im some comfort to turn in her direction and gaze upon the hills
which surrounded her. He did this again when he came out of the house
after his hasty meal. But no sooner had he looked, than he uttered an
exclamation of dismay. The woods in the distance were on fire! Great
clouds of smoke were rolling across the land, and at times blotting the
hills entirely from view. The fire was off to the right, and perhaps a
mile or more away. But he well knew that between it and Island Lake
was a large stretch of blueberry plains. When the fire reached this,
it would travel rapidly, devouring everything in its way. Then it
would sweep through a thicket of fir and spruce trees on the shore of
the lake, and the flames would be sure to leap to the island, which
here was but a short distance across. And Jess and his mother were
there! They could not escape, for they had no boat. And if they did,
where could they go for safety? The fire would reach them no matter
where they went, for from all appearance it was making a wide sweep in
its onward rush.

"Confound Sam Lemon for starting that fire!" he growled. "I feel sure
he did it, for he told me the other day that he was going to burn that
fallow of his. I warned him to be careful, but he only laughed. I
wish I had hold of him now, the scamp!"

John, however, knew that such lamentations would be of no use.
Something must be done and at once if the women on the island were to
be rescued. Just what he could do he was not sure. Anyway, if he were
with them something might be done. He could not leave them there
without an effort to save them. He was greatly excited now, so
hurrying to his car, he sprang on board and started down the road. He
drove faster than usual, and in a short time reached the Rebel Trail,
by which he had come that very morning. Under ordinary circumstances
he would have driven slowly and carefully over the rough way, for there
were gullies formed by the rain, and rocks around which it was
necessary to steer most cautiously. But John was so anxious and
excited that he threw caution to the wind and sent forward the car at a
break-neck speed. For a time all went well until he reached a small
bridge, formed of poles, which had become very rotten. The inevitable
happened, for no sooner had the car touched the bridge than the right
wheel crashed through, and in an instant the car was tightly jammed,
the sudden impact hurling John against the wind-shi