322 BUFFALO LAND. 



caping through the chimneys or roofs. Whole families 

 were drowned. Fort Hays, at the fork of Big Creek, 

 and supposed to be above high-water, was inundated, 

 six or eight soldiers being swept away, while the re- 

 mainder were obliged to seek safety on the roofs of 

 the stone barracks. Large numbers of mules, 

 picketed on the adjacent bottoms, were drowned. 

 Their picket-pins fast in the earth, the animals were 

 swept from their feet by the rising waters, and towed 

 under by the firmly-held lariats. Emigrants en- 

 camped on the bottom heard the roar of the flood ; 

 with no time to harness, they seized the tongues of 

 their wagons themselves, but the rising tide gained 

 on them too rapidly, and they w^re glad to save life 

 at the expense of oxen and goods. The horrors of 

 that night are indescribable, and, to crown all, they 

 took place amid a darkness that was total. Above, 

 was the roar of waters descending ; below, the 

 answering roar of the floods, as they rolled madly 

 onward, carrying in their strong arms the wreck of 

 farms, and corpses by the score. 



On that night Jules, the husband, perished. 

 Honest Rombeaux and Marie, however, were rescued 

 from the roof of their dwelling at daylight ; and 

 afterward, when the flood had subsided, the body of 

 Jules was taken from the wash in the fire-place. And 

 now came suspicion, and pointed over the shoulders 

 of the throng gathered around ; for there was an ugly 

 wound half hidden in the dead husband's hair, and 

 his fingers were l)ruised. Some men did not hesitate 

 to say boldly that when Rombeaux escaped through 

 the chimney, Jules stayed behind to assist his wife 



