as it turned out, and I guess it taught them both to be
more careful about going out in woods when they weren't sure of the
trail."

"Gee, Jack, I could have got lost myself then. I didn't know how to
travel by the stars, and I wasn't any too sure how to use a compass."

They had traveled more than half the distance when they picked out a
sleeping place that night. They went to a farmer's house, and when he
found that all they wanted was permission to camp in his wood lot, and
to make a fire there, he told them they could do as they liked. He
invited them to spend the night in the house, too, but they told him
they preferred to sleep out-of-doors, and, laughing at them, he
consented.

They were off at five in the morning, and at noon, when they built a
fire and cooked their dinner, they could see the wooded crests of the
hills that were their destination rising before them.

"Look at that haze, Jack," said Pete. "That isn't a storm, is it,
coming along?"

"I don't think so, Pete. I don't like the looks of it. It looks to me
more like smoke, from a woods fire. I've been thinking I smelled smoke
for some time, too."

"Could you smell it as far as this?"

"Smoke from a big forest fire sometimes travels for two or three
hundred miles, if the wind's right, Pete. In the city, even, in the
fall, there will be smoky days, though there isn't a forest fire of any
sort for a good many miles."

"I suppose that's because the wood smoke is so thick."

The further they traveled, the thicker grew the smoke. There could no
longer be any mistake about it. The woods in front of them were well
alight.

"I only hope the fire doesn't reach Eagle Lake," said Jack.

CHAPTER XVI

A TIMELY WARNING

It was nearly dark when they finally arrived at the lake. Chris Benton
and Jim Burroughs were waiting for them at the landing with a couple of
canoes, and they were soon skimming over the placid waters of the lake
to the Benton camp.

"This smoke's pretty thick here," said Jack.

"The woods are on fire all around us," said Chris.

"That's the trouble," said Jim Burroughs. "The summer's been mighty
dry. See how low the lake is. A lot of the streams around here have
dried up. This lake is partly spring fed, and it doesn't depend
altogether on the little brooks that flow into it. Otherwise I'm
afraid this wouldn't be much of a place just now."

"Is there any danger of the fire coming this way, Jim?" asked Jack