a
hurricane, and before twelve o'clock on the next day, the smoke was
borne down upon them, and carried away in masses over the lake.

"Do you think there is any danger, Martin, from this fire?" said Alfred.

"Why, sir, that depends upon circumstances; if the wind were to blow
from the quarter which it now does, as hard as it does, for another
twenty-four hours, we should have the fire right down upon us."

"But still we have so much clear land between the forest and us, that I
should think the house would be safe."

"I don't know that, sir. You have never seen the woods afire for miles
as I have; if you had, you would know what it was. We have two chances:
one is, that we may have torrents of rain come down with the gale, and
the other is, that the wind may shift a point or two, which would be the
best chance for us of the two."

But the wind did not shift, and the rain did not descend, and before the
evening set in, the fire was within two miles of them, and distant
roaring rent the air; the heat and smoke became more oppressive, and the
party were under great alarm.

As the sun set, the wind became even more violent, and now the flames
were distinctly to be seen, and the whole air was filled with myriads of
sparks. The fire bore down upon them with resistless fury, and soon the
atmosphere was so oppressive, that they could scarcely breathe; the
cattle galloped down to the lake, their tails in the air, and lowing
with fear. There they remained, knee-deep in the water, and huddled
together.

"Well, Malachi," said Mr. Campbell, "this is very awful. What shall we
do?"

"Trust in God, sir; we can do nothing else," replied Malachi.

The flames were now but a short distance from the edge of the forest;
they threw themselves up into the air in high columns; then, borne down
by the wind, burst through the boughs of the forest, scorching here and
there on the way the trunks of the large trees; while such a torrent of
sparks and ignited cinders was poured down upon the prairie, that, added
to the suffocating masses of smoke, it was impossible to remain there
any longer.

"You must all go down to the punt, and get on board," said Malachi.
"There's not a moment for delay; you will be smothered if you remain
here. Mr. Alfred, do you and Martin pull out as far into the lake as is
necessary for you to be clear of the smoke and able to breathe. Quick,
there is no time to be lost, for the gale is rising faster than before