Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1932-03-25


a MOTHER fire on Bald Peak Jane,
A from her bungalow veranda,
watched the menacing spiral Of smoke
rising above the blotch o! pines on the
distant mountain. Probably the ranger
had long ago detected It and called out
his iireilgliters. Valiant men who Ia
bored hard for board and a dollar
day and yet over whom just now how
cred cloud of suspicion like that
white smoke now settling upon old
Bald Peaks slope.
b For three weeks not drop of rain
had fallen. Everywhere the woods
were finder dry And. in spite Of
posted warnings, one ire after an
other had blazed out to be conquered
only after the most arduous efforts.
Already people were beginning to
say, Are the fires being setf" And,
If they were, what was the object2
What man needed dollar day with
board thrown In so badly that he was
willing to run the risk Of jail sem
tence, to say nothing of burdening his
conscience with possible loss Of lifef
There were comparatively few men
available in this part Of the country.
Jane ran them over In her mind. Men
from the lumber camps, most Of them
native sons-the young boys Of the
town who enjoyed the excitement
A sudden swapping Of branch
startled her She turned to see a
stranger coming up the path. A tall
fellow in disreputable sweater. patched
trousers, shoes that were gray with
dust.
"Wonder If you could give me lit
tie information" he drawled. "Where
do 60 to join up with the fire bril-
gade?"
Jane looked at him a moment curl
ously before replying. Then she said
a funny thing. considering the needy
appearance of the youth before her.
"They only pay dollar day and
board."
"There are times when that is for
tune"
Jane shrugged her shoulders. "Oh,"
she said. "Well, you go down to the
fire warden's next to the post office.
Likely he'll be glad to sign on an
other man." Then she turned away,
but for the rest of the day she found
herself curiously disturbed. Suppose
that he was the man who had been
setting the firesI
For several days she heard no more
of him. Then, at the supper table,
her brother, for whom she kept house,
remarked casually, II understand they
think they've found the firebug. Some
new fellow just come to town."
That night, famed by northwest
wind, whlrlwlnd of flame swept Bold
Peak. At midnight the church bells
were started ringing, the fire siren
screeched, automobiles collecting fire
fighters tore up and down the streets.
Jane, hastily DOMINIC flannel shirt,
flnickers and heavy boots. insisted on
climbing in beside her brother.
All night long the lines Of grlmy,
smoke-stained men labored nightly,
digging trenches, building back fires,
Juggling water. And side by side with
them toiled Jane, herself grlmy and
smoke stained, but thrilled TO her in
most being by the excitement Of 1t.
And most of the lime beside her
worked the gray-eyed stranger who
was the object Of so many suspicious
glances.
Yet he seemet to work more easily
than any of them, whistling cheerfully
and occasionally breaking into snatches
Of gay song.
Sometimes he talked with Jane, ask
ing casual questions about those
around him. "Do you know that fell
low over there in the torn gray jer-
sey?"
"Surely. known him all my life.
He's the town clerks son."
"And that man with the pailT
"ROy Libby. Runs the garage"
"And that boy in the overalls. the
one that's had seventeen cups Of coffee
II he's had one?"
"Why, let me see, that must be-"
But Jane did not finish her sentence
At that moment one of those giants Of
the forest that have stood for genera
lions and seem likely to stand for gen.
erations more, shivered where II was,
swayed, hesitated, then crashed to the
ground three seconds after Jane had
felt herself seized In pair of strong
young arms and thrown clear into
pile Of brush.
And, strange though It may seem,
for the instant that she was In his
arms, Jane know that she cared for
this man Of whom she knew so little
and about such dreadful things were
being whispered.
Dawn found the fire checked, after
acres Of green forest had been meta
morphosed into scared and desolate
waste
Jane eating her seventh pancake
passed out by the busy crew Of cooks,
looked up to see tall figure slip Into
the seat beside her. We've got the
1rebug," he announced. "As I have
sort Of suspected from the first, II was
that boy In overalls Only fourteen
years old and out on parole from the
reformatory. He has Just confessed
he has started q dozen blazes out of
sheer desire to goi excitement. You
see. that was what | came here for.
Sent by the state to try and ferret out
the criminal Thought stranger
could do the job better. To morrow
I've cot TO get back TO nv regular