"Oh! dear me! Do you smell smoke, too?" demanded Will.

"Why, so do I, now that you mention it. And say! just cast your eyes
back of us, fellows! Don't it seem as though there was more or less
smoke in the woods over yonder?" asked Jerry.

The four boys now showed sudden animation.

"Hark to the wind, too! It's beginning to make a sound up there in the
tree-tops. Which way is it coming, Frank?" asked Will.

Frank's face began to assume a serious look. The wind was fairly growing
stronger with every passing minute. If the woods should be afire, this
would whip the flames furiously, and send them speeding along at a
dangerous pace.

"It begins to look bad for us, boys," he remarked.

"What! Do you really mean it, or are you just trying to play a joke?"

"You know me better than that, Will. There is certainly a brush fire
back there. Some camper has left his fire, and the rising wind has
carried it into the dead leaves," said Frank soberly, surveying his
surroundings.

"Could we push forward and put it out before it does any damage?" asked
Bluff.

"I'm afraid it's too late for that now. See there! The smoke is getting
thicker and thicker all the time. Boys, we might as well look the matter