LESSON 67 A BUSH FIRE

A BUSH FIRE

Ⅰ

through meant throat

com-ing taught straight

pad-dock hur-ry min-ute

1. One very hot morning in December, Tom Carr and his sister Dot were playing in their yard. Tom was nine years old, but Dot was only three, and Tom took very great care of his little sister.

2. "Look, Dot!" said Tom, "there's a man on a horse coming. How fast he is riding! He is coming this way!" Tom ran and let down the sliprail. The man rode into the yard, and Tom knew him. It was Mr. May, who lived at the next station.

3. "Tom!" said Mr. May, "where is your father?" At this moment Mr. Carr came out of the house. Mr. May began to shout to him at once.

4. "Fire!" he cried, "Fire! One of the worst fires I ever saw in my life. Come along, Carr, and bring all your hands 〔1〕 ."

Mr. Carr called his men out, and away they all rode, each man with a sack across his saddle.

5. "Where's father going?" asked Dot. "There's a big fire in the bush over there," said Tom, pointing to the track where the men were riding as fast as their horses could go. "Father is going to help Mr. May to keep it off his paddock. They will try to beat the flame out of the grass with their sacks."

6. In an hour or so Mrs. May and her baby drove up. Tom and Dot ran to meet them.

Glad to see you! cried Dot. Tom had taught her to say that, and Mrs. May laughed.

7. "I'm glad to come, Dot," she said, "for the smoke is so bad at home that I was afraid it would choke the baby."

She went to the house, and Tom and Dot were going after her, when Tom stopped.

8. "Look there, Dot," said he, "the brown calf has got out of the yard!"

In the hurry of riding off, the sliprail had not been put up again, and the brown calf was running away.

9. Tom ran at once to turn the brown calf back, and Dot ran after him.

About half-a-mile from the yard the open land came to an end, and the bush began. The calf ran among the trees, and the children followed.

10. The trees were not thick at first, and it was very easy to follow the brown calf through the bushes; but very soon the calf ran into a deep gully, where Tom could not follow it.

11. "Oh, what a pity, Dot," he said. "The calf is lost now; it will get away into the bush. But give me your hand. We must go home!"

Tom now tried to find his way home. He felt sure he could soon do that, for they had only gone a little way into the bush.

12. They walked on and on, and Dot got very tired. Tom took his little sister on his back, and carried her for a long way.

Oh, how thick the smoke is! said Dot.

There had been smoke in the air all day, but now it was very thick.

13. Tom began to feel very much afraid. If the fire came through the bush and caught them, he and his little sister would be burned to death. He tried to get on faster, but he could not find the way out of the bush. He was getting tired, for Dot was a very heavy load for a boy to carry.

14. At last he came into an open space with a large pool in the middle.

Oh, cried Tom, "I know where we are now, Dot. This is the big waterhole. I know the road home now."

15. "I want a drink," said Dot, and so did Tom, for his throat was very dry. The children went to the waterhole, and had a good drink, then they went up to a little hill over which ran the road home.

16. But when Tom got to the top of the hill, he saw that there was no chance of getting home that way. The fire was coming straight towards them. There was a thick wood of little trees on the other side of the hill, and the flames were running through the wood as fast as a horse could trot.

17. "We must go back, Dot!" cried Tom. He took his little sister's hand, and they ran as fast as they could to the side of the waterhole. Tom looked round. There were no trees near them, but there was plenty of long dry grass right up to the edge of the water. The smoke rolled up to them thicker and thicker.

18. What was Tom to do now? How could he save himself and poor little Dot from the flames of the great bush fire? He began to walk round the side of the waterhole and look for a place of shelter 〔2〕 .

19. "I must find some place," Tom said to himself. "I must get Dot home again safe. What would father and mother say if I should let the fire catch us?"

20. Tom did his best to keep a brave heart 〔3〕 . He meant, when he grew up, to be a good bushman, as his father was, and a bushman must never be afraid.

21. At last he came to a rocky place at one corner of the waterhole. He must find a shelter here, for Dot was now crying with the great heat and the smoke. A hot west wind was blowing, and the heat of the burning trees made it hotter still.

22. "Here's a hole in the rocks," said Tom to his sister. "Creep in, Dot; creep in, quickly!"

There's a snake in the hole! cried Dot. So there was, but it was not a very big one. Tom killed it with a stick, and threw it out. Then Dot crept into the hole in the rocks.

23. Now Tom filled his cap with water and threw the water over Dot till she was wet to the skin. Then he soaked his own clothes, and, having crept into the hole, he hung his wet jacket over the mouth of it.

A HOMESTEAD SAVED.

24. He could not do any more, and they must wait for the fire to pass them. He peeped out under the jacket, and saw the flames on the hill. Then the fire got into the long grass, and ran towards the edge of the waterhole.

It's coming, said Tom to himself, "It will be round us in a minute."

注释

〔1〕 hands: Workmen.

〔2〕 shelter: Safety.

〔3〕 to keep a brave heart: To keep up his courage.