University of Virginia Library

23. CHAPTER XXIII.

For an hour or two we spurred on to
the eastward, in company, through the tall
grass, which brushed our feet at every step,

and made our horses labor exceedingly,
when we came to one of the small hills or
knolls previously mentioned, where we
halted to give our panting and foaming
steeds a few minutes' rest. This knoll
was clustered with beautiful trees, under
whose refreshing shade bubbled up a spring
of clear, cold water, wherewith we first
refreshed ourselves and then our horses.
From the brow of this, the view of everything
was more delightful than from that
of the one we had left behind us. Then
we were looking on the prairie only in one
or two directions — now we stood above
and surveyed it on all sides. To the north
of us was a small ridge, in shape resembling
an ox-bow, the southern bend of
which was about five miles distant. This,
after running due north for a considerable
distance, appeared to take a zig-zag course
and unite with the Black Hills, which,
sublime in their grandeur, bounded the
view to the west. To the south and east,
as far as the eye could penetrate, stretched
away and away the beautiful prairie,
with nothing to relieve its monotony but
an occasional knoll like the one whereon
we stood, and which forcibly reminded
me of the oases I had seen in the great
desert.

“O, this is delightful — enchanting!”
exclaimed Eva, with a flush of animation.
“This is what I love. It expands the soul,
and bears one above the groveling thoughts
of every day life. Nature!” she added,
apostrophizing, “I love thee in thy grandeur
and thy simplicity! and know, as I
gaze upon thee, that I behold the handi-work
of that Great Power above, which
regulates alike the mighty systems of ten
thousand times ten thousand worlds, and
the most trifling event that takes place
upon them. All alike move by a universal
and immutable law; and each, as it
were, complete in itself, is but a minor
branch of that great machine which works
for one almighty and incomprehensible design.
Were I a poet that could pen my
thoughts, I would seek such a place as this,
and alone, away from the discords of my
fellow beings, write such inspiring words,
that ages yet to come should read and
wonder over my pages, and call them the
result of a holy inspiration.”

“Ay, sister,” cried Evaline, “thus have
I felt a thousand times; and thus it is it
comes so hard for me to part from these
enrapturing scenes. Now can you blame
me for my regrets?”

“No, sweet sister,” answered the other,
“I do not blame you—far from it. I only
feel you are a gem too rare to part with.”

“And so think we all,” I rejoined; “and
one of us at least, if I may be permitted
the expression, thinks doubly so;” and I
glanced at my friend.

“Ay, Frank,” he answered, “treble that
if you like. But come, my friends, the
day is advancing — had we not better return?
They will look anxiously for us at
the fort.”

“One ride more first,” said Eva, quickly.
“I cannot bear to quit this scene forever,
without one more glorious ride.”

“Whither shall it be, then?” asked
Lilian.

“To yonder knoll;” and she pointed
away to the eastward.

“That is far,” rejoined Huntly, “and I
fear we shall not get back till night, and
the day will be lost.”

“Lost?” echoed Eva, her eyes sparkling
with animation. “Call you such a day as
this lost? Come, gentlemen,” she added,
turning to the rest of us, “you do not think
so, I'll wager! On! let us on! I dare
you to a race! and my glove to him who
first puts foot on yonder hill in advance of
me.”

So saying, she gracefully waved her
hand, and tightening her rein, pressed her
fiery steed down the declivity and over the
prairie at headlong speed.

“A race! a race! The glove! the
glove!” cried some half a dozen voices,
and instantly the whole party was in commotion.

Those who chanced to be dismounted,
at once sprang to their saddles, and all
dashed away after their fair champion,
who, sitting erect, with the air of a queen,
was now urging her gallant beast to do his
utmost.

Next behind Eva rode Elmer Fitzgerald,
striving hard to evertake her, followed by
Lilian, myself, and the rest of the party,
some in couples and others alone, each
and all contending to be first at the far off
goal. I say all, but I must except Charles
and Evaline, who brought up the rear at a

tardy pace, and seemed rather deliberately
following us without excitement and interest,
than taking any part in the race.

With the balance of us, for the first five
minutes, the contest appeared equal —
neither gaining ground on the party, nor
falling away from the position he had taken
at the setting-out. All was life and
excitement; and merry shouts and gay
jests rang out, as on we pressed our panting
steeds through the tall grass, startling
thousands of small animals from their quiet
retreats, and scaring up flocks of birds,
which, as they soared away, twittered their
discontent, and looked down upon us with
wonder and fear. On, on we rushed, completely
lost in the enlivening chase, and
heeding nought but the still distant goal
we were striving to gain. On, on! still
on! with the fire of youthful ambition
urging us to renewed exertions.

