Looking over their shoulders as they ran, all of them had glimpses of
the flames leaping hungrily upward. What Mr. Mabie had feared all along
had actually come to pass. All of them were glad, however, that it had
not been through any fault of theirs, since they had built no fire that
day.

"Frank, it's catching up with us! Whatever shall we do?" panted Bluff,
close beside the one he addressed.

Frank had been considering this same question. He at first thought they
might outrun the fire, but now he changed his mind. The woods were so
dense, and the vegetation so thick, that whenever they tried to make
fast time they kept tripping over trailing vines, or else banging up
against the trunks of the forest monarchs, sometimes damaging their
noses by the contact.

"What was he telling us about fighting fire with fire?" asked Jerry, who
was by this time feeling not quite so jaunty as usual, but ready to
seize upon any opening that promised safety.

"That was out on the prairie. I don't think the scheme would work here
in the woods. It would take too long for the second blaze to get a
start, and we'd be caught between the two fires," was Frank's reply.

"But we must do something pretty soon!" cried Will.

[Illustration: "FRANK, IT'S CATCHING UP WITH US!"--_Page 192_.
_The Outdoor Chums After Big Game_.]