14.  I turned to young Thomas, and asked him how long he thought that would he.  “When the fire clears this little ridge in front, ma’am.  The Lord have mercy on us then, or we must all go.”

15.  I threw myself down on the floor beside my children, and pressed them to my heart, while inwardly I thanked God that they were asleep, unconscious of danger, and unable by their cries to distract our attention from adopting any plan which might offer to effect their escape.

16.  The heat soon became suffocating.  We were parched with thirst, and there was not a drop of water in the house, and none to be procured nearer than the lake.  I turned once more to the door, hoping that a passage might have been burnt through to the water.  I saw nothing but a dense cloud of fire and smoke—­could hear nothing but the crackling and roaring of flames, which was gaining so fast upon us that I felt their scorching breath in my face.

17.  “Ah,” thought I—­and it was a most bitter thought—­“what will my beloved husband say when he returns and finds that his poor wife and his dear girls have perished in this miserable manner?  But God can save us yet.”

18.  The thought had scarcely found a voice in my heart before the wind rose to a hurricane, scattering the flames on all sides into a tempest of burning billows.  I buried my head in my apron, for I thought that all was lost, when a most terrific crash of thunder burst over our heads, and, like the breaking of a waterspout, down came the rushing torrent of rain which had been pent up for so many weeks.

19.  In a few minutes the chip yard was all afloat, and the fire effectually checked.  The storm which, unnoticed by us, had been gathering all day, and which was the only one of any note we had that summer, continued to rage all night, and before morning had quite subdued the cruel enemy whose approach we had viewed with such dread.

Definitions.-l.  A-bat’ing, lessening.  List’less-ly, not paying attention, heedlessly. 3.  Fal’low, a new clearing usually covered with brush heaps. 8.  Con-cen-tra’tion, bringing into a small space, the essence. 9.  Can’o-py, a covering or curtain. 10.  Ef-fect’, to bring to pass. 11.  Suc-ceed’ed, followed.  Ap-pall’ing, terrifying. 12.  Lu’rid, dull red.  Ig-nit’ing, setting on fire. 15.  Dis-tract’, con-fuse, perplex. 16.  Parched, made very dry. 18.  Wa’ter-spout, a column of water caught up by a whirlwind.

LXXXII.  THE DYING SOLDIERS. (230)

1.  A waste of land, a sodden plain,
     A lurid sunset sky,
   With clouds that fled and faded fast
     In ghostly phantasy;
   A field upturned by trampling feet,
     A field uppiled with slain,
   With horse and rider blent in death
     Upon the battle plain.