tent with
him, Step Hen and Davy, creeping out, when Eli summoned them. Then came
an uncertain length of time, which Thad could never measure; for he was
sound asleep when it seemed to him some one was shouting something in
his dreams. He sat up, and bumped his head on some object that had
fallen out of place; but he was now fully awake, and felt a thrill when
he heard real shouts outside, in the voices of Step Hen and Davy Jones:

"Hey, everybody get busy here! The whole camp's on fire, and the wind
driving it into the woods like hot-cakes! Hurry up! Hurry up,
everybody!"

CHAPTER XVII.

FIGHTING THE FLAMES.

Out of the tent crawled Thad, utterly regardless of the fact that he was
not altogether warmly clad for a cold night. And what met his eyes when
he reached the open was enough to excite him still further.

The wind was blowing pretty stiffly, and the fire had already jumped
into the brush surrounding the camp. If given its head for even a short
time it seemed bound to get started in the dead pine needles; and once
it spread there, all the desperate efforts of a dozen fire-fighters
would be wasted.

Several figures could be seen, bounding here and there, and slashing at
the red flames with anything they could get hold of that would answer to
bring about a halt in their spread.

Of course these must be the late guardians of the sleeping camp, who
were now shouting so strenuously, and begging the rest of the campers to
come to their aid--Step Hen and Davy Jones; besides, there were the
guides, hard at work, having been aroused with the first cries; for they
still persisted in sleeping under a rude shelter they had made out of
branches and weeds.

Thad rushed into the fray, and began to do his very utmost to keep the
dreaded fire in check. He saw that the others were also crawling forth,
Bumpus, Giraffe and Allan, all occupants of the first tent. And
realizing the importance of concerted action, they lost not a second in
getting busy.

Bumpus, in particular, was a sight to behold, and had he been less busy
Thad felt that he must have doubled up with laughter to see him. He
persisted in donning a most stunning red-checked suit of pajamas; for
being so stout he did not suffer from the cold as much as some of the
others. And as his simple heart was wrapped up in the business that just
then engaged his full attention, Bumpus was prancing around, looking
more like a clown from the circus than anything