ure was so arranged as to show alternately views of the
wagon and the fire fighters. Always, however, there was the background
of the black smoke when the wagon was shown tearing over the prairie,
and the smoke constantly grew blacker.

"Get at it now, boys!" cried the manager, grinding away at the handle of
his camera. "Put in some lively work! Mr. Sneed, don't be afraid of the
fire. You're standing off too far."

The plot of the play was that first an attempt would be made to beat out
the fire, by means of bundles of wet brush dipped in a nearby brook.
This plan was to fail, and then an attempt would be made to "fight fire
with fire." That is, the prairie grass would be set ablaze some
distance ahead of the line of fire, and allowed to burn toward it. This
would make a blackened strip, bare of fuel for the flames, and the hope
was--or it used to be when prairie fires in the West were common--that
this would check the advancing blaze.

For a few seconds the men fought frantically to beat out the fire, then
Mr. DeVere exclaimed, with a dramatic gesture:

"It is no use! We must fight fire with fire!"

The men ran back some distance, Mr. Pertell taking his camera back the
same space. Then the prairie was set ablaze in a number of places, at
points nearer the slab cabin which was, as yet, untouched.

The scene of starting a counter-fire was a short one, for it was quickly
discovered, in reality as well as in the play, as planned, that the wind
was in the wrong direction. It simply advanced the flames nearer the
cabin.

"It's of no use, boys!" cried Mr. DeVere. "We must plow a bare strip."

"Bring up the horses and plows!" ordered Baldy. A number of these had
been held in reserve, out of sight of the camera, and they now came up
on the rush. The idea was that neighboring settlers, having sighted the
prairie fire, had come to the aid of their friends in the slab cabin.

Horses were quickly hitched to the plows, and the work of making a
number of furrows of damp earth, to act as a barrier to the flames, was
started.

While Mr. Pertell was filming this, Russ was busy getting views of the
on-rushing wagon containing the refugees. Several times the team was
stopped to enable the operator to go on ahead, and show it coming across
the prairie. This gave a different background each time.

It was after one of these halts, and just when the team was started up
again that Alice, who was on the front seat with Paul, the dri