Terror for an instant held me dumb when I realized this awful danger. My first resolve was to rush forth and warn Nat and Biddon; but I reflected that they must have been awakened, ere this, and that I could do nothing to ward off the peril which threatened all alike. Springing to my feet, I paused a second to collect my tumultuous thoughts. Could I reach the timber, I could ascend a tree and be beyond danger; but I knew not what direction to take, and there was no time to spare. To remain still was to be trampled to death; to rush away could save me but a few moments longer. God of heaven! what a death! Louder and louder grew the thundering tread of the animals, and I stood like a madman, the cold sweat pouring off me, tormented by a thousand agonizing thoughts, and expecting death each moment! Nearer and nearer came the rattle of the clamping hoofs, and I stood rooted to the spot! Sinking on my knees, I implored mercy of the One who could give it in this moment of dire necessity; and while on my knees the means of preservation presented itself. “Strange!” I exclaimed, breathing deeply, “that I did not think of it before.” I have said that I was in a sort of depression or hollow in the earth, and that a large stone was imbedded on one side. Now a safer and more secure shelter could not have been found in this emergency. I wrapped my blanket around me, and crept as far beneath it as I could, and I was saved! A few minutes later, and a dark body plunged headlong over me with the rapidity of lightning, followed instantly by another and another, and I knew the herd were thundering past. For a long time I lay there, beneath these thousands of feet, one of which would have been sufficient to kill me. The incessant crackling of their hoofs, and rattling of their horns, sounded like the discharge of musketry. Once a ponderous body tumbled over the rock which sheltered me, and I caught sight of a dark, writhing, bellowing mass, and the next instant it regained its feet and disappeared. It must have been an hour that I lay here, ere the last animal leaped over me. Then I looked up and saw the stars shining overhead. My joy at the sight of those glittering orbs cannot be expressed. I arose to my feet, and looked about me. It was too dark to discern objects, yet I could hear the rapidly retreating footfalls of the herd in the distance, and I knew I had been saved from a frightful death. Sinking to the earth I offered a sincere prayer of gratitude to the Almighty for his miraculous preservation of my life! CHAPTER IV. THE TRAPPING GROUNDS. I was agreeably surprised upon waking to see Nat standing within a few feet, holding two horses by the bridle. “Which one will you choose?” he asked with a broad smile. “How did you come by them?” asked I.