lf over the
rest of the supper, and I'll tell you. Don't exclaim, or show any shock.
It is important for us to keep cool," advised Mrs. Brewster, as she
toasted some dry bread over the embers.

"I wasn't present when this occurred but father told me. The men found
the miner who had been shot, and down the slope further on, they saw the
forms of the other two. But the panic-stricken horses that had been
hobbled and left to graze, were so frightened at the clouds of smoke and
crackling fire, that a few of the men had to lead them back to a clear
place. There they were tied securely to some trees.

"Your father, Bill, and one of his men, jumped down the steep sides
where the fire was raging, and began to beat out the flames. They could
see the two drunken miners just beyond the fire-line down the trail, but
they seemed so overcome with whisky and smoke that they failed to
respond to any shouts from the men, or to the fear of the on-driving
fire.

"Our men had beaten out the ground-fire half-way to the miners, when a
terrific rumbling sounded, as from a distance behind them. Bill's man
was far in advance of the other two rescuers, and perhaps, the
crackling on the ground and the raging fire in the trees overhead,
deafened him to this other portentous sound.

"Father, however, felt that it meant something more terrible than a
fire, so he shouted to Bill and tried to warn the man. But a fit of
coughing from inhaling the smoke, cut his call short. Bill then cried,
'Go on back, Sam--I'll get my man!'

"So your father managed to force his way back towards the Top Trail.
There he saw a great white cloud swooping down from the peak of Grizzly
Slide. He turned, screamed at Bill and waved his arms to warn them out
of the track of the avalanche, if possible. Bill and his man saw this
new danger and turned to climb back to safety.

"Father was leading, Bill a short distance behind him, and the man not
far in the rear, when the first two heard a scream. They turned and saw
the horse had stumbled and fallen. He tried to scramble to his feet
before the onrush of the half-frozen earth and rock and snow could reach
him, but it caught and whirled him away on its crest.

"Father and Bill were thrown down with the shaking of the ground caused
by the terrific slide, and several times they were almost sucked into
the vortex caused by the overwhelming ever-growing stream. Had it not
been for Mike who had heard the rumble and knew what it