Deerfoot was evidently uneasy. He shifted from one foot to the other and glanced about him as if he was undecided what to do next. The three fugitives simply stood and gazed at the distant column of smoke.
“You can smell the smoke now,” exclaimed Robert suddenly.
“Yes,” agreed Joseph. “The wind is coming this way.”
“So fire,” said Deerfoot.
“What do you mean by that?” asked Joseph.
“Fire come this way, too.”
“How will it?”
“Prairie burn,” said Deerfoot quietly.
“Do you think the prairie will catch on fire?” demanded Joseph in alarm. “Do you think it is dry enough?”
The two young pioneers gazed anxiously across the level plain to the place where the fire was raging. They knew the horrors of a prairie fire and they had no desire to be caught in the midst of one.