A HOLOCAUST
It was late one sultry night when I sat moodily beside an open window in
my 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 and
ill-disposed to sleep. Thomas Steel, whose homestead stood some leagues
away, lounged close by with his unlighted pipe on his knee and his
coarse sun-faded shirt flung open showing his bronzed neck and the paler
color of his ample chest. He was about my own age and possessed the
frame 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. "It
will be too late for some of us when it comes."
I merely nodded, and glanced out through the window. Thick darkness
brooded over the prairie, though at intervals a flicker of sheet
lightning blazed along the horizon and called up clumps of straggling
birches out of the obscurity. A fitful breeze which eddied about the
building set the grasses sighing, but it was without coolness, and laden
with the smell of burning. Far-off streaks of crimson shone against the
sky in token that grass-fires were moving down-wind across the prairie.
They would, however, so far as we could see, hurt nobody. Steel fidgeted
nervously until I began to wonder what was the matter with him, and when
he thrust his chair backwards I said irritably: "For heaven's sake sit
still. You look as ill at ease as if you had been told off to murder
somebody."
The stalwart farmer's face darkened. "I feel 'most as bad, and have been
waiting all evening to get the trouble out," he said. "Fact is, I'm
borrowing money, and if you could let me have a few hundred dollars it
would mean salvation."
I laughed harshly to hide my dismay. The prairie settlers stand by one
another in time of adversity, and in earlier days Steel had been a good
friend to me; but the request was singularly inopportune. Two bad
seasons had followed each other, when the whole Dominion labored under a
commercial depression; and though my estate was worth at ordinary values
a considerable sum, it was only by sacrificing my best stock I could
raise 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 three
hundred 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 ahead
by the aid of borrowed capital. Then its representative--very affable
man--came along and talked considerable. I was a bit hard pressed, and
the 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'll
foreclose on me."
I clenched my right hand viciously, for the man who had trapped poor
Steel had also a hold on me, and I began to cherish a growing fear of
the genial Lane.
"It's getting a common story around here," I said. "That man seems bent
on absorbing all this country, but if only for that very reason we're
bound 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 means
overpleasant reverie. So some time passed until a glare of red and
yellow showed up against the sky where none had been before.
"Looks like a mighty big fire. There's long grass feeding it, and it has
just rolled over a ridge," said Steel. "Seems to me somewhere near the
Indian Spring Bottom, but Redmond and the other fellow would drive the
stock well clear."
Flinging my chair back I snatched a small compass from a shelf, laid it
on the window-ledge, and, kneeling behind it, with a knife blade held
across the card I took the bearings of the flame. "It's coming right
down on the bottom, and though by this time the stock is probably well
clear, I'm a little uneasy about it. We'll ride over and make quite
sure," I said.
"Of course!" Steel answered, and seemed about to add something, but
thought better of it and followed me towards the stable. Thorn, who was
prompt of action, had also seen the fire, for he was already busy with
the horses; and inside of five minutes we were sweeping at a gallop
across the prairie. Save for the intermittent play of lightning the
darkness was Egyptian; and the grass was seamed by hollows and deadly
badger-holes; but the broad blaze streamed higher for a beacon, and,
risking a broken neck, I urged on the mettled beast beneath me. Grass
fires are common, and generally are harmless enough in our country; but
that one seemed unusually fierce, and an indefinite dread gained on me
as 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 neck
together through the tall grass of a slough in the midst of which
Thorn's horse blundered horribly. Then we dipped into a ravine, reeling
down the slope and splashing through caked mire where a little water had
been. Every moment might be precious, and turning aside for nothing, we
rode straight across the prairie, while at last I pressed the horse
fiercely as a long rise shut out the blaze. Once we gained its crest the
actual 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 red
beneath us, and the whole mile-wide hollow through which it flowed was
filled with fire, while some distance down stream on the farther side a
dusky mass was discernible through the rolling smoke which blew in long
wisps in that direction. It seemed as though a cold hand had suddenly
been laid on my heart, for the mass moved, and was evidently composed of
close-packed and panic-stricken beasts.
"It's the Gaspard draft held up by the wing fence!" a voice behind me
rose in a breathless yell.
