falling in, would prove fatal when the flames arrived!  And after groping some distance along the trench, he found the depth diminished, but the fire was not three hundred paces distant!  His heart sank within him!  But when on the eve of returning to his former position, with a resolution to remove as much of the combustible matter as possible, a gleam of joy spread over his features, as, casting a glance in a direction from that they had recently pursued, he beheld the identical mound he had ascended before dark, and from which his unsteady and erratic riding in the night had fortunately prevented a distant separation.  They now led their horses forth, and mounting without delay, whipped forward for life or death.  Could the summit of the mound be attained they were in safety—­for there the soil was not encumbered with decayed vegetation—­and they spurred their animals to the top of their speed.  It was a noble sight to see the majestic white steed flying towards the mound with the velocity of the wind, while the diminutive pony miraculously followed in the wake like an inseparable shadow.  The careering flames were not far behind; and when the horses gained the summit and Glenn looked back, the fire had reached the base!

“I thank all the saints at once!” exclaimed Joe, dismounting and falling on his knees.

“Thank your pony’s legs, also,” remarked Glenn, smiling.

“Was there ever such a blessed deliverance!” said Joe, panting.

“Was there ever such a lucky tumble into a ditch!” replied Glenn, with spirits more buoyant than usual.

“Was there ever an old hunter so much deceived!” said a voice a few paces down that side of the cone least exposed to the glare of the fire, and so much in the shadow of the peak that the speaker was not perceived from the position of the young men.  But as soon as the words were uttered, Ringwood and Jowler sprang from the horses’ heels where they had lain panting, and rushed in the direction of the speaker, whom they accosted with marks of joyful recognition.

“It is Boone!” exclaimed Glenn, leaping from his horse, and running forward to his friend, who was now seen to rise up, and a moment after his horse, that had been prostrate and still, was likewise on his feet.

“Ha! ha! ha!  You have played me a fine trick, truly,” laughingly remarked Boone, returning their hearty salutations.

“How?” inquired Glenn.

“In the first place, to venture forth before my arrival; in the next to inspire me with the belief that I was on the eve of encountering a brace of Indians.  But I will begin at the beginning.  When I crossed the river and reached your hut, (which is indeed impregnable,) I was astonished to find you had gone forth to hunt without a guide; and not so much fearing you would be lost, should night overtake you, as apprehending serious danger from the fire, the approach of which I anticipated long before night, from the peculiar