Those nearest had their
bark blistered and their leaves curled and scorched from the intense
heat. A conflagration at night, when viewed from a distance, always
seems awful in its sublimity. There is something calculated to inspire
terror in the illuminated dome of the heavens and the onward sweep of
this fearful element, when viewed in a civilized country; but it is
only in the wilderness, away from the abode of man, that such an
exhibition partakes of all the elements of grandeur and terror.
The solitary hunter, as he stood upon the banks of some lonely stream,
leaned on his rifle and gazed with a beating heart at the brilliant
redness that lit up so much of the sky. The beasts in their lair
turned their glowing eyeballs toward the dreadful illumination, and
stood transfixed with fear until its light died away; while the dark
face of the vengeful Shawnee grew darker and more terrible as he gazed
upon this work of his own hands. A silence, deep and profound, rested
like a pall upon the wilderness and remained there until darkness again
held undisputed reign.
Lieutenant Canfield had seen the glowing light from a great distance,
when its appearance was much like that of the moon as it comes up in
the horizon. Little did he suspect its true nature. It was not until
the next morning that he encountered Oonomoo, the Huron, who related
the particulars of the attack of the Shawnee party upon the house of
Captain Prescott and the capture of his daughter.
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