A PORTENTOUS LIGHT
It was growing dusk, of a thick, hot evening, when Leland at last pulled
up his jaded horses, and, turning in the iron saddle, raised his hand in
signal. Behind him, a drawn-out line of machines and plodding teams were
moving on at measured distances, binder after binder, half-hidden by the
tall oats that went down before them with a harsh crackle. Where they
passed, men toiled hard among the flung-out sheaves, and the trampling
of weary horses, rasp and tinkle of the knives, and the clash of the
binders' wooden arms rang far across the great dusky plain. The sounds
of strenuous activity had risen since the sun first crept up above the
vast sweep of grass, and continued through the burning heat of the day;
but now they ceased suddenly, and men, stripped to coarse blue shirt and
trousers of dusty jean, wiped their dripping faces, and straightened
their aching backs before they loosed the teams. Their hoarse voices
came up to Leland, with the clatter of flung-down poles and the tramp of
horses among the stubble, as he got down from his binder.
Men toil hard at harvest the world over, but, perhaps, nowhere is the
work so fierce, or demands so much from those engaged in it, as on the
wide levels which stretch back from the wheat lands of Western Canada
into the Dakotas across the border. There flesh and blood must keep pace
with unwearying machines, the latest and most ingenious that man's brain
can conceive. The reaper has gone, the binder that is a year or two out
of date is broken up, and, while the machine does more and more, the
strength of the men who serve and drive it remains the same. For all
that, none of them can afford to be left behind. They have no use for
the incompetent in that country, and, though at times the pace is apt to
kill, man must strain overtaxed muscle and sinew in the tense effort to
keep up with wooden arms that never ache, and with clashing steel. The
toilers are, for the most part, well paid and generously fed, and they
give all that is in them, from pride of manhood, and in some degree from
sheer necessity. The ban that is still a privilege has never been lifted
yet, and, while wheat may glut the markets and flour be cheap, it is
alone by the sweat of somebody's strenuous effort that man has bread to
eat.
Leland was aching all over, but that was, of course, nothing new to him,
and he turned to Gallwey, who was standing close by, when a man came up
to lead his team away.
"If you'll put the saddle on Coureur, Tom, and bring him out, I'd be
obliged," he said. "I'll sit here and smoke a pipe before I ride out to
meet Carrie and Mrs. Annersly. They should be well on their way from
Custer's now."
Gallwey ventured to expostulate with him. "I believe I heard Mrs.
Leland tell you not to come; and if you are going to start again at four
o'clock to-morrow, one would fancy you had done about enough," he said.
"I'm quite sure I have."
"Well," said Leland, "I want a look round, anyway. There has been a good
deal of smoke about most of the day, and there's a big grass-fire, or
probably more than one, somewhere out on the prairie. The wind's
freshening, too."
That, at least, was evident, for a rush of hot breeze came up out of the
growing darkness, and during the last few hours the sun had been hidden
by driving haze. Gallwey, who felt the wind upon his dusty cheek, turned
and glanced down the long row of sheaves which ridged the edge of the
prairie, for he guessed what his comrade was thinking. Behind the oats
there rolled long, rippling waves of wheat, and, though they were dusky
now, the daylight would have shown that they were tinted with bronze and
gold. The tall stems were hot still, and the prairie sod was white and
thick with fibrous dust.
"Everything is about as safe as you could make it," he said. "We have
good guards, and you ploughed check-furrows outside of them."
"I did," said Leland, drily. "I cut them across the track of the usual
winds. This one's an exception, and I have seen a fire jump guards that
were 'most as wide. There would be trouble if a spark got in among the
stubble, and I'm taking no chances just now."
Gallwey made a little gesture of concurrence as he once more glanced
down the long rows of sheaves. The stubble stood among them knee-high
and above the strip of ploughing that cut it off from the prairie, for
straw has no great value in that country.
"Well," he said, "I daresay you are right. It's a little hard to see how
a fire could get in, but, after all, one can never make quite sure of
anything."
He went away, and when he came back with the horse, Leland, swinging
himself stiffly into the saddle, rode out across the rise into the
silent prairie. Half an hour had passed before he met the waggon, but he
then turned back with it, checking his lively horse as Carrie's team,
which had travelled a considerable distance that day, plodded slowly
through tussocky grass up a slope. There are places where the prairie
runs dead level from horizon to horizon, but here and there it lifts in
long, gentle rises, as the ocean does when the swell of a past gale
disturbs its oily surface. Often the change is imperceptible until one
comes to the dip where the incline softly falls away again. As they
crossed the ridge, Carrie pulled the horses up and gazed about her.
