ked and jaws half open, at that far-off, fiery
brightness in the sky of night.

As the keen tongues of flame shot over the treetops, the woman
clutched at her senses, and tried to persuade herself that it was the
barn, not the house, that was burning. It was, in truth, quite
impossible to discern, at that distance, which it was. It was not
both; of that she was certain. She also told herself that, if it _was_
the house, it was too early for the children to be asleep; and even if
they _were_ asleep, Jake would wake them; and presently some
neighbours, who were not more than a mile away, would come to comfort
their fears and shelter them. She would not allow herself to harbour
the awful thought that the fire might have caught the children in
their sleep. Nevertheless, do what she could to fight it away, the
hideous suggestion kept clamouring at her brain, driving her to a
frenzy. Had she been alone in this crisis, the great beast watching
and prowling outside the shack would have had no terrors for her. But
the baby! She could not run fast with that burden. She could not leave
him behind in the bunk, for the bear would either climb in the window
or batter in the door when she was gone. Yet to stand idle and watch
those leaping flames--that way lay madness. Again her mind reverted to
the blazing brand with which she had driven the bear from the window.
If she took one big enough and carried it with her, the bear would
probably not dare even to follow her. She sprang eagerly to the stove,
but the fire was already dying down. It was nothing but a heap of
coals, and in her stress she had not noticed how cold it had grown in
the shack. She looked for wood, but there was none. She had forgotten
to bring in an armful from the pile over by the sugar-boiler. Well,
the plan had been an insane one, hopeless from the first. But, at
least, it had been a plan. The failure of it seemed to leave her
tortured brain a blank. But the cold--that was an impression that
pierced her despair. She went to the bunk, and covered the sleeping
baby with warm blankets. As she leaned over him, she heard the bear
again, sniffing, sniffing along the crack at the bottom of the door.
She almost laughed--that the beast should want anything more after all
that sugar! Then she felt herself sinking, and clutched at the edge of
the bunk to save herself. She would lie down by the baby! But instead
of that she sank upon the floor in a huddled heap.

Her swoon m