense white smoke settled about us
in sufocating closeness, while the
thnnder of the falling giants of the
forest, together with ithe sharp fusil-
lade produced by their swapping
branches and the ever-increasing roar
of the flames, made up grand and
awful diapason. And the fire came
closer and closer-and inally-it
reached us.
''Tess!" L shouted, as I put my arm