e way was opened to the
coal-black plain over which it had swept. Away flew the Indian then,
diverging sharply to the right, so as to skirt the fire, (now on its
windward side), and riding frequently into the very fringe of flame, so
that his footprints might be burnt up.

When, some hours later, the pursuers met the fire, they went through the
same performance in exactly the same manner, excepting that Victor and
Rollin acted with much greater excitement than the savage. But when
they had escaped the flames, and rode out upon the burnt prairie to
continue the chase, every trace of those of whom they were in pursuit
had completely vanished away.

CHAPTER NINE.

METEOROLOGICAL CHANGES AND CONSEQUENCES, AND A GRAND OPPORTUNITY
MISIMPROVED.

It must not be supposed that the life of a backwoodsman is all pleasure
and excitement. Not wishing to disappoint our readers with it, we have
hitherto presented chiefly its bright phases, but truth requires that we
should now portray some of the darker aspects of that life. For
instance, it was a very sombre aspect indeed of prairie-life when Victor
Ravenshaw and his party crossed a stony place where Victor's horse
tripped and rolled over, causing the rider to execute a somersault which
laid him flat upon the plain, compelling the party to encamp there for
three days until he was sufficiently recovered to resume the journey.
Perhaps we should say the chase, for, although the trail had been lost,
hope was strong, and the pursuers continued to advance steadily in what
they believed to be the right direction.

The aspect of things became still more dreary when the fine weather,
which was almost uninterrupted as summer advanced, gave way to a period
of wind and rain. Still, they pushed on hopefully. Michel Rollin alone
was despondent.

"It is a wild goose chase now," he remarked sulkily one day, while the
wet fuel refused to kindle.

That same night Victor half awoke and growled. He seldom awoke of his
own accord. Nature had so arranged it that parents, or comrades,
usually found it necessary to arouse him with much shouting and
shaking--not unfrequently with kicks. But there was a more powerful
influence than parents, comrades, or kicks at work that night. Being
tired and sleepy, the party had carelessly made their beds in a hollow.
It was fair when they lay down. Soon afterwards, a small but
exceedingly heavy rain descended like dew upon their unprotected heads.