th dull streaks as of beds of
coals, and little sharp points of flame. On both sides of the
road, creeping among the pines and leaping up into them, the
fire was raging. A low sound from Wych Hazel, a sound rather
of horror than fear, yet curiously pitiful and heart-stirring,
roused both her friends in an instant. Almost at the same
instant the coach came to a standstill, and Rollo jumped out.

'What's the matter, Rollo?'

'Fire in the woods, sir. We must turn about; that's all.'

The elder of the two women, who had just waked up, asked with
a terrified face, 'if there was any danger?' but nobody
answered her. Rollo took his seat again; at the same time the
horses' heads came about.

'What are you going to do?' she demanded.

'We are going back a little way. There is fire along the road
ahead of us; and the horses might set their feet upon some hot
ashes, which wouldn't be good for them.'

'But we're goin' back'ards!--where we come from! Calry, we're
goin' back hum!'

'We shall turn again presently,' said Rollo. 'Have patience a
few minutes.'

He spoke so calmly, the women were quieted. Mr. Falkirk,
however, leaned back no more. He watched the hazy smoke by the
roadside; he watched generally; and now and then his eye
furtively turned to Wych Hazel. For some little time they
travelled back hopefully on their way, though the smoky
atmosphere was too thick to let any one forget the obstacle
which had turned them. It grew stifling, breathed so long, and
it did not clear away; but though every one noticed this, no
one spoke of it to his neighbour. Then at last it began to
weigh down more heavily upon the forest, and visible puffs and
curls in the dense blue suggested that its substance was
becoming more palpable.

'Rollo--', said Mr. Falkirk in an undertone.

'Yes!' said the other, just as the coach again came to a
sudden stop and a volley of exclamations, smothered and not
smothered, sounded from the coach box. Both gentlemen sprang
out.

'Good patience!' said the older of the two women, 'it's the
fire again! it's all round us! O I wisht I hadn't a'come! I
wisht I was to hum!'--and she showed the earnestness of the
wish by beginning to cry. Her companion sat still and turned
very pale. Paler yet, but with every nerve braced, Wych Hazel
stood in the road to see for herself. The gentlemen were
consulting.

The fire had closed in upon the road they had passed over an
hour or two before. There it was, smoki