At length the difference in the speed of
our horses began to be seen. Eva yet
kept her position in advance, but was gradually
losing ground before the fleeter
steed of Elmer Fitzgerald. Lilian and I,
side by side, still managed to hold our own,
and were gaining on all the others, who
were now strung out in a long single line
behind.

Half an hour passed, and the change in
our previous positions became more distinctly
marked. Elmer now rode head-to-head
with our fair leader, but both had
increased the distance between themselves
and us materially. I looked back, and
beheld the line stretched out for more than
a mile, far beyond which I could dimly
discern my friend and Evaline slowly
bringing up the rear. Most of the party
had by this time despaired of winning the
race, had even withdrawn from the contest,
and were now following at a leisure
pace. A few yet held on, but only for a
few minutes, when they took pattern by
the others, and we were left masters of the
field.

For another quarter of an hour we pushed
on with vigor, when the panting of our
foaming steeds warned us to check them.
Elmer and Eva were the first to take this
precaution, and on our coming up to them,
the latter said:

“I suppose as we have distanced all the
others, there will not be much strife be
tween us. At all events, we must not kill
our horses, and they are already pretty
well blown. How much was I deceived
in the distance! When I proposed this
race, I had no idea there were more than
five miles between point and point; and
yet some eight or ten miles, if I greatly err
not in judgment, have been gone over, and
yonder hill is still miles ahead.”

“Distance on level ground, from an elevated
point, is always deceiving,” I answered.
“But come! I do not see the
necessity of going farther. Give your
companion the glove, for I acknowledge
him winner, and let us return.”

“Pray, take Mr. Leighton's advice, Miss
Mortimer!” urged Fitzgerald; “for it is
a long distance to where we left our
mules, and our horses will suffer enough
at the best.”

“Ay, ay, modest sir!” exclaimed Eva,
with a ringing laugh. “I understand.
You wish to be acknowledged victor, before
you have won. By my faith, sir, I
had thought you possessed of more spirit
than that. I am willing to return for that
matter; but I cannot yield the glove until
the conditions on which it was offered are
complied with.”

“Then the glove shall be mine, if I
have to make the remainder of the journey
alone!” cried Elmer. “Do not flatter
yourself, Miss Mortimer, that I have exerted
myself thus far for nothing. The
prize I must have; I insist upon it; and
it remains for you to say —”

“Good heavens! what is that?” exclaimed
Lilian, interrupting the other, and
pointing toward the south.

We all turned our eyes in the direction
indicated, and beheld, stretching along the
horizon, what appeared to be a dense,
black, rolling cloud.

“A heavy thunder storm is approaching,”
said Fitzgerald in reply, “and we
stand a fair chance of being thoroughly
drenched.”

“I think you are mistaken,” rejoined
I; “for I have never seen a cloud of
such singular appearance. See! how it
gradually creeps away to the right and
left?”

“And there are bright flashes, too!”
exclaimed Eva, breathless with intense
excitement.

“What is it? what is it?” cried Lilian,
grasping my arm with a trembling hand,
and gazing upon the scene with a pale,
terrified look. “It is not a cloud—it cannot
be a cloud—it is something more awful.
See! see! how fast it spreads! And
there! there! mark you those flashes?”

Suddenly the whole horrible truth flashed
upon me, and for the moment held me
dumb with terror.

“You are pale with alarm!” pursued
Lilian, turning to me and noting the agonized
expression of my countenance.

“Speak, Francis! what is it?” screamed
Eva.

“Merciful God!” I gasped, “the prairie
is on fire! We are lost!—our doom is
sealed!”

“Lost!” shrieked Lilian and Eva.

“Oh, God! is there no escape?” added
the latter, wildly. “We must—we
must escape!”

“Flight — flight alone can save us!”
shouted Fitzgerald. “Perchance we may
reach yonder hill. It is our only hope.”

As he spoke, he spurred his steed, struck
Eva's with his bridle rein, and away
bounded both with all the speed in their
power.

“Follow!” cried I to Lilian, imitating
the example of the other, and in the wild
excitement of the moment, completely
losing all my wonted presence of mind.
“Follow hard — strain every nerve — and
God vouchsafe us victory!”

