assured that all danger was over, phil announced that he was going to look over the burned area to find out how extensive it was.
“i’m going too,” declared his brother. “i can tell better than you because i have a better eye for distances.”
“oh, don’t leave us alone among all these strange men,” pleaded sallie.
as she heard the words, joy flushed.
“the men in washington are just as good—from things i have read they must be better than those in the east, miss porter,” she exclaimed defiantly.
elevating her eyebrows, sallie was about to retort scathingly, when ted, who knew his sister’s mannerisms, interposed:
“joy is right, sis. the men out here may not be quite so—er—polished as those back east, but their hearts are in the right place and you are perfectly safe with them—and you want to lay aside all your fool notions, or you won’t be popular.”
“listen to the—” began sallie, only to be interrupted by the arrival of mr. jackson and chester.
“i wonder if you can make some more coffee?” inquired the former. “some of the fire-fighters are pretty badly used up. if you can, i will send them up here.”
“surely we can,” answered joy, while the two eastern girls looked at each other helplessly. and immediately she began the preparations.
“can’t you two help?” demanded phil. “now’s the time for you to prove that you are useful as well as ornamental.”
if looks could have killed, the boy would have been struck down by the glances his sisters bestowed on him, but they set about assisting joy with a will.
“thank you, thank you very much,” said mr. jackson, with a smile. “i’ll send the men to you in about fifteen minutes.”
the pall of smoke still hung over the lowland, however, or those preparing the coffee and such other food as they had would have seen them already stumbling exhaustedly toward the dam.
of a sudden there sounded a deafening roar, followed by piercing shrieks.
in horror, those about the wagon gazed below.
“that’s dynamite!” exclaimed mr. jackson. “it can’t be that you boys were thoughtless enough to leave any at your—”
“if they had, it would have exploded when the hut burned, not now, so long afterward,” interrupted chester. while phil said:
“no, sir. i put it all in a bag, in the wagon, on some bedding.”
“then where could it have come from?” demanded the superintendent.
“it must have been those two sticks i threw away the day phil and i were blowing out brush,” announced ted.
about to upbraid the young homesteaders for their carelessness in leaving the explosive unreclaimed, mr. jackson held his words, and with a command to chester, ran down the hill, followed by the boys.
at this fresh catastrophe joy’s heart sank, for she expected the girls and their mother would collapse. but she was agreeably surprised. though their faces were very white and their hands trembled, the three eastern women turned with one accord to the pile of bedding and began to tear the sheets into strips for bandages.
“thank goodness, you won’t need those,” declared andy, suddenly appearing.
“but the cries?” exclaimed sallie.
“just surprise and warnings. the men’s nerves have been badly strained and the explosion startled them.”
“we certainly have a great deal for which to be thankful,” said mrs. porter. “i should never get over it if any of these brave men had been injured through my boys’ carelessness.” as he heard the words, the agent looked at the little woman in amazement.
“i don’t understand,” he murmured. in reply, mrs. porter repeated ted’s statement.
“well, it is a relief to know there were only two sticks of it lying about,” returned andy. “i was afraid some one might have planted the explosive throughout the section.”
the arrival of others of the fire-fighters put an end to further conversation, for andy assisted the women in serving the coffee and food.
as the men came forward, they greeted joy heartily, while they looked wonderingly at the two stylish easterners.
“these are phil’s and ted’s sisters and their mother,” said the agent by way of introduction, whereat the men bowed stiffly and became silent.
determined to break the awkwardness of the situation, margie exclaimed:
“if you please, we prefer to be known for ourselves and not as phil’s and ted’s sisters. i am margie and this is sallie.” and she made a mock courtesy.
“brava! that’s the way to get on out here,” laughed mr. jackson, who had come up just in time to hear margie’s introduction. then turning to mrs. porter, he added: “we are all like one big family out here. somehow the woods make us forget ceremony.”
thus a feeling of fellowship having been established, the men ate and rested, recounting the narrow escapes they had had as the fire drove them back.
“there’s always a silver lining to the blackest cloud,” declared chester. “you boys have been spared a lot of hard work it would have taken to clear your land.”
“that’s true enough,” assented ted. “what worries me, though, is whether the fire has dried all the natural moisture there was in the ground. if it has, our crops won’t amount to much.”
“the growth was so light, i doubt if the soil has been damaged,” returned mr. jackson. “a few tests with a soil box, however, will tell you positively.”
“then let’s make them,” suggested phil. “andy’s sectional bore is in the wagon.”
the boy’s eagerness evoked laughter from the other men.
“you must wait a couple of days until the ground cools,” announced chester.
“just at present the thing to do is to build a shelter for the ladies,” said mr. jackson.
“oh, no. we are going to sleep outdoors, ted said so,” declared margie. “i think it will be lots of fun if too many bugs and things don’t crawl over us.”
“or unless it rains,” grinned one of the firefighters.
“you can sleep in the open if you care to,” said andy, “but when we have so many men here it would be a pity not to take advantage of the fact. we can put up a house of boughs in no time. come on, fellows. let’s show these eastern ladies how quickly we can build one.”
glad of the opportunity to atone for their awkwardness with knives and forks, the men seized axes, shovels, and hoes and fell to work, erecting a camp in a surprisingly short time.
“there, you can live in that all summer,” declared steve, as the task was finished.
“i thought we were to have a log cabin,” margie exclaimed.
“so we are, when we have time to build it,” returned phil. “at present, the most important thing is to repair our irrigation plant and then sow our seed.”
“i say, why not have an old-fashioned house-raising?” exclaimed chester.
the suggestion met with hearty response, and after much talk and laughter it was agreed that the boys should notify their neighbours when they had finished their planting and that they would give them two days, one for preparing the logs and the other for the “raising.”
“but we never can repay you,” said mrs. porter.
“just feed us, that is all the pay we will ask,” replied chester.
“food and a dance,” added one of the others, “that is, if the young ladies dance.” and he looked inquiringly at sallie and margie.
“oh, i think we might be persuaded to try,” laughed the younger girl. and when they had discussed the plans again, the men returned to their several homes, leaving the family alone save for the jays and andy.
