"Tobe's in a bad place.
You don't know what a forest fire means, nor the damage it does,
Nannie. I'm right troubled by old Tobe's case."
"But there's no danger for Pine Camp, is there?" asked the girl,
eagerly.
"Plenty of folks there to make a fire-guard. Besides, the wind's
not that way, exactly opposite. And she's not likely to switch
around so soon, neither. I, don't, know"
"The folks at home ought to know about it," Nan interrupted.
"They'll know it, come dark," Tom said briefly. "They'll be
looking for you and they'll see the blaze. Why! After dark that
old dead tree will look like a lighthouse for miles 'n' miles!"
"I suppose it will," agreed Nan. "But I do want to get home,
Tom."
"Maybe the storm's not over," said her cousin, cocking an eye
towards the clouded heavens. "If it sets in for a long rain (and
one's due about this time according to the Farmer's Almanac) it
would keep the fire down, put it out entirely, maybe. But we
can't tell."
Nan sighed and patted his shoulder. "I know it's our duty to go
to the island, Tommy. You're a conscientious old thing. Drive
on."
Tom clucked to the horses. He steered them into the roadway, but
headed away from home. Another boy with the pain he was bearing
would not have thought of the old lumberman and his family.
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