rt of his house, which will
force them to buy him out of it. I go out to-morrow to mark the said
line for Mr. Currie to report upon, and will finish my letter to
travel with said report.

'_Aug._ 21_st._--Thanks to the Fire-King, he has done for the ancient
log-house, though next time he mounts his "hot-copper filly," I do
not desire a second neck-and-neck race with him. A sprain of the
leg, and contusion (or confusion) of the head, are the extent of the
damage received, and you will say that it is cheap, considering all
things. I had done my 203 miles of marking, and was coming back on
my last day's journey, debating whether to push on to Lakeville that
night, camp out, or get a shake-down at Randolf's, bringing my own
provender, for they live on hominy and milk, except for what he can
shoot or catch. It was so dark that I had nearly fixed on sleeping
in the bush, when it struck me that there must be an uncommonly fine
aurora, but getting up a little rising ground where the trees were
thinner, I observed it was to the south-west, not the north. That
way there lies prairie land, at this season one ocean of dry bents,
fit to burn like tinder, so that one spark would set fifty square
miles alight at once. All the sky in that quarter was the colour of
glowing copper, but the distance was so enormous that danger never
occurred to me till I saw the deer scampering headlong, the birds
awake and flying, and my horse trembling and wild to be off. Then I
remembered that the wind was full from that direction, and not a bit
of water between, nor all the way to the Lakeville lake. I never
knew my beast's pace on the Kingston road what it was through that
track, all the rustling and scuttling of the beasts and birds
sounding round us, the glare gaining on us, and the scent of smoke
beginning to taint the wind. There was Randolf's clearing at last,
lonesome and still as ever, and a light in the window. Never was it
so hard to pull in a horse; however, I did so. He was still up,
reading by a pine torch, and in five minutes more the woman and her
children were upon the horse, making for the lake. Randolf took his
axe, and pocketed a book or two, and we dashed off together for a
long arm of swamp that he knew of, running out from the lake. When
we got to the other end of the clearing, I