Tearing through the undergrowth, running till they were breathless, walking fast and then running again, the boys made their way through the woods. To save time they took a short cut, but the ground was so rough that it may have proved longer in the end, and before they struck the old logging-road they realized that this was no light blaze in the dead wood. Volumes of smoke surged over the trees, and when they came within half a mile of the lake, they found the way blocked.  
Ahead of them the woods were burning to left and right. Hardly any flame was visible, but the forest was choking with smoke and full of the sharp smell of burning cedar¹. In the distance they could hear the roar of the flames and the occasional crash of falling trees. To save the apiary² looked hopeless.
 
“How in the world did it ever spring up so suddenly?” exclaimed Carl.
 
“Don’t know. But we can’t get through this way. Got to go round it!” gasped³ his brother, and they plunged⁴ into the woods again.
 
Though they were not far from the lake they had to make a wide detour⁶ to the west to reach it. What they could do when they got there they hardly knew, but the bees meant everything to them. They could not let the apiary burn without a fight.
 
Stumbling through the smoke, they reached the lake shore at last. Clouds of smoke drifted over the water, and the fire crashed and roared. Two hundred yards away they saw the beehives dimly and ran toward them. They had not yet been touched, but the fire was burning straight toward the yard, through the rubbish-ricks along the shore.
 
“Can we clear a belt around them?” cried Carl, doubtfully.
 
“Too late!” said Bob. “Can’t start any counter-fire either. Can’t we move them out of the way somehow?”
 
Standing⁷ in bitter perplexity they looked from the apiary to the woods. The fire was coming down the eastern shore; the hives were at the southern end and would certainly be consumed when the conflagration⁸ rounded the foot of the lake. There was not much flame in sight, but dense⁹ smoke rolled across the water, and hot ashes were falling in showers. These might start fresh fires anywhere.
 
“We’ll get trapped here ourselves if we don’t make haste!” Carl exclaimed.
 
Bob went down to the shore and dashed water over himself.
 
“If we only had the boat we could ferry them off!” he said, and then uttered a loud exclamation¹⁰.
 
“A raft! a raft! That’s the thing, Carl. Make a raft!”
 
“Yes, float ’em across the lake,” cried Carl. “Or up to the island. That’ll be best. Let’s get the logs together!”
 
Halfway¹¹ up the lake, barely visible through the smoke, was the little islet. It was barely twenty yards in diameter, but there was nothing on it to burn, and it would be a safe refuge if they could get the bees to it.
 
Bob had already begun to chop furiously into a dead pine log. There was plenty of timber scattered¹² along the shore, and, better still, there was the lumber¹³ and the nails that they had brought for the winter case. Time, only, was lacking.
 
Both boys rushed about frantically¹⁴ through the smoke. They dislodged the logs that lay nearest the water, hewed¹⁵ off the large limbs, and rolled the trunks down to the shore. Splashing in and out of the shallow water, they succeeded at last in getting half a dozen small tree trunks afloat together. Carl dragged down boards from the lumber pile, and Bob spiked¹⁶ them down with the back of his ax for a hammer.
 
“We’ll never do it!” Carl choked.
 
But they hauled in fresh timbers, more boards, and nailed them to the first section. The smoke was growing hotter and thicker; they could plainly feel the fierce breath of the fire itself. Pieces of flaming bark and branches were beginning to rain down. A partridge, blinded by the smoke, whirred over their heads and tumbled into the water.
 
“Keep going, Carl!” Bob cried hoarsely¹⁷. “A little more’ll do it.”
 
Working frantically, they managed to put together a few more square feet of raft and cover it with lumber. It was a rickety affair, but it must serve as it was. There was no time to do any more.
 
“Now all aboard with the bees!” Bob shouted.
 
He wiped his streaming eyes, seized upon the nearest hive, splashed with it into the shallow water, and set it on the raft. The bees were not flying, but the smoke and heat had caused them to cluster out on the entrances in great lumps. It was impossible to handle the hives without crushing bees, and when this happened they stung savagely¹⁹.
 
But it was no time to think of stings, and the boys hardly noticed them. The hives were a heavy weight, however; they were stuffed with willow-herb honey; some of them must have weighed eighty pounds, and the most distant had to be carried over a hundred feet to the raft. It was hardly possible to handle these single-handed.
 
