Robert Leckie

“ Jerry shivered and gazed intently at the approaching shoreline; the foliage stretched away unbroken to the horizon like a roof over the forest. “I’d hate to be somewhere in the middle of that if a fire did break out.”
“I don’t think we have anything to worry about, as long as we’re careful,” Russ assured him. “And you don’t have to worry about the natives; their livelihoods—and lives—depend on good fire-prevention habits.”
“That’s all well and good, sir,” Quiz said somberly, “but what about lightning?” He studied the cloudless sky arching all about them like a pale-blue china bowl. ”

“ Although the front was less than 1200 feet wide, the flame-thrower crews ignited the fringe along the line for a full half mile. The boys, resting with the pick-and-shovel men on the north tip of the ridge, watched anxiously as the backfires flared up strong in the dry brush and foliage. Innumerable times, the flames leaped the line to attack the trees on the far side, but each time the dripping wet boughs repulsed them.
“Looks as if we’ll stop her,” Sandy said with elation.
One of the fire fighters shook his head gloomily. “The backfire ain’t getting anywhere though.” ”

“ They would wait until the fire came to them, hurling itself against the firebreaks as a wild beast throws itself against the bars of its cage. They would watch its struggles become weaker and weaker until, at last, it would burn itself out. ”

“ Russ said.
Jerry wrinkled up his nose distastefully. “And I thought he was a nice dog. That’s cruel.”
“Don’t be a dope,” Sandy said. “Is it any more cruel than slaughtering cows, pigs, sheep and little lambs to feed our faces?”
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“Animals are nicer than people,” Quiz said. “They only kill each other for food. It’s the beautiful balance of nature. The fish and birds eat the insects; and they in turn provide food for the larger animals. Every living thing has its place and purpose.” ”

“ Sandy admitted. He looked up as a big, sleek-haired dog came bounding out of the pines on one side of the house. “Who’s that?”
“That’s Prince, the cook’s Doberman pinscher.” Russ whistled softly through his teeth.
The dog’s sharp ears and muzzle thrust alertly into the air; then, with the bounce of a recoiling spring, he came striding across the sunburned lawn and cleared the front steps in a single leap, to squat in front of Russ with his short stub of a tail wagging vigorously.
“Talk about jet propulsion!” Sandy exclaimed. “What do you feed him on?” ”

“ With the ebbing of the breeze, the backfire and the fire head were creeping toward each other with uniform speed.
“What do we do now, boss?” Jerry asked. “All go home?”
Macauley arched his eyebrows. “You kidding, son? There’s still plenty of life in that old devil yet. She could switch off in another direction any time. Once we got this front nailed down solid, we’ll attack her from the sides and back. There’s still plenty of digging to be done for those who can swing a shovel.”
“That definitely lets me out,” Quiz groaned. “I don’t think I could even pick up a shovel, I’m so beat.” ”

“ The ranger’s face was grim. “There’s nothing on this earth as unpredictable as a forest fire. I won’t believe she’s really out until I personally squash the last ember under my boot.”
Quiz stared off into the ravaged grove at the other side of the clearing. “Those trees, will they die?” he asked the ranger.
“A tree is like a human being,” Dick explained. “It can survive some pretty bad burns, although it may be scarred badly. Underneath the bark there’s a thin layer of living matter called the cambium, which can be compared with the underskin on a human being—the dermis. ”

“ Sandy, suppose you work the ridge, and Jerry and Quiz can take the south line. Find the gang bosses and ask them how things are shaping up in their sectors.”
Sandy climbed a steep rocky incline at the right of the clearing to the top of the ridge. From the crest, which was nearly forty feet higher than any of the surrounding terrain, he had an unrestricted view along the full length of the ridge. A full moon sitting on the very rim of the horizon lit up the scene like a big orange bulb. It was obvious now why Fire Boss Landers had chosen this site to construct the fire line. ”

“ When Sandy and Jerry mistakenly sail off in a stranger’s sloop instead of their own, they land in a sea of trouble. Their attempts to outmaneuver a desperate crew are intertwined with fascinating sailing lore. ”

“ They walked slowly in the direction of the mess tent, with Prince trotting at their heels. “What kind of a night did you have, Uncle Russ?” Sandy inquired.
“Spent most of it on the phone and radio. I’m hoarse. Not as rough as you had it, however.”
“How’s Mr. Landers?” Quiz asked.
“Great! He thrives on this kind of excitement. What a dynamo that man is. He can talk on six different phones at once, and play checkers at the same time. And what he doesn’t know about forest fires wouldn’t fill up the eye of a needle.”
“He sure fooled Macauley,” Sandy said. ”

