Ah's me! the imps have circumvented us with a vengeance.

The prairie is on fire!" "God in Heaven protect us!" cried Middleton, catching Inez to his bosom, under the instant impression of the imminence of their danger.

"There is no time to lose, old man; each instant is a day; let us fly." "Whither ?" demanded the trapper, motioning him, with calmness and dignity, to arrest his steps.

"In this wilderness of grass and reeds, you are like a vessel in the broad lakes without a compass.

A single step on the wrong course might prove the destruction of us all.