that the supply of gasoline had been reached by the flames.

After the great flash came blackness. The fire seemed for a time to have
been extinguished. Gradually here and there, far below, bits of burning
tinder gleamed, fiery stars in an inverted heaven. Soon the ruins were
again blazing. They soared close, but high, avoiding the dangerous
pockets of smoke gas. Did they see dark figures dancing about the ruins?
Or was it merely the flickering shadows of posts and tree stumps.

"Indians!" murmured Barney.

Instantly his mind mirrored to him pictures he had seen in histories of
painted savages burning a settler's cabin. His blood ran cold. Here they
were, three men in the frozen wilderness, with little gasoline for their
machine, with scant provisions and ammunition, and rushing toward perils
they could not even guess. To kill and to escape would both be easy for
these desperadoes.

"Go along down the lake and back again. Use as little gas as possible,
but keep in the air. We better not land at present." The very steadiness
of the Major's tone told Barney that this experienced man of the North
expected the worst.

As they rushed down the white expanse, many thoughts raced through
Barney's mind. It seemed that hunger and cold grew upon him with every
whirl of the engine-shaft. He thought of Bruce and La Vaune. Would they
ever return to La Vaune with the money which was rightfully hers? And
Timmie? Would they ever be able to help him blot the stain from his name?
Barney's friend, Dave Tower, who had gone North in a submarine on a
mission as mysterious as their own; would they ever meet?