The suburban citizen., 1901-09-14

deep, ana tled 10 the hlnu emu oL Tue
frame. l tossed Sinclair's coat, pow
der horn and ammunition bag up to
him, and reached up the musket
Then, getting the oxen started into
the road, l stepped upon the wagon
tongue. climbed the rope hand over
hand. and sat on the front end OF the
load
Sinclair put down the gun, with the
pointing muzzle behind, stuck the
powder horn into the straw to keep it
from sliding off, crawled forward and
So by my side He was in good hu-
NOR now.
Night must overtake us long before
we could get home, and from the
smoke rising beyond the ridge we
knew that the prairie was burning.
At dusk we saw the fire itself on top
Of the ridge. Night had already set
tied down when we rounded a point
Of timber and came upon the burning
grass.
The fire had come over the ridge in
V-shapa, little end first. AS there
was no wind to speak OF, the apex
had stopped at the road, and the two
blazing lines We're now separating, one
slowly burning toward Us and the
other from us.
Coaly, a bad.tcmpered beast, puffed
and puhed as we approached the first
fire, and tried to turn out of the road,
| but Lep logged along complacently
and refused to turn. Soon the wagon
had passed the narrow front Of fire,
and was moving between unburnt
prairie on the left and blackeucd,
smoking ground on the right
Soon we overlook the other line Of
FIRE. The blaze near the road was
only q few inches high, the grass there
being very short. We saw no danger
| in passing On. and to this day l don't
| know how the accident happened.
Possibly the straw was hanging lower
| ,han we thought. but more probably
the blaze had just reached bunch CT
high grass or 4 tall dry weed, and
running up set lire to the straw. The
light of the burning prairie Kept US
from discovering that we were 0tirc
till the wagon had gone several yards.
The first thing we knew Games were
! leaD.ng up from the right fore corner
OF The load. from a part oi The fore
end, and from over larger part Of the
right side
We both SpranC to ouc feet shouting
| whoa" with all our might, and the
wagon had nearly stopped when the
oxen turned their heads 10 see what
the light Behind them meant One
| loo: was enough With a snort ana a
| p,ung2 Coaly started. Even lazy old
Lep was panic-stricker. Away they
Went,
AS the wagon bounded forward Sin
ci1ir and | tumbled backward on the
straw The oxen were galloping with
the big but lighr load jumping and
rocking behind them. The rush Of air
swept, the fire over the straw Before
we could &c. w smoke and fame
were IN our faces. Blinded and con
fused we scrambled TO thC side and
cropped off, glad to escape in any way
When we fell, we rolled over and
over in the grass, jarring ourselves
and bruis.ng out knees and elbows
By the time we had risen and cccOy.
cred on" presence Of mind. the oxen
and wagon were hundred yards
down ,h2 road. ana still running. Th.
danes Lad spread over The whole tor
OF the load. Gnd were leaping forward
Come Ca"' cried to Sinclair, Ani
af.er tie wagon | ran, shouting 70 th;
oxen at every jump. Being q pretty
good runner | gained on then, ant
had got Within twenty yards cs tn,
wagon when | heard Sinclair yell.nc
behind me: ... ..-
Look OFT there! You'll get shot"
In my frantic eagerness . stop tht
oxen so IS to get them loose anG say,
the wagon | had forgotten all"abou
that old musEe, half full Of powde
and buc.:3hot on top Ci the bla2n.
straw, bC5 now l stopped auddc.l,
and ducEed ny head in my rright
DONE Ges close" cried n!ncialr
| NhN'AiAS W. NAAiA A-lC' s'AI H Alh-tg I
go of at any moment"
But exclaimed desperately, "W
must 90 something or lose oycrythin
the oxen, too! let's rua round t
the side OF the wagon
mo, we WON'T" replied ciaciGii
mo telling which way that gun
. pointing by this tiine. Keep bSc.; G!
, she goes of. Then we can"
Rip-~bans boom. a stream q Gr
o shoe out almost over ou. heads aJ tn
] old rsmy musket exploded! The bucl
z shot whisrled over MS. At the Gas
i we had both started TO run. | clugl
t my toe in the grass and fell. At tn
Same moment sharp pain IA
Il through hly knee. was lady frigh
# Cned.
It I'm shot" exclaimed, getting upo
my feet.
n Where" asked Gllclalr returnin
g to my assistance.
/. Here in the knee. felt the bucl
Il shot 90 in. It-no, I'm not, oither.y
II cried, laughing with relief as plucke
a out Il big grass-bur that had falle
.g on and threw it away.
d We started after the wagon anob