He gave
the hammock a longing look, as though he had been counting on easing
his aching body into it. Seeing Marion there asleep, he dropped to the
pine needle carpet under a great tree, and began to fan himself with
his stiff-brimmed straw hat that was grimed with smoke and torn by
branches.

"By George!" he exclaimed, glancing toward Kate as she came hurrying
from the cabin. "That was an ordeal!"

"Oh, did you get it put out? And where is Fred? Shall I make you some
lemonade, Douglas?"

"A glass of lemonade would be refreshing, Kate, after the experience I
have gone through. By George! A forest fire is a tremendous problem,
once the conflagration attains any size. We worked like galley slaves
all night long, with absolutely no respite. Fred, by the way, is still
working like a demon."

While Kate was hurrying lemons and sugar into a pitcher, the professor
reclined his work-wearied body upon the pine needles and cast hungry
glances toward the hammock. He cleared his throat loudly once or
twice, and soliloquized aloud: "By George! I wish I could stretch out
comfortably somewhere."

But Marion did not hear him--apparently being asleep; though the
professor wondered how one could sleep and at the same time keep a
hammock swinging with one's toes, as Marion was doing. He cleared his
throat again, sighed and inquired mildly: "Are you asleep, Marion?"
Getting no answer, he sighed again and hitched himself closer to the
tree, so that a certain protruding root should not gouge him so
disagreeably in the side.

"Shall I fix you something to eat, Douglas?" The voice of Kate crooned
over him solicitously. "I can poach you a couple of eggs in just a
minute, over the oil stove, and make you a cup of tea. Is the fire
out? And, oh, Douglas! Has it burned any of our timber? I have been so
worried, I did not close my eyes once, all night."

"Our timber is safe, I'm happy to say. It really is safer, if
anything, than it was before the fire started. There will be no
further possibility of fire creeping upon us from that quarter." He
quaffed the lemonade with little, restrained sighs of enjoyment. "It
also occurred to me that every forest fire must necessarily increase
the value of what timber is left. I should say then, strictly between
you and me, Kate, that this fire may be looked upon privately as an
asset."

The hammock gave an extra swing and then stopped. Kate, being somewhat
sensitive to a third presence when she and