a Race for Life in the Yellow stone Escape from a Prairie Fire.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 192, 19 February 1887, Page 3

a Race for Life in the Yellow stone Escape from a Prairie Fire.

The* days were 'beginning tb shorten as our 1 four-iri*hund dashed up 1 to • receive -uk '&% • 7 a mi, ; after a- breakage .by ,candle*Hghfc» for our return, drive,., , r A u bard r , climb /ound us, at the summit of thp, mountain .near by. In, the distanpe seemingly fifteen or twenty, miles, ahead, the v,iew was , obscured, by smoke • indeed a prairie flre,-not a strange sight Jtoany of us,, Op we, travelled, but the, expression anid earnest look on Jim's face indicated to ue tnatjt^might be somethiqg, seriouß, , About nbpn, t as we, were emerging, from a dark, wild, narrow eanpn, in cutting, our way through! the mountains, we were confronted' wjth three prairie wolves, who were juat ( entering the canon we were leaving. They were fleeing with desperate ppeed, and seeing, us they, stopped Bhort, gazing .about, them with ft petrified stare, uncertain as ,to whicb course to take, bqt they quickly ,das^ed by ue, within .twenty feet, and soon disappeared. "A danger eignaV'said, Jim, as he took an extra grip ,on ,his r,e*ns and steetched hie neck. "A big fire , we've* got about us," True enough,, for ,us ( we passed out into the open prairie we beheld a eight which sent a thrill ofhorr«r .through our veins, when wo comprehended the situation. We had been travelling westward while the fire had been travelling in an easterly direction, and had apparently closed up our retreat. The horses sniffed the air excitedly, looking about them in a wild, uneasy manner, th,eir ears moving to and fro, aa-fchey nervously neighed to each other. Away in the disj tance, where the prairie met the sky, , a heated t quivering line aroee, surmounted by a dark, wavering cloud. 'Twaetheprairia on firo ! The wind was blowing almost a gale, directly towards us, and the long, dead grass was as dry as tinder ; the fire was plainly spreading rapidly, and with a wild ehout to the horses, Jim showed the ptuff of which he whb made. Off to the right we shot at a furious epeed, leaving the road and taking to the pathlees.prairie ; a band of an* elopes, with eyes like tire, came rushing past us, adding to the excitement and fury of our horses. A glance to the left showed that tho fire was gain* ing on us ; with a horrible, cracking sound, we could see the bright flames, twenty feet high, shooting upward, and tongues of fire leaping ten yards at a time before the gale. The fire was fast overhauling us. The dark, rolling smoke soon overcast the sky above our heads, seeming to imprison us. Jim muttered something, and his face grew ashen as the flecks of foam from our wild horses flew over his breast. It seemed as if our hour had come. On we went, the fire momentarily drawing nearer, the billows of smoke each instant growing denser and the heat more suffocating, at times seeming as though it would blister our faces Should we throw out our guna and traps and lighten the waggon ? Not a word from Jim, but his strong arm and steady eye were intent on saviug us, as we thundered on at territie speed. Shall we ever forget that moment, when for an instant the smoke cleared and we realised we were being literally encircled by the raging fire— caused by contrary and varying winds, only about a quarter of a mile ahead there was an opening of several hundred feet for our es cape ! Could we reach it before the gap closed 1 Again the smoke wreaths whirled around us ; our eyes were sma ting from the heat ; tho panting horses, mad with terror, blindly rushed through the darkness, as we yelled words of encouragement to them. Could they hold out ? It was a race for life ! A few moments and we dashed through the opening, then not 100 feet wide, and were «afe ! We reined up in a short time, after fording a stream, and with deep-drawn sighs of relief, bounded out of the waggon. Our noble horses, our preservers, were shivering with excitement, reeking with perspiration, and almost white with foam. Indeed, we all set to work to rub and dry them, while soothing and quieting them with with words of praise, for we owed our lives to these four noble fellows. — Mr E. Smith, in " N.Y. Post," Dec 18.