"I do not know," replied Clayton. "He called me by name
and he knew Jane, for he asked for her. And he called
Esmeralda by name."
"There was something most startlingly familiar about him,"
exclaimed Mr. Philander, "And yet, bless me, I know I never
saw him before."
"Tut, tut!" cried Professor Porter. "Most remarkable!
Who could it have been, and why do I feel that Jane is safe,
now that he has set out in search of her?"
"I can't tell you, Professor," said Clayton soberly, "but I
know I have the same uncanny feeling."
"But come," he cried, "we must get out of here ourselves,
or we shall be shut off," and the party hastened toward
Clayton's car.
When Jane turned to retrace her steps homeward, she was
alarmed to note how near the smoke of the forest fire
seemed, and as she hastened onward her alarm became almost
a panic when she perceived that the rushing flames were
rapidly forcing their way between herself and the cottage.
At length she was compelled to turn into the dense thicket
and attempt to force her way to the west in an effort to circle
around the flames and reach the house.
In a short time the futility of her attempt became apparent
and then her one hope lay in retracing her steps to the road
and flying for her life to the south toward the town.
The twenty minutes that it took her to regain the road was
all that had been needed to cut off her retreat as effectually as
her advance had been cut off before.
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