“ Sandy saw a pair of binoculars on the table dance crazily over the edge and crash to the floor.
Dick Fellows leaped out of his bunk in T-shirt and shorts and swept the other instruments off the table. “A couple of you up here!” he shouted. “The rest of you pile onto chairs or my bunk. Insulated glass legs. Save your life if the tower’s hit. Keep your feet off the floor.”
Sandy kicked out of his bedroll and scrambled up on the table. Jerry and Quiz dove headlong onto the bunk. In a more leisurely fashion, Russ Steele and the ranger sat down on high stools. ”

“ Jerry said wonderingly. “It’s as if somebody turned off a fan.”
Quiz called their attention to the broad band of silver on the eastern horizon. “Look, it’s almost daylight. That’s the answer. It mostly always calms down at dawn and dusk.”
The fire fighters let out a thunderous cheer that was picked up all along the fire line. Macauley came striding up the slope, a big grin on his face. ”

“ His face was grave with concern. “And every minute it lasts increases the chance of one of those bolts starting a fire. If only it would rain!”
Sandy suddenly remembered the dog, who had remained below on the ground. “Poor Prince. I wonder how he’s taking this?”
The ranger smiled. “Unless I miss my guess, he’s holed up under my dynamo shack out back—along with an assortment of rabbits, squirrels and chipmunks. There’s nothing like a little lightning to make buddies out of natural enemies.”
“I wish I was with him,” Jerry said, “instead of sitting on top of this giant lightning rod.” ”

“ Within a few minutes, Sandy had recovered sufficiently to crawl over to the hatch and watch Jerry make the precarious ascent. This time the ’copter behaved itself, but Jerry had a great deal of difficulty mastering the Jacob’s ladder. Every time he raised a foot and placed it on another rung, foot and ladder would swing out and up and Jerry would find himself hanging parallel to the ground. Russ Steele yelled to him through the loud-speaker.
“Jerry, use your arms! Lift with your arms and push with your feet at the same time. They’ve got to work together.” ”

“ Quiz asked. “I’ve always wanted to see lumberjacks at work.”
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“You’ll have your chance, Quiz,” Russ promised him. “Although the lumber industry in Minnesota is only a shadow of what it used to be. A little more than a century ago, more than three quarters of the state was forested. But ruthless cutting of timber without any thought of conservation or restocking has all but wiped out the great pine forests of the Lake States. The short-sighted men responsible never stopped to consider how long it takes a tree to grow. Why, some of these big fellows are mere babies after one hundred years.” ”

“ Fire Boss Landers was standing by himself very quietly, his face turned up to the sky, and Sandy had a feeling that tears were running down his cheeks along with the raindrops.
Dick Fellows grabbed Sandy by the arm and pointed to a gigantic cloud almost a mile wide that was rising and spreading across the forest to the west.
“Smoke?” Sandy asked fearfully.
“Steam!” the ranger bawled happily. “What we couldn’t do in two days, nature has done in a matter of minutes. The fire’s done for.”
Sandy saw his uncle walking slowly in the direction of the headquarters tent. “Where are you going?” ”

“ If the note gets to Uncle Russ—or anybody for that matter—maybe they can notify the ’copter pilot that we’re on the hill. You’ve seen how they perform air rescues in the movies, haven’t you?”
Jerry’s voice wasn’t too hopeful. “Sure. They drop rope ladders or slings. But by the time they get this note—if they ever do—we’ll be fried to a crisp.”
It took all of Sandy’s will power to force a feeble grin. “We’ll come out of this, pal. The most important thing to remember when you’re in a tight spot, Uncle Russ says, is to stay calm and cool; if you use your head there’s mostly always a way out.” ”

“ He led them over to the mess tent, where cooks were doling out steaming-hot suppers to the fire fighters from big insulated containers. “Eat hearty, men,” he said wryly as they took their places on line. “We have a long night ahead of us.”
“How can anyone work in these woods at night?” Sandy said. “It gets so dark you can’t see your hand in front of your face.”
“It’s not easy,” the ranger admitted. “Normally, Landers would wait until daylight to tackle most fires. The rate of spread drops sharply through the night, then picks up again when the sun rises. ”