Already the fire had burst out around the corner of the lake, and the dry wood around the apiary was ablaze²⁰. A flame suddenly sprang up in the middle of the yard, but Carl instantly stamped it out and went on with the work. His hands were bleeding; his back felt as if it were broken. He hardly knew how the last hives got on the raft. But suddenly there were no more of the painted boxes on the shore, and his brother was crying frantically to him to come aboard. He waded²¹ into the water up to his neck, helped to shove the shaky raft off, and swung himself upon the logs. With a couple of long poles the boys worked furiously to push the raft into deep water, but it moved with extreme slowness.
 
The whole shore was now aflame. Masses of blazing wood, driven by the wind, went hissing²² into the water. The heat and smoke were almost unendurable. But foot by foot the raft crept out into the lake till the water grew so deep that they could no longer reach bottom. They were forced to use the poles as sweeps, and their progress became still slower.
 
“We’ll save them! We’ll do it!” cried Bob, exultantly²³.
 
But they were far from safe. They were about a hundred feet from shore, and the heat was intense. Fire flooded over the whole ground where the apiary had stood. On the raft the air was scorching²⁴, and presently honey and melted wax began to ooze²⁵ from one of the hives. The combs were melting down.
 
Carl leaned over the edge and dashed water over all the hives, and it steamed up from the hot wood. But he kept splashing them till they cooled somewhat; meanwhile Bob was working hard at the pole. Presently, by good luck, they passed over a shoal spot, and they dug the poles into the bottom, gaining several yards.
 
At that moment Carl cried out sharply and pointed²⁶ ashore²⁷.
 
“What is it?” exclaimed Bob.
 
“Some one out there—I saw him through the smoke—just for a second!” the boy gasped.
 
They both gazed intently. The drifting smoke-clouds shrouded²⁸ all the scene. Then, as they blew aside a little, both the boys saw a human figure, a man, roughly dressed, dodging²⁹ up the shore at full speed to escape the fire.
 
“Larue!” exclaimed Bob.
 
“That’s who it was! For a minute I was afraid it might be Alice come to look for us,” said Carl. “But what can that fellow be doing here?”
 
“He must have got caught on the other shore, and is running around the lake to dodge³⁰ it. Why, Carl, you don’t suppose—”
 
“No, I really don’t think he’d do such a thing,” Carl answered. “To try to burn out the apiary would be too much. He’s making for home. I suppose he’s afraid the fire may burn down that way.”
 
There was no time then to speculate upon him any further. The air was a trifle fresher now, but the raft seemed to be growing more shaky every minute, and the boys were afraid it would actually fall to pieces. They had to propel it with the utmost care, but sparks no longer fell on them, and the little island was growing nearer.
 
“We’ve done it, Carl! We’re safe!” said Bob, and this time he spoke³¹ with reason.
 
Still it took another quarter of an hour of slow and anxious navigation before they grounded the raft on the island. They jumped into the water and began to unload the hives at once, setting them down anywhere on the stony³² ground. This was another heavy task, but when it was done they wiped their streaming faces, and breathed more freely.
 
Even here the air was thick with smoke, but it was not hot. Driving before the breeze, the fire seemed to be burning south and west from the lake and was now progressing up the western bank. Probably it would burn for miles, but nothing could be done now to check it.
 
“You don’t think it’ll go near our cabin, do you?” asked Carl suddenly.
 
“Not unless the wind shifts,” answered Bob. “But I think we ought to get back there as soon as we can. No telling what may happen.”
 
“I suppose we can leave the bees here all right till the fire’s out,” said Carl, looking critically around him. “But how are we going to get ashore ourselves?”
 
They did not relish³³ the idea of trying to paddle the raft over the half mile of water to land, and besides they preferred to leave it where it was for use when they should remove the bees from the island. Both of them could swim, but neither felt equal to a swim of that distance, especially as they were nearly exhausted³⁴ already. So for a time they sat still on the island, closely surrounded by murmuring masses of their bees, till it was nearly noon, and they began to grow desperately³⁵ hungry.
 
“It seems to me a thousand years since I had breakfast,” said Carl. “Nothing for it but to swim, I guess.”
 
They looked and dreaded³⁶, but there was really no easier way. Stripping off their already soaked clothes, they made them into two bundles, which they tied at their necks, and each took a loose plank³⁷ from the raft to serve as a float. With this support there was no danger of sinking, though it made their progress somewhat slow, and in half an hour they stepped ashore on the mainland.
 
