CHAPTER VI
A HOLOCAUST
It was late one sultry night when I sat moodily beside an open window inmy house at Gaspard's Trail. I had risen before the sun that morning,but, though tired with a long day's ride, I felt restless andill-disposed to sleep. Thomas Steel, whose homestead stood some leaguesaway, lounged close by with his unlighted pipe on his knee and hiscoarse sun-faded shirt flung open showing his bronzed neck and the palercolor of his ample chest. He was about my own age and possessed theframe of a gladiator, but there was limp dejection in his attitude.
"It's just awful weather, but there's a change at hand," he said. "Itwill be too late for some of us when it comes."
I merely nodded, and glanced out through the window. Thick darknessbrooded over the prairie, though at intervals a flicker of sheetlightning blazed along the horizon and called up clumps of stragglingbirches out of the obscurity. A fitful breeze which eddied about thebuilding set the grasses sighing, but it was without coolness, and ladenwith the smell of burning. Far-off streaks of crimson shone against thesky in token that grass-fires were moving down-wind across the prairie.They would, however, so far as we could see, hurt nobody. Steel fidgetednervously until I began to wonder what was the matter with him, and whenhe thrust his chair backwards I said irritably: "For heaven's sake sitstill. You look as ill at ease as if you had been told off to murdersomebody."
The stalwart farmer's face darkened. "I feel 'most as bad, and have beenwaiting all evening to get the trouble out," he said. "Fact is, I'mborrowing money, and if you could let me have a few hundred dollars itwould mean salvation."
I laughed harshly to hide my dismay. The prairie settlers stand by oneanother in time of adversity, and in earlier days Steel had been a goodfriend to me; but the request was singularly inopportune. Two badseasons had followed each other, when the whole Dominion labored under acommercial depression; and though my estate was worth at ordinary valuesa considerable sum, it was only by sacrificing my best stock I couldraise money enough to carry it on.
"If I get anything worth mentioning for the beasts I'll do my utmost,and by emptying the treasury perhaps I can scrape up two or threehundred now. What do you want with it?" I said.
"I thought you would help me," answered Steel, with a gasp of relief."I've been played for the fool I am. I got a nice little book from the---- Company, and it showed how any man with enterprise could get aheadby the aid of borrowed capital. Then its representative--very affableman--came along and talked considerable. I was a bit hard pressed, andthe end was that he lent me money. There were a blame lot of charges,and the money seemed to melt away, while now, if I don't pay up, he'llforeclose on me."
I clenched my right hand viciously, for the man who had trapped poorSteel had also a hold on me, and I began to cherish a growing fear ofthe genial Lane.
"It's getting a common story around here," I said. "That man seems benton absorbing all this country, but if only for that very reason we'rebound to help each other to beat him. It will be a hard pull, but,though it all depends on what the stock fetch, I'll do the best I can."
Steel was profuse in his thanks, and I lapsed into a by no meansoverpleasant reverie. So some time passed until a glare of red andyellow showed up against the sky where none had been before.
"Looks like a mighty big fire. There's long grass feeding it, and it hasjust rolled over a ridge," said Steel. "Seems to me somewhere near theIndian Spring Bottom, but Redmond and the other fellow would drive thestock well clear."
Flinging my chair back I snatched a small compass from a shelf, laid iton the window-ledge, and, kneeling behind it, with a knife blade heldacross the card I took the bearings of the flame. "It's coming rightdown on the bottom, and though by this time the stock is probably wellclear, I'm a little uneasy about it. We'll ride over and make quitesure," I said.
"Of course!" Steel answered, and seemed about to add something, butthought better of it and followed me towards the stable. Thorn, who wasprompt of action, had also seen the fire, for he was already busy withthe horses; and inside of five minutes we were sweeping at a gallopacross the prairie. Save for the intermittent play of lightning thedarkness was Egyptian; and the grass was seamed by hollows and deadlybadger-holes; but the broad blaze streamed higher for a beacon, and,risking a broken neck, I urged on the mettled beast beneath me. Grassfires are common, and generally are harmless enough in our country; butthat one seemed unusually fierce, and an indefinite dread gained on meas the miles rolled behind us.
"It's the worst I've seen for several seasons. Whole ridge is blazing,"panted Steel, as, with a great crackling, we swept neck and necktogether through the tall grass of a slough in the midst of whichThorn's horse blundered horribly. Then we dipped into a ravine, reelingdown the slope and splashing through caked mire where a little water hadbeen. Every moment might be precious, and turning aside for nothing, werode straight across the prairie, while at last I pressed the horsefiercely as a long rise shut out the blaze. Once we gained its crest theactual conflagration would be visible. The horse was white with lather,and I was almost blinded with sweat and dust when we gained the summit.Drawing bridle, I caught at my breath. The Sweetwater ran blood redbeneath us, and the whole mile-wide hollow through which it flowed wasfilled with fire, while some distance down stream on the farther side adusky mass was discernible through the rolling smoke which blew in longwisps in that direction. It seemed as though a cold hand had suddenlybeen laid on my heart, for the mass moved, and was evidently composed ofclose-packed and panic-stricken beasts.
