ied forward in the direction of the voice.

The path conducted to an opening in the chapparal--in the centre of
which, through the smoke, we could distinguish the forms of men and
horses.

With eager eyes, I scanned the group; a glance was sufficient: there
were _only two_ of each--only the trackers.

CHAPTER SIXTY NINE.

SMOKE AND THIRST.

"Ah, Monsieur Roob!" cried the Canadian, as we hurried up, "vat make
zees diable d'une fumee--smoke? Are ze woods on fire--you tink--eh?"

"Wuds!" exclaimed Rube, with a contemptuous glance at the speaker.
"Wagh! Thur's no wuds hyur. Thur's a paraira afire. Don't yer smell
the stink o' the grass?"

"Pe gar, oui! vraiment--c'est la prairie? You sure, Monsieur Roob?"

"Sure!" vociferated the trapper in a tone of indignation--"Sure!--ye
durned parley-voo-eat-a-frog-spit-a-brickbat-soup-suckin' Frenchman,
d'yur think I don't know the smell o' a burnin' paraira? Wagh!"

"Ah, Monsieur Roob, me pardonnez. Vat I mean ask--is ze chapparal
brule--on fire--ces arbres?"

"The chapparil ain't afire," answered Rube, somewhat mollified by the
apology: "so don't be skeeart, Frenchy yur safe enuf."

This assurance seemed to gratify not only the timid Canadian, but
others, who, up to this moment, were apprehensive that it was the
thicket that was on fire.

For myself, I had no such fears; I perceived that the chapparal could
not burn. Here and there, patches of dry mezquite-trees would have
caught like tinder; but in most places, a succulent endogenous
vegetation formed three parts of the jungle, and rendered it
"fire-proof." This was especially the case around the glade where the
trappers had taken their stand, and which was completely enclosed by a
wall of the great organ cactus, with aloes, opuntias, and other
juicy-leaved plants. In the opening, we were as safe from the fire as
though it was a hundred miles off; we suffered only from the smoke, that
now quite filled the atmosphere, causing a darkness that rivalled night
itself.

I had no apprehension for _our_ safety; it was not of that I was
thinking.

To the hasty dialogue between Rube and the Canadian I had scarcely given
heed; Garey had advanced to meet me, and I listened with anxious ear to
the tale of the tracker.

It was soon told. Rube and he had followed the trail, until it emerged
from the chapparal, and struck out into a wide grass-prairie. The edge
of the thicket was close by; but they had gone a con