The shore was still hot here where the fire had passed, and they had to go up the lake for half a mile before they found a way around the burned area. Here the fire seemed to have started, spreading southward, and they wondered again what had been its origin.
 
This necessary detour made it a long tramp home, and they were very tired, blackened, and hungry when they came in sight of the cabin, and perceived Alice scouting³⁸ about on the trail in front, evidently on the lookout³⁹ for them.
 
“Oh, boys!” she exclaimed, hastening toward them. “Are you all right? I’ve been almost out of my mind with fright. I could see the smoke, and I thought—I didn’t know what might happen. I knew you’d try to save the bees. Are they all burned up?”
 
“Not a bit of it,” said Carl. “We rafted them off into the lake.”
 
“Good! But I don’t care for anything, as long as you’re both safe. You must be hungry. I’ve had dinner ready for hours. I thought of trying to carry a lunch to you, but I was afraid I might miss you.”
 
“The fire didn’t seem to be coming this way, Alice?” enquired⁴⁰ Bob.
 
“Oh, no. Only the smoke was thick. The bees have been frightened and cross all the morning. The fire seems to me to be heading down the river, toward Indian Slough⁴¹. I hope it doesn’t get to Larue’s place.”
 
The boys washed off the ashes and soot⁴², sat down to the delayed dinner, and ate with appetites worthy⁴³ of what they had gone through. Now that the physical strain was over, they felt the effects of it, and they ached in every muscle. They were disinclined to do anything after dinner, and they all sat outside the cabin and watched the apparent progress of the fire, as indicated by the smoke over the tree-tops. It was certainly burning down toward the river, but far below them, and it seemed to be rather decreasing than spreading. Bob fancied it had encountered a wet piece of woodland that had given it a check. The sky was overcast⁴⁴ besides, looking as if rain might fall before morning. On the whole, things looked safe enough; so the boys went to bed soon after dark, and slept heavily.
 
Carl was awakened⁴⁵ by his brother shaking his arm.
 
“Get up!” Bob was saying. “Put on your clothes. Hurry!”
 
Very sleepily Carl obeyed, without knowing what was the matter. Daylight had just come. In the east the sky was crimsoning⁴⁶ delicately, but down the river in the southwest, it was all one fierce red glare. A high wind had risen, roaring through the trees, and they could see the reflection of the fire on the smoke-clouds, and now and again even the tongues of flame themselves, leaping against the sky.
 
Alice and Carl were both out-doors, watching in anxiety.
 
“It isn’t coming this way, is it?” asked Carl, when he had taken in the alarming spectacle.
 
“No. The wind’s the wrong way,” responded Bob. “But it must be burning down mighty⁴⁷ near our friend Larue. I believe we ought to take the boat and go down. He may need help.”
 
“Yes, I’m sure we ought!” Alice urged.
 
“Seems to me I’ve done enough fire-fighting for awhile,” Carl grumbled⁴⁸. “Why, yes, of course we must go,” he added. “I’ll be ready in a second. Shall we take our axes?”
 
“I declare, we left them both at the raft,” said Bob. “Never mind; I dare say we won’t need them. Alice can stay and keep house again.”
 
“Certainly not!” returned Alice, decisively. “There’s a woman down there and two little girls, and they may need a woman to help them. I’m going along.”
 
“Well, come along then—but I’d rather you wouldn’t,” said Bob with reluctance⁴⁹.
 
They all got into the boat and went down stream as fast as the oars¹⁸ and current could carry them. It was growing quite light now, but the morning mists and the pervading⁵⁰ smoke blurred⁵¹ the outline of everything. The sky was clouded and stormy-looking. It might rain. Meanwhile the wind blew strongly and seemed still rising.
 
“If this wind keeps up and no rain falls, it’ll mean millions of dollars loss, beside—very likely—some lives,” said Bob. “At this rate, it may go right over Morton.”
 
They had gone a couple of miles down the stream before they really approached the fire zone. Heavy smoke clouds whirled before the wind; farther down the woods a little way in from the water seemed all ablaze on the right-hand shore, though the fire had not jumped the river.
 
“Looks as if Larue’s outfit⁵² had gone!” said Bob.
 
But as they drifted down things did not look so bad. A short distance back from the river, fire was, indeed, fiercely at work, but along the shore there was only occasional burning trees, dead ones that had been ignited by brands drifting through the air. They expected to encoun............