l
they sought might be subjected. A terrible thought had come into Peter's
mind in the last few moments--that it was Hawk Kennedy who had set fire
to the woods after imprisoning Beth in a cabin in the path of the
flames. This was his vengeance, terrible in its simplicity--for a
lighted match in the dry leaves would do the trick, and incendiarism in
the woods was difficult to trace. A vengeance fatal in its
effectiveness, for such a fire would tell no tales. Peter found himself
hoping that it was not to the old tool cabin that Beth had been
taken--that she was even far away from this inferno that lay before him.
The glare was already hot on his face and stray breezes which blew
toward him from time to time showed that the wind might be veering to
the eastward, in which case all the woods which they now traversed would
soon be afire.

But to the credit of Shad Wells it may be said that he did not hesitate,
for when he reached a point in the path where it turned closely along
the edge of the swamp, he plunged boldly into the woods, directly toward
the flames, and Peter, even more eager than he, ran ahead, peering to
right and left for signs of the cabin which now could not be far away.
The roar and the crackling were now ominously near and the flames seemed
to be all about them, while the tree tops seemed to be filled with
flaming brands. Sparks and live cinders fell upon them and the hot
breath of the wind blistered them with its heat.

Suddenly the panting Shad grasped Peter sharply by the arm with his
uninjured hand.

"The cabin! My God! It's burning now----Quick, Mister--or----"

Peter sprang forward through the flaming leaves. He seemed to be in the
very midst of the flames. Blinded and suffocated by the smoke, Peter
plunged forward and reached the cabin. One end and side of it was
blazing furiously but he dashed around the lower end of it, seeking the
door. It was open and already aflame. The hut was empty. He ran out
again, blinded by the smoke and the glare. Was it a fool's errand? And
had he and Shad only entrapped themselves to no good end? To the right
of him the fire roared and with his back to the glare his eyes eagerly
sought the shadows down the wind. Vague shapes of gnarled branches and
pallid tree trunks, spectral bushes quivering before the advancing
demon, some of them already alight. Safety lay only in this one
direction--for Beth, if she had been there, for Shad----Peter suddenly
remembered the lu