A BEAR ON FIRE. 21

see cattle in corrals, aye, as you see people
sometimes in the cars.

And now came a torrent of little creep-
ing things: rabbits, rats, squirrels! None
of these smaller creatures attempted to
cross, but crept along in the willows and
brush close to the water.

They loaded down the willows till they
bent into the water, and the terrified little
creatures floated away without the least
bit of noise or confusion. And still the
black skies were filled with the solemn
boom of thunder. In fact, we had not yet
heard any noise of any sort except thunder,
not even our own voices. There was some-
thing more eloquent in the air now, some-
thing more terrible than man or beast, and
all things were awed into silence—a pro-
found silence.

And all this time countless creatures,
little creatures and big, were crowding the
bank on our side or swimming across or
floating down, down, down the swift, wood-
hung waters. Suddenly the stolid leader