“Tolerable.”

“Then why not pick up first one fore-foot, then another, and place them on the planks.  You’ll see what the horses will do then.”

Janus scratched his head and fingered his beard.

“I swum, Jim!” he grinned, “let’s try it.”

Each man took hold of a fore-foot of each horse, and, without much difficulty, raised it to the planks before each animal.  They were about to go after the other fore-foot when Tommy, who had been standing back at a safe distance, attracted their attention by uttering a little cry.

“Oh, look! it ith growing light,” she exclaimed.

“Daylight?  Why, it is getting light,” cried Margery.

A faint glow was flickering at the end of the bridge, casting rays through the farther portion of the covered structure.  The light was of a reddish tinge.  At first, not realizing that the night was still young, the Meadow-Brook Girls welcomed that light with shouts of approval.  But there was something strange about the glow that caused Miss Elting, Harriet and the men to gaze in open-mouthed wonder.

As they gazed the glow seemed to grow stronger.  Then it flamed into a great glare of red.

“Fire!  Fire!” yelled Jane McCarthy.

“The bridge is on fire!  Run for your lives!” shouted the guide.  “Never mind the horses.  Run!”

With one common impulse the girls and their guardian started toward the other end of the bridge, which was not more than twenty feet from them.  Margery uttered a scream of terror.  Jane grabbed her by one shoulder, giving her a violent shake.

“Don’t make things any worse than they are.  Tell when you begin to burn, but don’t make us think we are burning till the fire gets to us.”

“Go on, girls,” cried Harriet.  “I’m going back to the other end.  We must think about saving our packs and our horses.”  Unheeding their warning shouts, the girl ran back toward where Janus and the driver were still engaged in trying to lift the horses.  Miss Elting had followed Harriet, and the two women now implored Janus to hurry with the rescue of the animals.

“It’s no use!” he exclaimed angrily.  “We can’t do it before the fire gets to us.  We are likely to lose our packs, too, unless we let these horses go and attend to them.”

“Never mind the packs,” said Harriet stubbornly, as she laid a firm hand on one of the guide’s arms.  “We are going to save these poor animals.  Let us keep on trying, and I feel sure we can not fail.  Now, think hard.  What is the quickest and best thing to be done?”

CHAPTER V

ON THE BURNING BRIDGE

“We’ll have to do our own thinking,” then said Jane McCarthy, who had come upon the scene at that moment.  She glared at the guide and the driver, who stood staring dumbly at Harriet.

“We must save those helpless horses,” repeated Harriet, her eyes turning anxiously toward the two patient animals.