wilight, he came to a tiny stream flowing from
under a rock. He knelt and drank of the cool water, and then he opened
Michael's knapsack. It was truly well filled, and he ate with deep
content. Then he drank again and rested by the side of the pool.

As he reflected over his journey Harry concluded that Providence had
watched over him so far, but there was much yet to do before he reached
Lee. Providence had a strange way of watching over a man for a while,
and then letting him go. He would neglect no precaution. The forest
would not continue forever and then he must take his chances in the open.

Still burning with the desire to be the first to reach Lee, he put the
rifle and the shotgun on either shoulder, and set off at as rapid a pace
as the thickets would permit. But he soon stopped because a sound almost
like that of a wind, but not a wind, came to his ears. There was a
breeze blowing directly toward him, but he paid no attention to it,
because to him most breezes were pleasant and friendly. But the other
sound had in it a quality that was distinctly sinister like the hissing
of a snake.

Harry paused in wonder and alarm. All his instincts warned him that a
new danger was at hand. The breath of the wind suddenly grew hot,
and sparks carried by it blew past him. He knew, in an instant, that the
forest was on fire behind him and that tinder dry, it would burn fast and
furious. Changing from a walk to a run, he sped forward as swiftly as he
could, while the flames suddenly sprang high, waved and leaped forward in
chase.

CHAPTER VI

TESTS OF COURAGE

Harry did not know how the woods had been set on fire, and he never knew.
He did not credit it to the intent of Michael and his comrades, but he
thought it likely that some of these men, ignorant of the forest, had
built a campfire. His first thought was of himself, and his second was
regret that so fine a stretch of timber should be burned over for nothing.

But he knew that he must hurry. Nor could he choose his way. He must
get out of that forest even if he ran directly into the middle of a Union
brigade. The wind was bringing the fire fast. It leaped from one tree
to another, despite the recent rains, gathering volume and power as it
came. Sparks flew in showers, and fragments of burned twigs rained down.
Twice Harry's face was scorched lightly and he had a fear that one of
the blazing twigs would set his hair on fire. He made anoth