I smote the horse, and we shot down the declivity. How the beast kept
its footing I do not know, for there were thickets of wild berries and
here and there thin willows to be smashed through; but we went down at a
mad gallop, the clods whirling behind us and the wind screaming past,
until we plunged into the Sweetwater through a cloud of spray. In places
soft mire clogged the sinking hoofs, in others slippery shingle rolled
beneath them, while the stream seethed whitely to the girth; but
steaming, panting, dripping, we came through, and I dashed,
half-blinded, into the smoke. A confused bellowing came out of the
drifting wreaths ahead, and there was a mad beat of hoofs behind, but I
could see little save the odd shafts of brightness which leaped out of
the vapor as I raced towards the fire. Then somebody cried in warning,
and the horse reared almost upright as--while I wrenched upon the
bridle--a running man staggered out of the smoke. A red blaze tossed
suddenly aloft behind him, and as he turned the brightness smote upon
his blackened face. It was set and savage, and the hair was singed upon
his forehead.
"It's blue ruin. The green birches are burning, and all your beasts are
corraled in the fence wings," he gasped. "Fire came over the rise
without warning, in Redmond's watch. Somehow he got the rest clear, but
your lot stampeded and the wire brought them up. I'm off to the shanty
for an ax--but no living man could get them out."
Thorn pulled up his plunging horse as the other spoke, and for a few
seconds 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's
nearly 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 the
grazing I had shared the cost of that one with another man, partly
because it would be useful when sheep washing was forward and would
serve as a corral when we cut out shipping stock. It consisted of only
two wings at right angles--a long one towards the summit of the rise,
and another parallel to the river, which flowed deep beneath that rotten
bank; but the beasts on each side would seldom leave the rich grass in
the hollow to wander round the unclosed end, and if driven into the
angle two riders could hold the open mouth. Now I could see that the
simple contrivance might prove a veritable death-trap to every beast
within it.
It was with difficulty we reached the crest of the rise, but we passed
the wing before the fire, which now broke through the driving vapor, a
wavy wall of crimson, apparently two fathoms high, closing in across the
full breadth of the hollow at no great pace, but with a relentless
regularity. Then I rode fiercely towards the angle or junction of the
wires 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 compact
as if rammed together by hydraulic pressure, and, to judge by the
bellowing, those against the fence were being rent by the barbs or
slowly crushed to death. Our cattle wander at large across the prairie
and exhibit few characteristics of domestic beasts. Indeed, they are at
times almost dangerous to handle, and when stampeded in a panic a
squadron of cavalry would hardly turn them. Yet the loss of this draft
boded ruin to me, and it was just possible that if we could separate one
or two animals from the rest and drive them towards the end of the fence
the others might follow. The mouth of the net might remain open for a
few minutes yet.
"I guess it's hopeless, but we've just got to try," said Thorn, who
understood what was in my mind. "Start in with that big one. There's not
a second to lose."
Steel, leaning down from the saddle, drove his knife-point into the rump
of one beast, and when it wheeled I thrust my horse between it and the
herd and smote it upon the nostrils with my clenched fist, uselessly.
The terrified creature headed round again, jamming me against its
companions, and when my horse backed clear, one of my legs felt as
though it were broken. This, however, was no time to trouble about minor
injuries or be particular on the score of humanity; and while Thorn
endeavored to effect a diversion by twisting one beast's tail I pricked
another savagely. It wheeled when it felt the pain, and when it turned
again with gleaming horns and lowered head Steel pushed recklessly into
the opening. Then a thick wisp of smoke filled my eyes, and I did not
see how it happened, but man and horse had gone down together when the
vapor thinned, and the victorious animal was once more adding its weight
to the pressure on the rear of the surging mass.
Steel was up next moment, struggling with his horse, which, with bared
teeth, was backing away from him at full length of its bridle; but,
answering my shout, he said breathlessly: "I don't know whether half my
bones 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 fool
here any longer we'll lose the horses, too."
I saw there was truth in this, and almost doubted if we could clear the
fence wing now. It was at least certain that nothing we could do there
would extricate the terrified beasts; and when Steel got himself into
the saddle we started again at a gallop. There was less smoke, and what
there was towered vertically in a lull of the breeze; but the crackling
flame tossed higher and higher. For a moment I fancied it had cut us off
within the fence, which would have made a dangerous leap; but though the
terrified horses were almost beyond guidance, fear lent them speed, and
with very little room to spare Steel and I shot round the end of the
wire.
"Look out for the setting-up post nearest the corner, and slack the
turn-screws until the wire goes down, while I try to cut the strand
close in to the herd!" I roared "Is Thorn behind you?"
