as lorn* as his lungs would bear the 

 strain, then slowly and cautiously he 

 raised his head. The sky above was 

 one great sheet of flame. Sticks aflame 

 and flying embers came in hissing 

 showers on the water. The air was 

 hot, but breathable at times, and he 

 filled his lungs till he had difficulty in 

 keeping his body down below. Other 

 creatures there were in the pool, some 

 burnt, some dead, some small and in 

 the margin, some bigger in the deeper 

 places, and one of them was close be- 

 side him. Oh, he knew that smell ; fire 

 all Sierra's woods ablaze could 

 not disguise the hunter who had shot 

 at him from the platform, and, though 

 he did not know this, the hunter really 

 who had followed him all day, and who 

 had tried to smoke him out of his den 

 and thereby set the woods ablaze. 

 Here they were, face to face, in the 



