"I reckon not! But weren't we lucky to have all that pine for the
fires! It's the best thing to keep him away!" said Polly, creeping out
again to see if both fires were doing their duty.
Another howl reached the girls, and Eleanor said in a shaky voice, "He
won't jump over the fires, will he, Polly?"
"No, smoke and sparks frighten wild beasts from the vicinity. They know
from instinct that forest fires kill and they are wary of them. But
they haven't the sense to know that a man-made fire is built on purpose
to keep them away!"
"It must be awful late, Polly! If you think everything is safe, suppose
we go to bed," Anne suggested after a long interval unbroken by any
howls.
"All right! Let Bob and Nolla take the last two beds, while you and I
take these in front. I'll use this one where I can watch the ledge
going up to the slope. If I see anything suspicious, I'll shoot!" said
Polly, examining the rifle and standing it by the side of the green-
bough bed.
"For comfort's sake, girls, unbutton your clothes and remove your
shoes. They can be dried by the fires to-night so they will feel better
in the morning," advised Anne.
The pine fires were burning beautifully, and Anne, completely tired
out, was soon asleep. Barbara and Eleanor had succumbed to weariness
the moment they rolled over on the beds. But Polly, tired and fatigued,
too, knew that some one must keep the fires going all night, so she
merely reclined on the pine-bough bed and started up at every sound or
crackle of the fires.
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