It was no longer a race of pleasure, but
one of fearful agony—our lives the stake,
and heavy odds against us. Can I describe
it, reader?—describe our feelings in those
awful moments of horrible suspense? No!
it is beyond the strength of the pen—the
power of language—and must be left to
your imagination.

Four miles, at the least—four long and
seemingly interminable miles — intervene
between us and our destination. Can we
reach it? We have but little hope. On,
on we urge, with whip and spur, our already
drooping horses—and on, on comes
the mighty destroyer, as if sent to execute
the long pent up vengeance of an offended
God.

Away to the east, and away to the west,
and rushing toward the north, with the
fury of a devastating tornado, comes this
terrific Avenger, sweeping all in his course,
making all black and desolate which a few
minutes since had seemed so lovely, rolling
up to the very dome of Heaven his
huge volumes of smoke, of gigantic and
hideous shapes, with red sheets of flame
issuing from its appalling blackness, as
they were the burning tongues and eyes
of hell's unchained demons, so shaped by
our wild and distorted imaginations. On,
on!—how our horses snort, and foam, and
tremble! They have caught our fears,
and are doing their utmost to save us and
themselves. On, on, on!—two miles,
thank God! are passed—but, alas! there
are two more before us, and our gallant
beasts are already beginning to falter with
fatigue. On, on!—behold our terrible foe
advance! his fiery banners streaming up
brighter, redder and more bright as he
nears us—his ten thousand scorching and
blasting tongues, hissing, roaring and destroying
every living thing that comes
within their reach.

Oh! how sublime—how awfully sublime
this spectacle! on which we rivet our
fascinated eyes, while our hearts leap to
our throats, and our lips are compressed
with an indescribable fear.

Now listen to those apparently unearthly
sounds! The prairie is alive with millions
of voices, which fancy would give to
the fiery tongues of this rushing Monster,
as the cheering song of his death-dealing
advance—but which stern reality tells us
are the frantic cries of droves and herds
of wild animals, of all species, mad with
affright, all pressing forward together, pell-mell,
to escape one common, but ever
conquering enemy.

Look yonder! There goes a stampede
of buffalo. Yonder! Another of wild
horses. How they tear ahead, with foaming
mouths, expanded nostrils, dilated
eyes, and a tread that makes the very
earth tremble beneath them!

Look closer—nearer! Here—here they
come!—above us, before us, behind us,
beneath us—on all and every side—birds,
beasts, reptiles and insects. How they dart
past us now with lolling tongues, and fiery
eyes half starting from their sockets, entangling
the very legs of our horses, and
causing them to rear, and plunge, and
snort, and shriek with appalling terror!

Here are wolves, and wolverines, and
rabbits, and boars, and serpents — each
and all howling, shrieking, and hissing
their fears.

God of heavens! what a scene!

On, on, for our only hope! Another
mile is passed: oh! that it were another
—the last! We near the haven of our
safety. Can we—shall we ever reach it?
Behold the Destroyer, where he comes!
Up, up to the mid heaven now rolls the
smoke of his conquest! and the sun grows
dark behind it, as he were mourning for
the destruction he is forced to look upon.

Hark! what sound is that!—that roaring
sound! It is the voice of the Fire-Spirit,
as he were mocking our hopes.
Must we die now, with safety almost within
our grasp? Why do our horses stagger
and reel? Have they not strength for
this last effort! See! we are almost
saved. Yon hill looms up invitingly before
us. Oh! for strength of another five
minute's duration! Five minutes—only
five—an eternity to us!

Ha! the dense smoke is lowering upon
us, and we shall be suffocated! No!
that breeze drives it back. All thanks to
God for that! There is still hope.

On, on! still on! How swift is the
flame, and how tardy our horses! They
have no spirit, seemingly. They only
creep and crawl like snails. My fortune
all, to hold out another two minutes.

Ha! God help us now! Lilian's steed
reels—totters—stumbles — falls! She is
down. I hear her shriek for help. How
strangely that shriek mingles with the
roaring and crackling of this great prairie
fire! Now on my feet I seize her hand.
Now my horse staggers under a double
weight. But he is a gallant beast; and
plunging forward, with a dying effort, falls
at the base of the knoll, which Elmer and
Eva had gained in advance of us. One
desperate effort more, and Lilian, all unconscious
of fear and danger, is borne in
my arms into a dense thicket, where I sink
upon the earth, and, half stifled with
smoke, amid the roaring of a mighty conflagration,
thank God its flames can neither
reach me nor the being I love.