42 AFRICAN ADVENTURE STORIES 



"What are you doing, colonel?" he inquired. 



"We are preparing to back-fire and save the 

 camp," was the colonel's reply. 



"But you are liable to burn the camp with 

 the very fire you kindle. It is risky business, 

 for should the back-fire leap the gap and get in 

 behind us, the porters could never whip it out." 



"Well, what shall we do? What would you 

 suggest?" asked the colonel. 



"It seems to be the only way, but still there 

 is great danger of losing the camp by it." 



"Well, I would much rather have the satis- 

 faction of burning up my own camp in an effort 

 to save it than to stand idle and watch a grass- 

 fire destroy it; so, unless you can suggest some 

 better method, there seems to be no alternative," 

 was the colonel's answer. And so, as it was de- 

 cided to back-fire, the work was resumed with a 

 rush, for the flames kept drawing nearer. 



It was the most spectacular fire I ever saw. 

 Great tongues of flame, driven by the erratic 

 breezes, leaped fifty and seventy-five feet into 

 the air and detached themselves for a fraction of 

 a second before flickering out. Others writhed 

 and twisted like huge serpents, then struck the 

 ground and with a hissing sound spread out over 



