"Don't let them touch me!" she gasped; "keep them off! Tell me, for
God's sake, what has happened!"

He laid his hand firmly on her arm, and lifted her in his turn to
her feet like a child. In that supreme moment of physical danger, his
strength, reason, and manhood returned in their plenitude of power. He
pointed coolly to the trail she had quitted, and said,

"The Carquinez Woods are on fire!"




CHAPTER X


The nest of the tuneful Burnhams, although in the suburbs of Indian
Spring, was not in ordinary weather and seasons hidden from the longing
eyes of the youth of that settlement. That night, however, it was veiled
in the smoke that encompassed the great highway leading to Excelsior.
It is presumed that the Burnham brood had long since folded their
wings, for there was no sign of life nor movement in the house as a
rapidly-driven horse and buggy pulled up before it. Fortunately, the
paternal Burnham was an early bird, in the habit of picking up the first
stirring mining worm, and a resounding knock brought him half dressed
to the street door. He was startled at seeing Father Wynn before him, a
trifle flushed and abstracted.

"Ah ha! up betimes, I see, and ready. No sluggards here--ha, ha!" he