"No," the answer came back. "Good Lord! we've left him inside the
fence!"
I managed to pull my horse up, when a glance showed me the foreman's
stalwart figure silhouetted against the crimson flame as he strove to
master his plunging horse. It was evident that the horse had refused to
face 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 under
them!" I shouted, wondering whether the crackling of the flame drowned
my husky voice.
"This horse is worth three hundred dollars, and he's either going
through or over," the answer came back; and I shouted in warning, for it
appeared impossible to clear that fence, though the beast, which was not
of common bronco stock, had good imported blood in him. Then there was a
yell from the foreman as he recklessly shot forward straight at the
fence. The horse was ready to face anything so long as he could keep the
fire behind him, and I held my breath as he rose at the wire. Our horses
are not good jumpers, and the result seemed certain. His knees struck
the topmost wire; there was a heavy crash; and the man, shooting forward
as from a catapult, alighted with a sickening thud, while the poor brute
rolled 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 hundred
dollars, 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 hitched
the bridle round a strand of the wire, knowing that the possibility of
getting away almost instantaneously when my work was done might make
all the difference between life and death. The fence was tall, built of
stout barbed wire strained to a few screw standards and stapled to thick
birch posts. I had neither ax nor nippers, only a long-bladed knife, and
densely packed beasts were wedging themselves tighter and tighter
against the other side of the barrier. Already some had fallen and been
trampled out of existence, while others seemed horribly mangled and
torn. The man who had gone for an ax had not reappeared, and I regretted
I had not bidden him take one of our horses, for the shanty was some
distance away.
Slashing through the laces I dragged off one boot. Its heel was heavy
and might serve for a mallet, and holding the blade of my knife on the
top strand close against a post, I smote it furiously. The wire was not
nicked half through when it burst beneath the pressure, and a barb on
its flying end scored my face so that the blood trickled into my mouth
and eyes; but the next wire was of treble twist, and as I struck and
choked I regretted the thoroughness with which we had built the fence.
The knife chipped under the blows I rained upon it, and when I shortened
the blade its end snapped off. In a fit of desperation I seized the
lacerating wires with my naked fingers and tore at them frenziedly, but
what the pressure on the other side failed to accomplish the strength of
twenty men might not do, so when in a few seconds reason returned to me
I picked up what remained of the knife and set to work again. There was
still no sign of Thorn, and as the wires did not slacken it was plain
that Steel had failed to loose the straining screws without convenient
tools. Three slender cords of steel alone pent in the stock that were to
set 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 next
brought the boot heel down there was a metallic ringing as one strand
parted, and I shouted in breathless triumph, knowing the other must
follow. The fire was close behind the pent-up herd now, and I guessed
that very shortly my life would depend on my horse's speed. Just then
Steel dashed up, mounted, shouting: "Into the saddle with you. The fence
is going!"
I saw him unhitch my horse's bridle and struggle to hold the beast ready
between himself and me, but I meant to make quite certain of my part, so
I brought the boot heel down thrice again. Then I leaped backward,
clutched at the bridle, and scrambled to the saddle as a black mass
rolled out of the gap where the wire flew back. I remember desperately
endeavoring to head the horse clear of it along the fence, and wondering
how many of the cattle would fall over the remaining wires and be
crushed before their carcasses formed a causeway for the rest; but the
horse was past all guidance; and now that the fence had lost its
continuity more fathoms of it went down and the dusky mass poured over
it. Then something struck me with a heavy shock, the horse stumbled as I
slipped my feet out of the stirrups, and we went down together. I saw
nothing further, though I could feel the earth tremble beneath me; then
this sensation faded, and I was conscious of only a numbing pain beneath
my neck and my left arm causing me agony. After this there followed a
space of empty blackness.
When I partly recovered my faculties the pain was less intense, though
my left arm, which was tied to my side, felt hot and heavy, and the
jolting 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 from
the hay truss in which it was almost buried; and somebody who stooped
down held a bottle to my lips.
"Don't you tell him," a subdued voice said, and the man, who I think was
Steel, came near choking me as he poured more spirit than I could
swallow down my throat and also down my neck.
"That's all right. Don't worry. We're mighty thankful we got you," he
said.
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 pricking
between shoulder and breast should continue so pitilessly; until that
ceased in turn, and I had a hazy idea that someone was carrying me
through an interminable cavern; after which there succeeded complete
oblivion.