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The rest of us pile up rocks and dirt for a breastworks for the wounded." They labored madly. The horses tore loose and bolted. The Indians whooped, gleeful, and shot briskly. But the wind changed, into the north, and the fire surged past, just grazing the thicket; the slowly creeping back-fire was easily smothered with blankets. Had they been saved? No!
Every few minutes they faced about and ran back over their line to make sure no flames had crossed the cleared space. The air was dense with smoke, but the heat from their back-fire was trifling in comparison with that of the main conflagration. The stand of timber grew thicker, breaking the force of the breeze more and more.
Thus the parados prevents a back-fire of the bullets carried in the shrapnel shell, which otherwise might strike the trench's defenders. "You may stand up here on the fire platform, if you wish," whispered Lieutenant De Verne to Dick in English. "If you do not think it too foolish to expose yourself, you will be able to look over the top of the parapet.
It divided as a wave is split by a rock, and went in two great moving spouting fountains of red down the line of our back-fire, and swept on, leaving us scorched, blackened, bloodshot of eye and sore of lips, but safe. We turned, with great relief to me at least, and made for the open country behind the lines. Then for the first time, I looked at Rowena.
I reckon it must 'a' been mighty bad up there when the back-fire caught you. The boys have been tellin' me. You saved all their lives, I judge." "I happened to know where the cave was." "Yes." Crawford's whisper was sadly ironic. "Well, I'm sure glad you happened to know that. If you hadn't...." The old cattleman gave a little gesture that completed the sentence.
But he was already starting back-fires at intervals of fifty yards, allotting three men to each fire. A back-fire is a fire started for the purpose of stopping another. Usually a road, or a plowed strip, or even a cattle path, is used for a base.
Thus we began patiently to build our back-fire in the ranks of the Democratic organization itself, to unhorse the Essex boss. The first thing to carry out the programme was a visit paid to the sick room of the Democratic boss of the Hudson wing, Bob Davis, who lay dangerously ill in his modest home on Grove Street, Jersey City.
Zen had had prairie experience enough to know that in hours like this there is almost sure to be something or somebody, in vital need, overlooked. She galloped into the camp and found only Tompkins there. He had already run a little back-fire to protect the tents and the chuck-wagon. "How goes it, Tompkins?" she cried, bursting upon him like a courier from battle.
We kinder was afeared.... Say, kid, thet back-fire, now. It was a dandy. It did the biz. Our whiskers was singed, but we're safe. An' kid, it was your game, played like a man." After that his voice grew faint, and I felt as if I were walking in a dream. That dreadful feeling of motion went away, and I became unconscious of everything.
Dave and the others lengthened the line of back-fire, and then, seeing that they had burned a strip sufficiently wide to make it comparatively certain that the oncoming fire would not leap over it, they turned back to help plow the furrows, or to keep the cattle in order and from stampeding.
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