His belief was that all the woods were not on fire--that is, the entire
tract was not burning at once, and that, as a consequence, if he could
break through the flaming circle in which he was caught, he could place
himself and sister in front of the danger, so to speak, and then they
would be able to run away from it altogether.
If such were the case, it followed that just then speed was the most
important of all things, and for that reason he kept the mare on her
sweeping gallop, at the imminent risk of dashing the carriage to pieces
every minute.
He was glad that he did not meet any vehicles, for it not only showed
that no one else in the neighborhood was placed in the same extremity
as were he and his sister, but it lessened the danger of collision.
Nick thought it was all over with them, when a fiery serpent, as it
seemed, darted across from one side of the road to the other, directly
in front. It was at the height of five or six feet, and coiling itself
about a dry pine it shot horizontally toward another pine, wrapped with
a flaming girdle, which sent out a line of fire to meet it, like the
intense blaze seen when a blow-pipe is used.
It was a curious manifestation, and it would be hard to explain it, for,
though a strong wind was blowing, that would not account for the fact
that the two tongues of fire, as they really were, met each other in
this fashion across the road, for of a necessity they extended
themselves in opposite directions.
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