I remembered the fire on the prairie.  Then only the grass was burning, but now we should soon have the tall trees in flames on both sides of us.  In a few minutes the flaming masses might be tumbling down on our heads, and overwhelming us.  The thought of this prevented us from relaxing our efforts.  We ran here and there flourishing our sticks, shouting and bawling till we were hoarse; still, we kept ahead of the fire, although it was advancing rapidly in our track.  The hut, outbuildings, and enclosures must already, we knew, be reduced to a mass of cinders; but there was no use thinking about that.  We should be fortunate, did we preserve the more valuable part of our property.