VI 



Prairie Fire 1 5 3 



of the wind which was blowing at the time, they 

 had great difficulty in beating out again the fires 

 which they themselves had lighted, so that they 

 stood a fair chance of escaping from the enemy 

 which they were battling against only by consuming 

 themselves in a prairie fire of their own lighting. 

 ' Fire is an awful foe, but the men met it gallantly,' 

 says Lord Dunraven, ' advancing in line commanded 

 by their officers, as if moving against a living enemy, 

 only instead of being armed with sabre and rifle, 

 they carried water-buckets and blankets. ... It 

 is hard to imagine anything more hellish than that 

 scene. The heat was intense, the sky glowed lurid, 

 red with the reflection of the flames, the fire poured 

 down upon us as if it would devour everything in 

 its way, and between us and the flames, standing 

 out clear and distinct against the intense bright 

 light, was the fighting line, wild -looking figures, 

 waving coats and blankets as they furiously beat 

 the flames, men rushing to and fro, and mounted 

 officers galloping up and down the rank. After some 

 hours' incessant hard work they beat the fire, thrust 

 it on one side, and saved the Fort ; but it was a 

 very, very narrow escape, for the flames passed 

 awfully close to the hay - yard, where a whole 

 winter's supply of forage was stacked. A few 

 yards nearer and the hay must have been ignited, 

 and if that had once caught fire nothing could 

 have saved the stables and all the other buildings 

 of the place. There was no actual danger to life, 



