ll green pineboughs for beaters, and then set the fires,
one after another. There were more than twenty of the great piles and
soon the river bottom, from bend to bend, was filled with rolling clouds
of smoke. As the dusk dropped, the yellow glare of the fire illuminated
the scene.

Sister clapped her hands and cried:

"Ain't this bully? It beats the Fourth of July celebration in Crawberry.
Oh, I'd rather be on the farm than go to heaven!"

They had brought their supper with them, and leaving the others to watch
the fires, and see that the grass did not tempt the flames to the edge
of the wood, Hiram cast bait into the river and, in an hour, drew out
enough mullet and "bull-heads" to satisfy them all, when they were
broiled over the hot coals of the first bonfire to be lighted.

They ate with much enjoyment. Between nine and ten o'clock the fires had
all burned down to coals.

A circle of burned-over grass and rubbish surrounded each fire. There
seemed no possibility that the flames could spread to the mat of dry
leaves on the side hill.

So they went home, a lantern guiding their feet over the rough path
through the timber, stopping at the spring for a long, thirst-quenching
draught.

The sky was as black as ink. Now and again a faint flash in the westward
proclaimed a tempest in that direction. But not a breath of wind was
stirring, and the rain might not reach this section.

A dull red glow was reflected on the clouds over the river-bottom. When
Hiram looked from his window, just as he was ready for bed, that glow
seemed to have increased.

"Strange," he muttered. "It can't be that those fires have spread. There
was no chance for them to spread. I--don't--understand it!"

He sat at the window and stared out through the darkness. There was
little wind as yet; it was a fact, however, that the firelight flickered
on the low-hung clouds with increasing radiance.

"Am I mad?" demanded the young farmer, suddenly leaping up and drawing
on his garments again. "That fire is spreading."

He dressed fully, and ran softly down the stairs and left the house.
When he came out in the clear the glow had not receded. There was a fire
down the hillside, and it seemed increasing every moment.

He remembered the enemy in the dark, and without stopping to rouse the
household, ran on toward the woods, his heart beating heavily in his
bosom.

Slipping, falling at times, panting heavily because of the rough ground,
Hiram c