"It's the Gaspard draft held up by the wing fence!" a voice behind merose in a breathless yell.
I smote the horse, and we shot down the declivity. How the beast keptits footing I do not know, for there were thickets of wild berries andhere and there thin willows to be smashed through; but we went down at amad gallop, the clods whirling behind us and the wind screaming past,until we plunged into the Sweetwater through a cloud of spray. In placessoft mire clogged the sinking hoofs, in others slippery shingle rolledbeneath them, while the stream seethed whitely to the girth; butsteaming, panting, dripping, we came through, and I dashed,half-blinded, into the smoke. A confused bellowing came out of thedrifting wreaths ahead, and there was a mad beat of hoofs behind, but Icould see little save the odd shafts of brightness which leaped out ofthe vapor as I raced towards the fire. Then somebody cried in warning,and the horse reared almost upright as--while I wrenched upon thebridle--a running man staggered out of the smoke. A red blaze tossedsuddenly aloft behind him, and as he turned the brightness smote uponhis blackened face. It was set and savage, and the hair was singed uponhis forehead.
"It's blue ruin. The green birches are burning, and all your beasts arecorraled in the fence wings," he gasped. "Fire came over the risewithout warning, in Redmond's watch. Somehow he got the rest clear, butyour lot stampeded and the wire brought them up. I'm off to the shantyfor an ax--but no living man could get them out."
Thorn pulled up his plunging horse as the other spoke, and for a fewseconds I struggled with the limpness of dismay. Then I said hoarsely:"If the flame hasn't lapped the wings yet, we'll try."
By this time the horses were almost in a state of panic, and Thorn'snearly unseated him, but we urged them into the vapor towards the fence.Fences were scarce in our district then, but after a dispute as to thegrazing I had shared the cost of that one with another man, partlybecause it would be useful when sheep washing was forward and wouldserve as a corral when we cut out shipping stock. It consisted of onlytwo wings at right angles--a long one towards the summit of the rise,and another parallel to the river, which flowed deep beneath that rottenbank; but the beasts on each side would seldom leave the rich grass inthe hollow to wander round the unclosed end, and if driven into theangle two riders could hold the open mouth. Now I could see that thesimple contrivance might prove a veritable death-trap to every beastwithin it.
It was with difficulty we reached the crest of the rise, but we passedthe wing before the fire,
which now broke through the driving vapor, awavy wall of crimson, apparently two fathoms high, closing in across thefull breadth of the hollow at no great pace, but with a relentlessregularity. Then I rode fiercely towards the angle or junction of thewires where the beasts were bunched together as in the pocket of a net.Thorn and Steel came up a few seconds later.
The outside cattle were circling round and jostling each other,thrusting upon those before them; the inside of the mass was as compactas if rammed together by hydraulic pressure, and, to judge by thebellowing, those against the fence were being rent by the barbs orslowly crushed to death. Our cattle wander at large across the prairieand exhibit few characteristics of domestic beasts. Indeed, they are attimes almost dangerous to handle, and when stampeded in a panic asquadron of cavalry would hardly turn them. Yet the loss of this draftboded ruin to me, and it was just possible that if we could separate oneor two animals from the rest and drive them towards the end of the fencethe others might follow. The mouth of the net might remain open for afew minutes yet.
"I guess it's hopeless, but we've just got to try," said Thorn, whounderstood what was in my mind. "Start in with that big one. There's nota second to lose."
Steel, leaning down from the saddle, drove his knife-point into the rumpof one beast, and when it wheeled I thrust my horse between it and theherd and smote it upon the nostrils with my clenched fist, uselessly.The terrified creature headed round again, jamming me against itscompanions, and when my horse backed clear, one of my legs felt asthough it were broken. This, however, was no time to trouble about minorinjuries or be particular on the score of humanity; and while Thornendeavored to effect a diversion by twisting one beast's tail I prickedanother savagely. It wheeled when it felt the pain, and when it turnedagain with gleaming horns and lowered head Steel pushed recklessly intothe opening. Then a thick wisp of smoke filled my eyes, and I did notsee how it happened, but man and horse had gone down together when thevapor thinned, and the victorious animal was once more adding its weightto the pressure on the rear of the surging mass.
Steel was up next moment, struggling with his horse, which, with baredteeth, was backing away from him at full length of its bridle; but,answering my shout, he said breathlessly: "I don't know whether half mybones are cracked or not, but they feel very much like it. It's no good,Ormesby. We'll have to cut the fence from the other side, and if we foolhere any longer we'll lose the horses, too."
I saw there was truth in this, and almost doubted if we could clear thefence wing now. It was at least certain that nothing we could do therewould extricate the terrified beasts; and when Steel got himself intothe saddle we started again at a gallop. There was less smoke, and whatthere was towered vertically in a lull of the breeze; but the cracklingflame tossed higher and higher. For a moment I fancied it had cut us offwithin the fence, which would have made a dangerous leap; but though theterrified horses were almost beyond guidance, fear lent them speed, andwith very little room to spare Steel and I shot round the end of thewire.
"Look out for the setting-up post nearest the corner, and slack theturn-screws until the wire goes down, while I try to cut the strandclose in to the herd!" I roared "Is Thorn behind you?"