"It's a trifle impressive. No sky, and darkness on the unseen earth.
There are only the fires moving in a void," she said.
The others did not answer, though they were in sympathy with her. Thick
darkness hid the prairie, and they on the crest of the ridge seemed
utterly alone in an immeasurable immensity of space. Somewhere in the
midst of it were long smears of crimson light that seized the eye with
their suggestion of distance as they flung themselves aloft when the
waggon crossed a rise. Still, the rise remained invisible, and, as
Carrie had said, the fires seemed to be moving through a great
emptiness. It was curiously and almost hauntingly impressive.
"I suppose they can't be near Prospect?" she said.
Leland turned his face to the wind, which was filled with the smell of
burning. "The nearest should be most of a league away from the
homestead," he said. "It's fortunate it is. That fire's an unusually big
one."
There was silence again for a minute or two, while they watched the
moving radiance, and then Carrie stood up suddenly.
"Prospect should be straight in front of us over the horses' heads," she
said.
"Almost. You couldn't see it. The rise hides the house."
"Ah!" said Carrie, with a little gasp. "Then there's another light
behind it. Something low and little that twinkles like a star."
Leland shook his bridle and touched the horse with his heel. "Take your
own time," he said hoarsely. "I'm going on. I'm afraid you'll have light
enough before you're home."
In another moment he had vanished into the darkness, and they heard a
drumming of hoofs grow fainter as he rode towards Prospect at a furious
gallop. For a while there was nothing he could see, but when he swept
across the last rise, and the lights of Prospect twinkled close in front
of him, he made out a little patch of radiance beyond them on the
prairie. It was evident to him that nobody at the homestead, which stood
lower, would see it. Then he struck the horse again, and was riding by
the stables at a wild gallop when a voice hailed him.
"That you, Mr. Leland?" it said.
Leland, remembering what instructions he had given the watcher, shouted
and pulled up his horse with a struggle.
"Turn out the boys!" he said. "Get them along to the south side of the
oats with the wet grain bags and shovels. Tom Gallwey's in the house?"
The unseen man said he was; and in another minute Leland, who rode on,
swung himself down at the homestead door. Gallwey, who had apparently
heard him coming, ran out.
"Bring me my old Marlin, and get yours," said Leland. "There's a
fire-bug getting his work in to windward of us on the prairie."
Gallwey disappeared, but came back with two rifles in less than a
minute. Leland, who had let the horse go, turned to him.
"We're going on foot to get that fellow if we can," he said. "I guess
the boys will know what to do."
Gallwey considered that this was probable, for grass-fires are common at
that season, and Leland had more than once explained exactly what the
part of each would be in case one approached the homestead. He and his
comrade accordingly set off through the bluff at a steady run, though
Gallwey twice fell over an unseen obstacle, while, when they came out,
there were two moving lines of fire, small as yet, but growing, on the
prairie behind it. It was also evident that the hot wind would bring
them down upon the oats. Leland, however, did not head for either blaze,
but for a point some distance to the left of the one farthest off.
"That man means to make quite sure," he said. "He'll figure he's as
safe as he was when he started the first fire, since we've shown no sign
of seeing it."
"I suppose there is a man," gasped Gallwey.
Leland seemed to laugh, though he was running hard. "Well," he said
breathlessly, "it's quite a usual thing for one fire to come along in
weather like this, but it's rather too much of a coincidence when two of
them start in the same place, while, when you see a third one too, it's
enough to make one anxious for a good grip of the man who's lighting
them."
"I can't see a third."
Leland swung his arm up, and appeared to be pointing in front of him.
"You're going to. Go on slow, but be ready to run when you see a
twinkle. The one thing to remember is that you have a rifle."
He turned off and vanished, while Gallwey pulled up to a walk. There was
a very big fire a league or so away, and two small ones behind him which
were extending rapidly, but all the rest of the prairie was wrapped in
utter darkness. When he turned, after glancing at the wide blaze of
radiance, he could not see a yard in front of him. Where his comrade was
he did not know, but he fancied his object was to place the incendiary
between the two of them when he betrayed himself by the third blaze.
Gallwey was, however, not quite sure there would be a third blaze, while
it appeared not improbable that if the man still lingered, he might hear
them.
For five minutes he walked straight on, or, at least, he fancied so. It
seemed to be getting darker, for the air was thick with drifting smoke,
and there was no moon. Then a pale twinkle leapt up in front of him, and
that was all he could be certain of, for, since there was no horizon,
it might have been, for all that he could tell, either above him or
beneath. It was a feeble blink of light that presently went out again.
