lagration.

How the blaze had started was no mystery, for, in the little rooms
the men occupied, each was permitted his tiny fire for cooking.
Perhaps, the uneasy foot of a sleeper, perhaps a gust of wind
between the chinks, had sent an ember underneath the inflammable
logging of the walls.

Charley Seguis, although heavy with slumber, was among the first
to run out of the building. In an instant, he took in the situation.
With a lake like rock, and but one or two buckets, it was utterly
impossible to check the flames with water; one or two men were
making a desperate attempt to throw snow on the fire; but the wind
whirled this away as fast as it was shot into the air. The building
was doomed.

"Save the furs! Save the furs!" Seguis commanded at the top of his
voice, and set an example by plunging into the council chamber, to
reappear in a moment with two small bales of pelts. Instantly, the
others followed his example.

Fortunately, the fire had started at the opposite end, so there
was a fighting chance to save the valuable skins, although the
flames were leaping along the beams with lightning rapidity.
Presently, it was seen that the crowding of men endeavoring to pass
in and out at the same time would be fatal to the contents of the
wareroom, and Seguis, with a few rapid commands, formed a chain
from the interior to a point well beyond the danger zone. He himself
took the post of hazard in the midst of the piled pelts, and with
quick thrusts of his arms kept a steady stream of bales flowing.

Such men as could not get on the pelt-brigade, he soon had rescuing
bedding, traps, and other valuables from the little rooms, some of
which were already seething infernos.

Urged by the high wind, the flames licked hungrily at the dry logs,
and presently such a terrific heat radiated from the fire that the
snow fled away in tiny rivulets, and the iron ground was laid bare.
Fast as they worked, the men could not outspeed the devouring
element. Flying embers clattered upon the tindery roof, and in a
moment the whole top of the long structure was ablaze.

Charley Seguis, grabbing bales and passing them with both hands,
suddenly brushed a six-inch ember from the pack of otter in front
of him with a curse, and looked up. Here and there spots of fire
dropped among the furs. He said nothing, but redoubled his efforts.
In fifteen minutes, three-quarters of the work was done, and the
drops of fire from above had become a stea