"No," the answer came back. "Good Lord! we've left him inside thefence!"
I managed to pull my horse up, when a glance showed me the foreman'sstalwart figure silhouetted against the crimson flame as he strove tomaster his plunging horse. It was evident that the horse had refused toface the fire, which now rolled right up the wings of the fence.
"Come down and let him go! You can either climb the wires or crawl underthem!" I shouted, wondering whether the crackling of the flame drownedmy husky voice.
"This horse is worth three hundred dollars, and he's either goingthrough or over," the answer came back; and I shouted in warning, for itappeared impossible to clear that fence, though the beast, which was notof common bronco stock, had good imported blood in him. Then there was ayell from the foreman as he recklessly shot forward straight at thefence. The horse was ready to face anything so long as he could keep thefire behind him, and I held my breath as he rose at the wire. Our horsesare not good jumpers, and the result seemed certain. His knees struckthe topmost wire; there was a heavy crash; and the man, shooting forwardas from a catapult, alighted with a sickening thud, while the poor bruterolled over and lay still on the wrong side of the fence. Thorn rose,but very shakily, and I was thankful I had lost only some three hundreddollars, which I could very badly spare.
"Nothing given out this trip," he spluttered. "I've dropped my knife,though. Go on and try the cutting. I'll follow when I can."
In another few moments I dismounted abreast of the angle, and hitchedthe bridle round a strand of the wire, knowing that the possibility ofgetting away almost instantaneously when my work was done might makeall the difference between life and death. The fence was tall, built ofstout barbed wire strained to a few screw standards and stapled to thickbirch posts. I had neither ax nor nippers, only a long-bladed knife, anddensely packed beasts were wedging themselves tighter and tighteragainst the other side of the barrier. Already some had fallen and beentrampled out of existence, while others seemed horribly mangled andtorn. The man who had gone for an ax had not reappeared, and I regrettedI had not bidden him take one of our horses, for the shanty was somedistance away.
Slashing through the laces I dragged off one boot. Its heel was heavyand might serve for a mallet, and holding the blade of my knife on thetop strand close against a post, I smote it furiously. The wire was notnicked half through when it burst beneath the pressure, and a barb onits flying end scored my face so that the blood trickled into my mouthand eyes; but the next wire was of treble twist, and as I struck andchoked I regretted the thoroughness with which we had built the fence.The knife chipped under the blows I rained upon it, and when I shortenedthe blade its end snapped off. In a fit of desperation I seized thelacerating wires with my naked fingers and tore at them frenziedly, butwhat the pressure on the other side failed to accomplish the strength oftwenty men might not do, so when in a few seconds reason returned to meI picked up what remained of the knife and set to work again. There wasstill no sign of Thorn, and as the wires did not slacken it was plainthat Steel had failed to loose the straining screws without convenienttools. Three slender cords of steel alone pent in the stock that were toset me free of debt, but I had no implements with which to break them,so they also held me fast to be dragged down helpless to beggary.
At last the wire I struck at bent outward further, and when I nextbrought the boot heel down there was a metallic ringing as one strandparted, and I shouted in breathless triumph, knowing the other mustfollow. The fire was close behind the pent-up herd now, and I guessedthat very shortly my life would depend on my horse's speed. Just thenSteel dashed up, mounted, shouting: "Into the saddle with you. The fenceis going!"
I saw him unhitch my horse's bridle and struggle to hold the beast readybetween himself and me, but I meant to make quite certain of my part, soI brought the boot heel down thrice again. Then I leaped backward,clutched at the bridle, and scrambled to the saddle as a black massrolled out of the gap where the wire flew back. I remember desperatelyendeavoring to head the horse clear of it along the fence, and wonderinghow many of the cattle would fall over the remaining wires and becrushed before their carcasses formed a causeway for the rest; but thehorse was past all guidance; and now that the fence had lost itscontinuity more fathoms of it went down and the dusky mass poured overit. Then something struck me with a heavy shock, the horse stumbled as Islipped my feet out of the stirrups, and we went down together. I sawnothing further, though I could feel the earth tremble beneath me; thenthis sensation faded, and I was conscious of only a numbing pain beneathmy neck and my left arm causing me agony. After this there followed aspace of empty blackness.
When I partly recovered my faculties the pain was less intense, thoughmy left arm, which was tied to my side, felt hot and heavy, and thejolting motion convinced me that I
lay in the bottom of a wagon.
"Did you get the stock clear?" I gasped, striving to raise my head fromthe hay truss in which it was almost buried; and somebody who stoopeddown held a bottle to my lips.
"Don't you tell him," a subdued voice said, and the man, who I think wasSteel, came near choking me as he poured more spirit than I couldswallow down my throat and also down my neck.
"That's all right. Don't worry. We're mighty thankful we got you," hesaid.
Then the empty blackness closed in on me again, and I lay still,wondering whether I were dead and buried, and if so, why the prickingbetween shoulder and breast should continue so pitilessly; until thatceased in turn, and I had a hazy idea that someone was carrying methrough an interminable cavern; after which there succeeded completeoblivion.