The first high gale prostrated
all my fine trees, and left our log cottage entirely exposed to the
fierce rays of the sun.
The confusion of an uncleared fallow spread around us on every side.
Huge trunks of trees and piles of brush gave a littered and
uncomfortable appearance to the locality, and as the weather had
been very dry for some weeks, I heard my husband daily talking with
his choppers as to the expediency of firing the fallow. They still
urged him to wait a little longer, until he could get a good breeze
to carry the fire well through the brush.
Business called him suddenly to Toronto, but he left a strict
charge with old Thomas and his sons, who were engaged in the job,
by no means to attempt to burn it off until he returned, as he
wished to be upon the premises himself, in case of any danger. He
had previously burnt all the heaps immediately about the doors.
While he was absent, old Thomas and his second son fell sick with
the ague, and went home to their own township, leaving John, a
surly, obstinate young man, in charge of the shanty, where they
slept, and kept their tools and provisions.
Monaghan I had sent to fetch up my three cows, as the children were
languishing for milk, and Mary and I remained alone in the house
with the little ones.
The day was sultry, and towards noon a strong wind sprang up that
roared in the pine tops like the dashing of distant billows, but
without in the least degree abating the heat. The children were
lying listlessly upon the floor for coolness, and the girl and I
were finishing sun-bonnets, when Mary suddenly exclaimed, "Bless us,
mistress, what a smoke!" I ran immediately to the door, but was not
able to distinguish ten yards before me. The swamp immediately below
us was on fire, and the heavy wind was driving a dense black cloud
of smoke directly towards us.
"What can this mean?" I cried, "Who can have set fire to the fallow?"
As I ceased speaking, John Thomas stood pale and trembling before
me. "John, what is the meaning of this fire?"
"Oh, ma'am, I hope you will forgive me; it was I set fire to it, and
I would give all I have in the world if I had not done it."
"What is the danger?"
"Oh, I'm terribly afear'd that we shall all be burnt up," said the
fellow, beginning to whimper.
"Why did you run such a risk, and your master from home, and no one
on the place to render the least assistance?"
"I did it for the best," blubbered the lad. "What shall we do?"
"Why, we must get out of it as fast as we can, and leave the house
to its fate."
"We can't get out," said the man, in a low, hollow tone, which
seemed the concentration of fear; "I would have got out of it
if I could; but just step to the back door, ma'am, and see."
I had not felt the least alarm up to this minute; I had never seen
a fallow burnt, but I had heard of it as a thing of such common
occurrence that I had never connected with it any idea of danger.
Judge then, my surprise, my horror, when, on going to the back door,
I saw that the fellow, to make sure of his work, had fired the field
in fifty different places. Behind, before, on every side, we were
surrounded by a wall of fire, burning furiously within a hundred
yards of us, and cutting off all possibility of retreat; for could
we have found an opening through the burning heaps, we could not
have seen our way through the dense canopy of smoke; and, buried
as we were in the heart of the forest, no one could discover our
situation till we were beyond the reach of help.
I closed the door, and went back to the parlour. Fear was knocking
loudly at my heart, for our utter helplessness annihilated all hope
of being able to effect our escape - I felt stupefied. The girl sat
upon the floor by the children, who, unconscious of the peril that
hung over them, had both fallen asleep. She was silently weeping;
while the fool who had caused the mischief was crying aloud.
A strange calm succeeded my first alarm; tears and lamentations were
useless; a horrible death was impending over us, and yet I could not
believe that we were to die. I sat down upon the step of the door,
and watched the awful scene in silence. The fire was raging in the
cedar-swamp immediately below the ridge on which the house stood,
and it presented a spectacle truly appalling. From out the dense
folds of a canopy of black smoke, the blackest I ever saw, leaped
up continually red forks of lurid flame as high as the tree tops,
igniting the branches of a group of tall pines that had been left
standing for saw-logs.
A deep gloom blotted out the heavens from our sight. The air
was filled with fiery particles, which floated even to the
door-step - while the crackling and roaring of the flames might
have been heard at a great distance. Could we have reached the
lake shore, where several canoes were moored at the landing,
by launching out into the water we should have been in perfect
safety; but, to attain this object, it was necessary to pass
through this mimic hell; and not a bird could have flown over it
with unscorched wings.
