they reached the knoll upon which their lumber camp
was being constructed. Here they paused long enough to permit Bruce and
Jiminy to administer first aid to the unconscious Dave Connors. And
while the lads were reviving him, others gathered together hatchets,
axes, cooking utensils and whatever else they could conveniently carry,
and bidding farewell to their doomed camp they made ready for a plunge
into the shallows of the lake.

All that afternoon and a good part of the evening, the scouts stood
shoulder deep in the cool waters and watched the landscape burn. Acres
and acres of woodland with thousands of dollars' worth of timber was
consumed before their eyes. Dave watched it sadly, for he knew that all
this ruin had been wrought by him and his careless camping companions.

Every shallow of the lake was crowded with animal life of all kinds, and
the lads knew that thousands of forest dwellers must have perished in
that inferno. They stood among deer and bears and other more timid
forest dwellers, but the fear of man and the natural enmity toward each
other was completely blotted out by the greater fear of the fire, and a
seeming sense of comradeship born of common danger.

Night came, and the sky was a livid pink. The lake had checked the
fire's advance to the eastward and the wind had driven the flames north
toward the mountains. Further and further away traveled the flames
painting the sky a sinister color and producing a spectacle that the
scouts never forgot.

At midnight, though the woods still smoldered, the boys contemplated
leaving the shallows in which they had been standing and going ashore,
for they argued that if the heat from the embers was not too intense they
could work along the margin of the lake until they reached the opposite
shore.

But while they were contemplating this, off across the lake they saw
lights advancing toward them. They heard shouts, too, and they shouted
in answer, and it was not long before they had guided a flotilla of small
boats toward them. This proved to be a rescuing party organized and
headed by the anxious Mr. Ford and old Dr. Lyman, who were almost
distracted until they made doubly certain that every lad was safe and
whole of limb and body.

CHAPTER XVI

QUARRY TROOP'S CHRISTMAS

"Whew-w-w! Hi, shut that door--good night! want to freeze us out?" shouted
Romper Ryan, as he glared across the workshop at Bruce Clifford and Bud
Weir.

"Aw, don't