"Did you hear anybody shout?" asked Will.

"No; but when there came a sudden shift to the wind I thought I got a
scent of fire. No, it wasn't cooking, this time, Jerry, so don't get
ready to accuse me of that weakness again; just something burning."

"Say! you don't think it could be the woods afire, do you?"

"Talk to me about your ghost-seers, will you! Will, here, can jump on to
trouble quicker than any fellow I know. Why, if the woods were on fire,
don't you think we'd have found that fact out before now, Mr. Faint
Heart? I guess such a thing couldn't happen without a heap of smoke that
would look like a pall, and appal us, in the bargain."

"Well, all I can say is, I'm not hankering after any forest fire
experience after what Mr. Mabie told us about those friends of his who
were nearly burned to death seven years ago; and that was a prairie
fire, too," observed Will, continuing to cast anxious glances around.

"Amen to that," remarked Bluff.

"Why, you must think I'm just wild to try my legs, with a healthy blaze
jumping after me; but I'm not, all the same. Come along, Lazy-bones!
We're going to have the delightful pleasure of covering those ten miles
back again," and Jerry pulled Will to his feet.

"Ten miles!" groaned the other dismally, making a pretense of hobbling,
as if his muscles had given out. "How in the world can I ever do it?"

"Well, sing out when you want to stop. We'll hang you up in a tree, safe