SMOKING OUT THE ENEMY. 387 



could look out through the crack beneath the door. Then 

 raising up his head suddenly, he stared at his niece, ex- 

 claiming in a whisper " They have set fire to the 

 door." 



There was a long pause, and the two doomed people 

 gazed at each other in silence. As they sat they could 

 hear from without the dull rumbling of the flames as 

 they gathered volume, and then at intervals the whoop 

 of the savages in mocking tones. 



The thoughts that chased each other through the 

 minds of the prisoners were stern and hurried. There 

 was no water or other means of putting out the fire, and 

 even had there been it was on the outside of the door 

 and constantly supplied with fuel by the savages. In a 

 little while the flames became perceptible through the 

 crevices of the door as the panelling shrunk from the 

 heat. The knots fell out, and through the openings left 

 they could see the savages passing and repassing. Lou's 

 mind likened them to devils in the flame of the pit, and her 

 soul went up in an unsyllabled prayer for deliverance 

 from a death to which only the torments of the lost bore 

 any likeness. 



Had Laidlaw been a man like the men that the wild 

 scenes of those days often engendered, he would have 

 been plotting against the savages, or at least been pre- 

 pared for this emergency and capable of inflicting a salu- 

 tary revenge ; but he was mild and gentle, having outlived 

 many of his friends and ambitions ; he returned to gentle 

 pursuits and dreamy musings to fill his vacant mind. 



