.

The frightful prospect added nothing to the hopes of those who had so
fearful a stake in the result. Although the day was beginning to dawn,
the vivid colours of the sky continued to deepen, as if the fierce
element were bent on an impious rivalry of the light of the sun. Bright
flashes of flame shot up here and there, along the margin of the waste,
like the nimble coruscations of the North, but far more angry and
threatening in their colour and changes. The anxiety on the rigid
features of the trapper sensibly deepened, as he leisurely traced these
evidences of a conflagration, which spread in a broad belt about their
place of refuge, until he had encircled the whole horizon.

Shaking his head, as he again turned his face to the point where the
danger seemed nighest and most rapidly approaching, the old man said--

"Now have we been cheating ourselves with the belief, that we had thrown
these Tetons from our trail, while here is proof enough that they not
only know where we lie, but that they intend to smoke us out, like so
many skulking beasts of prey. See; they have lighted the fire around the
whole bottom at the same moment, and we are as completely hemmed in by
the devils as an island by its waters."

"Let us mount and ride," cried Middleton; "is life not worth a
struggle?"

"Whither would ye go? Is a Teton horse a salamander that he can walk
amid fiery flames unhurt, or do you think the Lord will show his might
in your behalf, as in the days of old, and carry you harmless through
such a furnace as you may see glowing beneath yonder red sky? There are
Siouxes, too, hemming the fire with their arrows and knives on every
side of us, or I am no judge of their murderous deviltries."

"We will ride into the centre of the whole tribe," returned the youth
fiercely, "and put their manhood to the test."

"Ay, it's well in words, but what would it prove in deeds? Here is a
dealer in bees, who can teach you wisdom in a matter like this."

"Now for that matter, old trapper," said Paul, stretching his athletic
form like a mastiff conscious of his strength, "I am on the side of the
captain, and am clearly for a race against the fire, though it line me
into a Teton wigwam. Here is Ellen, who will--"

"Of what use, of what use are your stout hearts, when the element of the
Lord is to be conquered as well as human men. Look about you, friends;
the wreath of smoke, that is rising from the bottoms, plainly says that
ther