"
Nick was busy while talking; he saw that the mare was becoming
panic-stricken, and it required all his strength and firmness to keep
her from breaking away from him.
[Illustration: "O Nick," moaned Nellie, "we are going to be burned
alive."]
By using the whip, he managed to turn her again in the road, and then he
struck her sharply with the lash.
"Nellie, catch hold of my arm," he said to her, feeling that even if
everything came out in the best form, a severe struggle was before them.
The mare sniffed, and, glancing to her right and left, gave a whinny of
terror as she dropped into her swiftest trot, which, a minute after, she
changed to a gallop; but Nick brought her down instantly to her more
natural gait.
Nellie slipped her arm under the elbow of her brother, and then clasped
her two hands, so as to hold fast for the shock which she believed would
soon come.
A large branch had fallen across the road, and Nick did not catch sight
of it until too late to check the flying mare. The carriage seemed to
bound fully a foot into the air, and an ominous wrench told the driver
that it had suffered material damage.
But there was no time to stop and examine; the terrified horse sprang
into a gallop again, and this time Nick did not restrain her.
There was smoke all around them; the air was hot and suffocating; they
could hear the crackling of flames, and now and then the crimson flash
through the murky vapor showed that a frightful forest fire was raging
on every hand.
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