“Yes,” said Victor hastily, for he knew that Miss Trim was on the point of delivering one of her parenthetical and pointless orations, “it was indeed an amazing time! Such boating on the plains, and such camping out! To say nothing of tumbling into the water and being half drowned.”
“By the way,” asked Ian, “was not poor John Flett nearly drowned about the beginning of the flood?”
“Of course he was,” said Mr Ravenshaw, “and if it had not been for your father he and his family would have been lost altogether. Is not that so, Angus?”
“Well, it iss droont he would have been in all probabeelity,” said Angus, “for he was on the wrong road when I met him, an’ he couldn’t find the right wan, whatever. Shon Flett iss a good man, but he iss also foolish. You see, when the watter came on him so strong that his hoose began to slup away, he took two of his oxen an’ he tied them together wi’ ropes, an’ put planks on their backs, which he also tied; ay! an’ so he made a sort of livin’ stage, on which he sat his wife and four children; two of them wass poys and the other two wass girls, whatever. The frightened craters went about the best way they could, sometimes wadin’ an’ sometimes sweemin’, an’ Shon, he wass leadin’ them wi’ a line roond their horns, an’ he wass wadin’ an’ sweemin’ also. I came across them wi’ my post an’ took them in. That was just pefore we saw the hoose on fire floatin’ down the river.”
“The house on fire!” exclaimed Cora; “I did not hear of that.”
“No wonder,” said Lambert. “There have been so many strange incidents and hairbreadth escapes during the flood that we won’t likely hear about them all for many a day to come.”
“But what about the house on fire?” asked Victor; “was any one in it?”
“No, it was only a house that had been left somewhat hastily by its owners, who must have forgot to put out the fire or capsized something over it. At all events the house was seen floating down stream at night, and a splendid sight it was, burning furiously, with the flames glittering in the water that swept it away.”
“How sad!” said Elsie, whose mind dwelt on the evil rather than on the picturesque aspect of the incident.
“I can’t imagine what ever was the cause of the flood,” remarked Mrs Ravenshaw.