The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1908-05-09

lcSQS III a TeS,uIdr urC StOIIu Guu " .
could hear distinctly the roar and
cracking of flames in the near dis
lance. The heat was growing in
tense"
Into the water ordered Harry.
He plunged in with all his clothes on,
and / was glad to follow. We
dragged the blankets with US. Now,
said Harry, as cool as you please,
we've got to keep as far unders the
water as possible. Jasper. you throw
that wet blanket over your head, and
I'll cover myself with this one. But
keep ducking every minute or two.
so the blanket don't get hot and take
fire. And keep near me-
II followed every word he said.
In few minutes the fire was upon
US. On both sides of the creek dry
trees were burning with fury, famed
by considerable breeze. Even
through the wet blankets we would
have to duck and stay under water
for six or eight seconds. Once I
dared to look from under the blanket
and saw the top of the creek steam
ing from the heat. Neither of us
said anything. The battle for our
lives took all our time and ener-
gies."
How long we were in the water
we never knew, but it must have been
some four hours. During that time
I thought that almost every minute
would be our last. l expected either
to drown or to be choked to death
by the thick smoke. Once or twice
I almost fell to the bottom of the
creek from exhaustion"
even after the worst of the fire
had abated. and only heaps of charred
sticks, with here and there a bare
tree still pointing to the sky, re-
of the beautiful pine woods.
we dared not venture out of the
water"
When we finally did get out, the
heat Of the ground was so great that
we could feel it through our shoes.
We scraped away the cinders and
sticks on the bank and made
place for our wet blankets. It was
somewhat more comfortable to sit
here than to stand in the creek. We
could now breathe a little more
easily, but not much. The smoke was
20 thick that it seemed like twilight,
but we knew it must be still early in
he afternoon"
I'VE let our clothes dry upon us.
suppose we both fell asleep from
and slept a long while,
because when we got up it seemed
o be early the next morning. The
lir was still hot, and traces of smoke
we're about, but the sun came out
BRIGHTLY"
Refreshed by our sleep we looked
round for something to eat. Harry's
orethought was again our salvation.
saw then why he had put the re-
Mains of our ham in pot at the
'ottom of the creek. We didn't leave
but the bone, and then We
lecided to get' home as quickly as
ur legs would carry u.s."
Il shall never, never forget that |
fifteen miles walk home. Our poor
eet were blistered from the hot
our eyes were sore and swol- |
en-. Several times we almost gave |
p. How we managed to find our
ray can scarcely explain. The sun
vas our only guide in the charred |
7aste which we traversed. For the
asst two or three miles of our walk
re staggered along like drunken
Zen. 1t was past ten O'Clock when
re got home. You can imagine with
THAT joy we were received. The
olks had been worried to distraction,
that we had persisted in the
errible fire."
II was hustled to bed and swathed
4 bandages and liniment. In spite
t my pain l fell asleep in a few
My parents never gave me
ne word Of reproof. They could see
rom my poor bruised and burned
ody that I had learned a great les
on in the school of experience, and
hat it. was not likely l would ever
un off to the woods again.
Dung Peoples Paper.
The[Nilc Of 1907.