log-house, though next time he mounts his "hot-copper filly," I do
not desire a second neck-and-neck race with him. A sprain of the
leg, and contusion (or confusion) of the head, are the extent of the
damage received, and you will say that it is cheap, considering all
things. I had done my 203 miles of marking, and was coming back on
my last day's journey, debating whether to push on to Lakeville that
night, camp out, or get a shake-down at Randolf's, bringing my own
provender, for they live on hominy and milk, except for what he can
shoot or catch. It was so dark that I had nearly fixed on sleeping
in the bush, when it struck me that there must be an uncommonly fine
aurora, but getting up a little rising ground where the trees were
thinner, I observed it was to the south-west, not the north. That
way there lies prairie land, at this season one ocean of dry bents,
fit to burn like tinder, so that one spark would set fifty square
miles alight at once. All the sky in that quarter was the colour of
glowing copper, but the distance was so enormous that danger never
occurred to me till I saw the deer scampering headlong, the birds
awake and flying, and my horse trembling and wild to be off. Then I
remembered that the wind was full from that direction, and not a bit
of water between, nor all the way to the Lakeville lake. I never
knew my beast's pace on the Kingston road what it was through that
track, all the rustling and scuttling of the beasts and birds
sounding round us, the glare gaining on us, and the scent of smoke
beginning to taint the wind. There was Randolf's clearing at last,
lonesome and still as ever, and a light in the window. Never was it
so hard to pull in a horse; however, I did so. He was still up,
reading by a pine torch, and in five minutes more the woman and her
children were upon the horse, making for the lake. Randolf took his
axe, and pocketed a book or two, and we dashed off together for a
long arm of swamp that he knew of, running out from the lake. When
we got to the other end of the clearing, I thought it was all up with
us. The wall of red roaring flame had reached the other side, and
the flame was leaping from the top of one pine to another, making
them one shape of quivering red, like Christmas evergreens in the
fire, a huge tree perhaps standing up all black against the lurid
light, another crashing down like thunder, the ribbon of flame
darting up like a demon, the whole at once standing forth a sheet of
blazing light. I verily believe I should have stood on, fascinated
with the horror and majesty of the sight, and feeling it vain to try
to escape, when the burning wings were spreading to enclose the
clearing and us with it, but Randolf urged me on, and we plunged
through the bush at the best speed we could make, the smoke rolling
after us, and the heat glowing like a furnace, so as to consume all
power out of us. It was hell itself pursuing after us, and roaring
for his prey, the trees coming crashing down, and shaking the earth
under our feet, the flame absolutely running on before us upon the
dry grass and scrub, and the scorching withering every drop of
moisture from us, though not ten minutes before, we had been
streaming at every pore.
'I saw green reeds before us, heard Randolf cry out, "Thank God," and
thought I was plunging after him, when I found myself on the ground,
and the branches of a hemlock covering me. Happily they were but the
lesser boughs, and not yet alight; and at his own desperate peril,
Randolf came back with his axe, and cut them off, then dragged me
after him into the mud. Never bath more welcome! We had to dispute
it with buffaloes, deer, all the beasts of the wood, tame and cowed
with terror, and through them we floundered on, the cold of the water
to our bodies making the burning atmosphere the more intolerable
round our heads. At last we came to an island, where we fell upon
the reeds so much spent that it was long before we found that our
refuge was shared by a bear and by Randolf's old cow, to the infinite
amaze of the bull-frogs. The Fire King was a hundred yards off; and
a fierce shower, brought from other parts by his unwarrantable
doings, began to descend, and finally quenched him in such smoke that
we had to lie on our faces to avoid stifling. When the sun arose,
there was Lakeville in its woods on one side, on the other the
blackest desolation conceivable. The population were all astir.
Mrs. Randolf had arrived safely, and Mr. Currie was about to set
forth in search of my roasted remains, when they perceived the
signals of distress that we were making, after Randolf had done
gallant battle with the bear in defence of the old cow. He is a
first-rate hunter, and despatched the fellow with such little aid as
I could give, with a leg not fit to stand upon; and when the canoes
came off to fetch us, he would not leave the place till he had
skinned the beast. My leg is unserviceable at present, and all my
bones feel the effect of the night in the swamp, so I am to lay by,
make the drawings, and draw up the report, while Mr. Currie and
Randolf do my work over again, all my marks having been effaced by
his majesty the Fire King, and the clearing done to our hand. If I
could only get rid of the intolerable parching and thirst, and the
burning of my brains! I should not wonder if I were in for a touch
of swamp fever.'
Here Owen's letter broke off; and Honor begged in alarm for what Robert evidently had in reserve. He had received this letter to her enclosed in one from Mr. Currie, desiring him to inform poor young Sandbrook's friends of his state. By his account, Owen's delay and surrender of his horse had been an act of gallant self-devotion, placing him in frightfully imminent danger, whence only the cool readiness of young Randolf had brought him off, apparently with but slight hurts from the fall of the tree, and exposure to the night air of the heated swamp. He had been left at Lakeville in full confidence of restoration after a week's rest, but on returning from Lake Superior, Mr. Currie found him insensible, under what was at first taken for an aggravated access of the local fever, until, as consciousness returned, it became evident that the limbs on the left side were powerless. Between a litter and water transport, the sufferer was conveyed to Montreal, where the evil was traced to concussion of the brain from the blow from the tree, the more dangerous because unfelt at first, and increased by application to business. The injury of the head had deprived the limbs of motion and sensation, and the medical men thought the case hopeless, though likely to linger through many stages of feebleness of mind and body. Under these circumstances, Mr. Currie, being obliged to return home himself, and unable to leave the poor young man in such a condition among strangers, had decided on bringing him to England, according to his own most eager desire, as the doctors declared that the voyage could do no harm, and might be beneficial. Mr. Currie wrote from Quebec, where he had taken his passage by a steamer that would follow his letter in four days' time, and he begged Robert to write to him at Liverpool stating what should be done with the patient, should he be then alive. His mind, he said, was clear, but weak, and his memory, from the moment of his fall till nearly the present time, a blank. He had begged Mr. Currie to write to his sister or to Miss Charlecote, but the engineer had preferred to devolve the communication upon Mr. Fulmort. Of poor Owen he spoke with much feeling, in high terms of commendation, saying that he was a valuable friend and companion as well as a very right hand in his business, and that his friends might be assured that he (Mr. Currie) would watch over him as if he were his own son, and that his temporary assistant, Mr. Randolf, was devoted to him, and had nursed him most tenderly from the first.