out more than a sidelong look. The squirrel
in the trees screeched alarm and once she caught sight of a big, dark
lumbering body crashing through the undergrowth to the left of her, and
divined that it was a bear. All the creatures of the wood had taken the
alarm and were fleeing before the fiery horror against which none could
stand.

When she reached the camp she went straight to the tent. Stane was
awake, lifted up on one elbow, an anxious look upon his face. As his
eyes saw her pallor, he knew that a fear which in the last few moments
had come to him was not groundless.

"Ah!" he cried, "the timber is on fire! I thought I could smell it."

"Yes," she answered, "and the wind is driving the fire this way."

"How far away?" he inquired calmly.

"Two or three miles."

"You will have to go, Miss Yardely," he answered quickly. "The fire
travels quickly in such timber as this. You must not mind me----"

"You want me to run away and leave you to die," cried the girl. "I
shall do nothing of the kind. I would sooner die myself! I could never
respect myself again. There must be some way out of this difficulty,
only I don't know it. But you are used to the ways of this wilderness.
You must tell me what to do, and quickly, and I will do it. Oh--if we
only had a canoe!"

"We haven't," he answered thoughtfully, "but the next best thing, we
could make, and----"

"What is that?"

"A raft!"

"A raft?" she echoed, hope lighting her face.

"Yes. If by any means you could get me down to the lake-side, I could
instruct you in the construction. But how you are going to do that----"

"I shall carry you," interrupted the girl. "It will be very painful for
you, but there is no other way."

"But how----?"

"On my back! I am strong, thank Heaven! And as we have no time to waste
I will make arrangements at once. I'll take our things down to the
shore, and then come back for you. You don't mind being left for a
little while?"

"Of course not."

"There'll be no breakfast this morning, but I can't help that. A forest
fire is no help to housekeeping."

She forced a little laugh as she spoke the words, but once outside the
tent, a look of deepest anxiety clouded her beautiful face.

CHAPTER XII

THE RAFT

Never in her life had Helen Yardely worked so hard as she worked in the
next two hours. She made two journeys to the lake with their
possessions, and on the way back the second time she arranged several
resting