clouds of steam. The Trapper
ducked his head, the woman screamed, and the hounds rushed howling to
the farthest end of the room; while Bill, with half a somersault,
disappeared under the table.

"Hurrah!" shouted the Trapper, lifting his head from behind the wood,
and critically surveying the scene. "Hurrah, Bill!" he shouted, as he
swung the ladle over his head. "Come out from under the table, and man
yer battery agin. Yer old mortars was loaded to the muzzle, and ef ye
had depressed the pieces a leetle, ye'd 'a' blowed the cabin to
splinters; as it was, the chimney got the biggest part of the
chargin', and ye'll find yer rammers on the other side of the
mountain."

It was, in truth, a scene of uproarious hilarity; for once the
explosion was over, and the woman and children saw there was no
danger, and apprehended the character of the performance, they joined
unrestrainedly in the Trapper's laughter, in which they were assisted
by Wild Bill, as if he were not the victim of his own over-confidence.

"I say, Old Trapper," he called from under the table, "did both guns
go off? I was getting under cover when the battery opened, and didn't
notice whether the firing was in sections or along the whole line. If
there's a piece left, I think I will stay where I am; for I am in a
good position to observe the range, and watch the effect of the shot.
I say, hadn't you better get behind the wood-pile again?"

"No, no," interrupted the Trapper; "the whole battery went at the
word, Bill, and there isn't a gun or a gun-carriage left in the
casement. Ye've wasted a gill of the yarb, and a quarter of a pound of
the berry; and ye must hurry up with another outfit of bottles, or
we'll have nothin' but water to drink at the dinner."

The dinner! That great event of the day, the crown and diadem to its
royalty, and which became it so well, was ready promptly to the hour.
The table, enlarged as it was to nearly double its original
dimensions, could scarcely accommodate the abundance of the feast. Ah,
if some sweet power would only enlarge our hearts when, on festive
days, we enlarge our tables, how many of the world's poor, that now go
hungry while we feast, would then be fed!

At one end of the table sat the Trapper, Wild Bill at the other. The
woman's chair was at the center of one of the sides, so that she sat
facing the fire, whose generous flames might well symbolize the
abundance which amid cold and hunger had so suddenly come t