ied to provide for all. He knew that if
the wind should drive the flames into the drift the whole pile would be
destroyed in a very brief time, but in that case, he reasoned, the black
smoke of the resinous pine would make it impossible for the Indians to
see very far in that direction, and so he resolved, if the worst came,
to lead his companions out of the upper end of the hammock, into the
bushes and so escape to the creek, where he hoped to find a hiding-place
of some sort. He had got this far in his planning when he heard Judie
cough, and stepping quickly into the room found it full of smoke. Seeing
that to stay there was to suffocate, he beckoned his companions to
follow, and stepping lightly they passed down the alley-way and sat down
in one of the aisles, behind a great sycamore log which ran across the
pile. Peeping over this log Tom saw the three Indians shoulder their
guns and walk away. He ran at once to the look-out, and though the smoke
almost blinded him he observed all their movements. He wanted them away
speedily, so that he and Joe might extinguish the fire if that were
still possible, and as every minute served to increase the difficulty
and lessen the chances of doing so, the loitering of the savages seemed
interminable. They stopped first to drink at the spring. Then they
amused themselves by throwing sticks, and pebbles and shells at a turtle
which was sunning himself on a log in the stream. Then they stopped to
examine the track of a turkey or of some animal, in the sand, and it
really seemed to Tom that they did not mean to go away at all.

All things have an end, however, and even the stay of disagreeable
visitors cannot last always. The three savages finally disappeared a
mile down the river, and Tom, after scanning the surrounding country and
satisfying himself that there were no others in the immediate
neighborhood, hurried to the place where Joe and Judie were hidden.

"They've gone at least," he said, "and now Joe, we must put this fire
out, if we can. Judie, you stay here, and if you find the smoke bothers
you, go further down the alley that way. Don't try to stay if the smoke
comes."

How to stop the fire was the problem. Fortunately there was very little
wind, and what there was blew chiefly from up the river. The flames had
spread over a considerable space, however, and the boys had hardly
anything with which to work.

They carried water in their hats from the river, which was only a