A Prairie Fire 



To return to our fight, some quarter of a mile 

 in our rear was a road which the fire had crossed. 

 When properly kept, such a road forms to some 

 extent a barrier, but in this case there had been 

 some places where, along the sides, there were high 

 grass and scrub, and the devouring element had 

 easily leaped across, especially as at the time 

 there were only two or three at work fighting 

 it there. Now, with some eight of us all work- 

 ing hard, there was more encouragement. The 

 homesteader's children had brought up two 

 buckets of water from the slough, into which 

 we dipped our grain-bags, with which we beat 

 out the fire, though one vigorous fighter who 

 had none was using his jacket. Up and down 

 the quarter of a mile line we laboured, the burnt 

 ground scorching our feet through our boots, and 

 rith blackened hands and faces. In places 

 rhere the grass was longer the fire would sud- 

 lenly leap ahead, and two or three would join 

 )gether in an onslaught on it. In others, where 

 appeared to have been stopped, it would break 

 )ut fiercely again, while all the time in front, 

 mt nearer the lake and scrub which we were 

 rying to save from lighting, went the home- 

 teader with his two oxen and plough, trying to 

 make such a fireguard across the path of the 

 advancing flame as would at least check it, if 



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