“ Charley joked.
The tears were rolling down Pete’s face. “I ain’t seen a birler like that boy in all my days. He’d be a sensation at the fall festival.”
“No use,” Jerry screamed desperately. “I’m going to bail out before it’s too late.” Holding his nose he ran off the end of the log into thin air. His legs were still driving like pistons as the water closed over him.
When the boys waded ashore, Jerry grinned sheepishly at the loggers. “I was doing great till my accelerator got stuck.”
Jonas patted him on the back. “You’re all right, Jerry. Best show I’ve seen all year.” ”

“ Russell Steele placed a pot of water on the Coleman stove. “Nobody ever said the army eats bad. Matter of fact, it eats darn good. There’s nothing wrong with K-rations, except that a steady diet of them can get monotonous.”
When they were finished eating, Sandy and Jerry scooped out a deep hole in the forest floor with their shovels and buried the garbage.
“Ordinarily, I’d prefer to burn it,” Russ told them, “but a fire is out of the question now.” ”

“ Sandy said. “I read in the paper about an airplane that crashed in the north woods with three men aboard and they didn’t find it for four months. A bomb—even an A-bomb—must be considerably smaller than a two-engine plane.”
Russ nodded grimly. “It’s a big order, all right. But don’t forget, there are, or soon will be, hundreds of teams like ours, each covering an assigned sector. If we’re all thorough and painstaking, we’ll find the bomb sooner or later.”
“What about air patrols, General Steele?” Quiz asked. “Why can’t the Air Force retrace the route of the B-52 with another plane? ”

“ Leaving Quiz to nurse his injured ankle, the other two boys hot-footed it down the slope to the mound of equipment the fire fighters had left behind. Sandy gathered up a shovel and two picks. “Grab a couple of those Pulaski hoes,” he told Jerry. Tears streamed out of his eyes from the smoke, and Jerry was seized with a coughing spell that almost choked him. The heat was unbearable as the fire closed in on the hill.
Staggering up the slope again with their load, they dumped the tools at the edge of the crater. For a few minutes, they were too breathless to work. ”

“ Russ laughed. “I’m afraid this operation calls for a loose formation, Jerry. Suppose we maintain an interval of about fifteen hundred feet between each two men. That will keep us within easy hailing distance of each other. I’ll be on the right flank with one of the Geiger counters. You boys can draw lots to see who takes the left flank with the other counter.” He grinned. “That poor guy will have to walk a little more than a mile before we even get started.”
“I’ll be the fall guy,” Sandy volunteered. “I’m in better shape than Jerry or Quiz.” ”

“ Quiz said.
Sandy laughed. “Don’t look so worried, Jerry. They won’t bother you unless you bother them first. I read it in a book.”
“Yeah,” Jerry said. “But how do I know the snakes around here read the same book?” He grinned as the other two boys moaned and rocked back and forth with their heads in their hands. “It wasn’t that bad, fellows.”
Russ put down his empty dish and began to fill his pipe. “I think a joke like that rates KP for another night, at least.”
Sandy and Quiz helped Jerry clear up the mess kits, forks and pans and carry them down to the pool. ”

“ Working by the light of big spots mounted on trucks, agile volunteers—mainly high riggers from the lumber camps—climbed the trees along the edge of the growing line, lopping off low branches that hung across into the danger area.
“Just to make sure our backfires don’t backfire on us,” Dick Fellows said wryly.
The young ranger set up his command post in the headlights of a jeep; it consisted of a folding table, canvas chair and the walkie-talkie. Quiz was intrigued by the little battery-operated receiver-transmitter. ”

“ The first thing we’re going to do is to build a fire line across the head of the fire; I’d say maybe fifteen feet in front of it.”
Quiz nodded. “The head of the fire is determined by the direction in which it’s spreading the fastest. Right?”
“Right. All fires have a roughly circular shape to begin with. But depending on air currents, slope of the terrain and available fuel, they soon take on direction. Usually they assume an elliptical shape, sort of like an egg, with the fat part of the egg representing the head. We always attack the head first—stop the advance. ”

“ After a pre-dawn breakfast of sausage, eggs and flapjacks, Russell Steele and the three boys strapped on their packs and walked down to the dock where Lars Johannsen was warming up the cabin cruiser. Prince was running back and forth on the pier, barking excitedly.
Jerry eased his thumbs under the pack straps where they cut into his shoulders. “Boy, this stuff is heavy. You mean to say soldiers carry all this weight for miles and miles?”
“More weight than that,” Russ told him. “Our packs don’t weigh more than thirty or forty pounds. An infantryman may pack better than sixty pounds. ”