S--JOURNEY CONTINUED--ARRIVAL AT THE FORT--FURTHER
ADVENTURES WITH BEARS AND WOLVES--SAVE THE LIFE OF A YOUNG CHIEF--CARRY
HIM ONWARD TILL THEY REACH THEIR CAMP--THE YOUNG RED-SKIN'S GRATITUDE--
END OF OBED'S NARRATIVE--FRESH ALARMS--AGAIN THE ENEMY APPROACH.

"The Delaware and I ran on at full speed through the high grass,"
continued Obed.

"Every instant I expected to be tripped up by its tough roots which
trailed along the earth, but my companion, who was well accustomed to
the sort of ground, kept me from falling. I asked him, as we ran, why
he did not stop, and, as I knew to be the custom, cut down and burn a
clear space round us, so as to let the conflagration pass by on either
side.

"`The deer and buffaloes, and other wild animals, would rush through the
space and trample us to death,' he answered. `Even now I hear the sound
of their hoofs in the distance--haste! haste!'

"I tried to listen as I ran, and I fancied that I did hear a low,
murmuring, hollow sound, which had a peculiarly terror-inspiring effect.
The wind blew stronger, the air became denser and more oppressive, and
the ashes fell thicker around us. We distinctly heard the noise of the
rushing flames. The rock towards which we were running rose before us,
but, yet near as it was, the fire came roaring on so rapidly that I
fully expected it to overtake us. On it came, hissing and crackling.
The air grew hotter and hotter, and more and more oppressive. As I
struggled on I felt as if I could scarcely move my limbs. It was like a
dreadful dream, when a person fancies that danger is near, and that he
cannot fly from it. I gasped for breath. The Indian also was much
distressed. Some things men can get accustomed to, but to have to run
for one's life, with a prairie-fire roaring at one's side, one does not
like a bit more the tenth time it is encountered than the first. `On!
on!' cried out the faithful Delaware. He could run faster than I could,
but still he delayed for me. Besides the crackling and hissing of the
fire, there was a loud, roaring, trampling, crushing, thundering sound,
or mixture of sounds, utterly indescribable. The rock was reached--we
clambered up it. We gained the summit. It was a wide, open space,
entirely free of grass.

"Almost fainting, I was sinking to the ground, when I saw the Delaware
pointing to the plain below us. There, across the ground we had just
left, came tearing along, in strange confusion, herds of