to the front, the post of danger. Endowed with a keener
eyesight than the rest of us, during darkness he had distinguished the
ground which we had failed to see. The leading waggon followed him, and
we were soon assured that the ground was rising. Though this was the
case, it might again sink and we should be in a worse position than
before. I was greatly relieved when I heard a shout in reply to ours
and could distinguish the figures of my father and Uncle Denis against
the sky. They had found a spot, not likely to be reached by the water
they believed, where we could camp for the remainder of the night. They
led us to it along the ridge we had gained, avoiding a deep dip, into
which, had we descended, we should have been worse off than before. Of
course we were all wet to the skin; but, while the rain poured down in
bucketfuls as it was doing, we could light no fire to dry our clothes.
Still we were thankful that we had escaped the danger which had
threatened us, and we managed to place our waggons in the usual
position, so that at daylight we might be prepared for enemies should
any appear. When morning broke we had reason to be grateful to Heaven
that we had moved away in time from the bank of the river, for the
ground on which we had encamped was covered with water to the depth
apparently of several feet, while the current swept by with a force
sufficient to have carried our waggons and cattle away. As the day
advanced, the storm ceased, the clouds rolled off and the sun burst
forth, his warm rays soon drying our clothes and the wet tilts of the
waggons.

The flood had so completely obliterated the trail, that my father and
uncle deemed it prudent either to ride on ahead themselves, or to send
Mr Tidey and me forward to ascertain the proper route to take. They
had gone on in the morning where the road was more difficult, and after
our mid-day stoppage the Dominie and I took the lead. In all directions
were traces of the storm, trees uprooted, the streams flooded, the
ground being covered with broken branches of trees and occasionally we
came across the bodies of animals which had been caught by the current
and drowned.

As the day was drawing to a close we were looking out for a spot on
which to camp for the night. As I gazed ahead I saw some objects moving
across the plain.

"Can those be Indians?" I asked, pointing them out to Mr Tidey; "if
so, they may be Sioux or Blackfeet and give us some trou