"Don't give up!" pleaded the master of the mill. "Perhaps the
wind will change."

It certainly was warm work, as all of the boys found out. The
sparks and brands were dropping over them, and once Snap's shirt
sleeve caught fire, while Shep had a spark blister his neck and
cause him to let out a yell like an Indian.

In the midst of the excitement, Mr. Dodge arrived, and a moment
later the local fire engine, an old-fashioned affair purchased
from a neighboring city. The stream of water, however, did good
service, and the fire was kept largely to the shed in which it
had started. The mill itself caught a dozen times, but the flames
were extinguished before they did material damage. Finally the
wind veered around, blowing the sparks toward a cleared spot in
the woods, and then all saw that the worst of the affair was over.
But men and boys kept at their labors, and did not stop until
every spark of the conflagration had been extinguished.

"Now it is over, I am going down to the river and wash up," said
Snap to Shep, and they walked to the edge of the stream, followed
by Whopper and Giant. "I feel dirty from head to foot."

"Your father can be thankful that the mill didn't go," said Whopper.
"Gosh, what a blaze! I thought the whole county was going to burn
up. I got burnt in about 'leventeen hundred spots."

"And I let a bucket of water drop on my foot," put in Giant.
"Say, but didn't the edge of the bucket feel nice on my little
toe!" and he limped along to the water's edge.