d jeers. They carried no weapons in their hands, but, as Grace
knew to be their practice, each jack wore a lumberman's knife.

"Clubs!"

At the signal, each Overland girl snatched up a stick and stood her
ground with set lips and a face from which most of the color had fled,
realizing fully the seriousness of the situation.

Lieutenant Wingate waited until the lumberjacks were almost upon him,
waited lounging indolently, his face wearing a grin.

"Oh, don't hurry, children," he admonished. "Save your wind for the
flight to the rear." Suddenly, Hippy bent forward and when he rose his
hand held a pine knot fully five feet long, the limb ablaze almost from
end to end. Not more than two feet separated the burning part from his
hands.

The limb was heavy, but Lieutenant Wingate was far from delicate, and
when he swung the burning limb it had power and speed behind it. The
limb burned and bruised the faces of three lumberjacks in its first
swing. Hippy plunged at the mob and belabored them right and left with
the blazing torch. More than one jack had to stop fighting long enough
to put out the blaze that singed the hair off his head.

Other jacks had run around one end of the camp to rush it from that
vantage point. Joe Shafto and her club met them, and so did the Overland
girls. Without uttering a sound they belabored the ruffians, beating,
whacking, prodding and swinging their clubs to good purpose.

"Help! Oh, help!" screamed Emma Dean.

A thrown club had hit her on the leg and felled her. Emma was out of the
fight so far as further defense was concerned, holding her aching limb
and moaning as she rocked back and forth.

Hippy turned for a quick glance in her direction.

"Look out, Hippy!" warned Nora, but her warning was too late. Several of
the attackers, taking advantage of his attention being drawn away from
them, leaped on him. They bore Hippy to the ground. He was mauled and
thumped, but not for many seconds, because the girls rushed to his
rescue and clubbed his attackers off. The jacks, returning, picked
Lieutenant Wingate up and tossed him into the campfire.

Emma screamed at the sight, but Elfreda Briggs grabbed his protruding
feet and hauled him out, while Grace and her companions beat back the
jacks who had done the cruel thing. Elfreda put out the flames and
assisted Hippy to his feet.

"Go in and fight!" urged J. Elfreda. "They're getting the best of us."

At that instant, Tom Gray, turning his