Still, he had his direction now, and his heart beat a good deal faster
than usual as he went on at a run, until the pale blaze sprang up a
second time. Then he dropped swiftly, and crouched with one foot under
him and the rifle in his left hand, watching the radiance increase. He
could see the taller tussocks of grass between him and the fire now, and
drew in his breath, pitching the rifle forward with his elbow on his
knee, when a black figure became faintly visible behind it.
He could not see the sights, but the man who shoots duck on the sloos,
handles the rifle in that country much as one uses a double-barrel, and
Gallwey felt that the chances were in favour of his driving a forty-four
bullet into the black figure by the fire. Still, something in him
recoiled from doing so without, at least, a warning, and he raised his
voice.
"Stand still!" he said; "I have you covered." It is possible that the
man did not believe him, and made a swift calculation of the chances
against him. In any case, he vanished incontinently, and it was a moment
or two too late when Gallwey's rifle flashed. He felt the jar of the
butt on his shoulder, but, as usual, heard no report. He was listening
for the whine of the bullet and the thud which would tell him whether it
had reached its mark. He did not hear that either, and, slamming down
the slide, fired again at a venture. Then he heard a drumming of hoofs,
and rose to his feet. It would be Leland's turn now, and he fancied his
comrade would, at least, have endeavoured to place the man between
himself and the fire. It was certain that there was nothing to be gained
by running after a man upon a horse.
While he stood still, he saw a little pale flash, and heard the ringing
of a rifle. The flash appeared again, and this time was followed by a
cry and a heavy crash. Gallwey ran as fast as he could in the direction
whence it seemed to come, and in another few minutes stopped beside a
big, shapeless object that was moving convulsively on the grass. He made
out his comrade stooping over it.
"Get hold!" said Leland. "The horse is done for, but he has the man
pinned down under him."
Then it became apparent that another object, which had a certain human
semblance, lay among the horse's legs, and a faint voice rose from it.
"Hump yourselves, before he rolls over and smashes me all up," it said.
Gallwey was not sure what his comrade did, but he laid hold of what
seemed to be the man's arm, and, as the horse rolled a little, succeeded
in dragging him clear of it. He let him go and stood looking down on him
stupidly.
"Leg's broke!" gasped the man. "The beast fell on me."
"Well," said Leland, drily, "it will save us some trouble. You're not
going to walk very far like that, and, when we get the fire under
control, we'll see what can be done for you. It's your own fault that
you'll have to wait a little."
Then he swung round to Gallwey. "Back to the guard-furrows for your
life."
Gallwey fancied that he had never run quite so hard before, but, when
he reached the strip of ploughing between stubble and prairie, Leland
was already there, shouting breathlessly to the men spread out along it.
Not far away a wavy wall of fire was moving down on them out of the
prairie, and there were two more some distance to the left, though it
would evidently be a little while before the last of them rolled up.
Already a thick and acrid vapour whirled among the oats, and, when it
melted a little, and a brighter blaze sprang up, he could see the men's
tense faces and the curious rigidity of their attitudes.
Then there was a trampling of hoofs, and, turning, he saw Carrie Leland
pull her plunging team up in the midst of the smoke. She stood up on the
front of the waggon, and a flickering blaze of radiance showed that she
was dripping with water. A pile of wet bags lay behind her.
"Throw them out, boys," she said. "There are more of them waiting."
In another moment Leland ran up and seized the near horse's head, as the
beast kicked and plunged in the stinging smoke.
"Go home, and leave the team to one of the boys," he said.
Carrie laughed, standing bolt upright, the fire-light on her face, the
reins in her hands.
"No," she said; "they're wanted, and do you think we can't drive in
England? Get the bags out as fast as you can, boys."
The warning seemed necessary, for one of the horses' forelegs left the
ground, and the other's hind hoofs crashed against the front of the
waggon. Then Leland was almost swung off his feet, and Carrie laughed
again.
"Let them go. I'll hold them if you're quick," she said.
She dropped into the driving-seat with her feet braced against the
board, and the men made what haste they could, while the frantic team
kicked and plunged and backed the waggon in among them. Gallwey was
stirred to admiration as he watched the tense, shapely figure, braced
against the strain upon the reins, that was now and then forced up by
the fire and lost again.
Then a thick wreath of blinding smoke whirled down on them, and Carrie
cried out as she swung the whip. There was a thud of hoofs and a rattle,
the men leapt aside, and the waggon plunged into the vapour, as Gallwey
said afterwards, like a thunderbolt.