“Mr. Rendall, Barnes, and another man who is working for us were all on the alert, watching with intense eagerness all the different points. Meanwhile within the house I, together with Mrs. H., who is boarding with us for the winter, and Mrs. B., who nursed me when my little girl was born, stood gazing out of the window. Each of us had a baby in our arms, and each also had two other children to look after. So in all we mustered nine little ones, each under six years of age. Our young flock fortunately were not able to realise the deadly peril we were in, and we had to keep on rounding them up in readiness for hasty flight. “I collected a few little valuables, and looked around with a very heavy heart, wondering what would become of us if in an hour or two we should be homeless. At last we could stand still no longer; so we three women rushed out, and, filling our aprons with the clay and soil dug up from the foundations, we scattered it all over the ground around the house. The wind was blowing a hurricane, bringing, or rather driving, the fire straight on to us. The awful roar of the flames was enough to make the bravest shudder, and the smoke and smell were suffocating. My husband continued ploughing until absolutely compelled to stop owing to the heat and smoke. Our two men meanwhile drenched the roof with water; then, arming themselves with wet sacks, they hurried to the weakest points to try and prevent the flames jumping the fire-guard, which was only 150 yards off the house all round. We could do nothing more. We could only wait with bated breath. “At last came the joyful cry ‘Safe!’ from the western side. But the danger was not yet over, for on the north-west we were again threatened, and it was there the horses had been placed for safety. All hands had to fly round to meet the enemy at the fresh point of attack, and after a hard fight the dreaded foe, thanks to cool heads and strong arms, was kept at bay. At the end of a short time of awful suspense and anxiety, my husband came back to us with the welcome assurance, ‘All danger over! Safe for another year!’ We were too overjoyed for words, and after the dreadful strain of so many hours you may pretty well guess what the reaction was like. Mr. Rendall was literally fagged out, but when we had had a little rest and refreshment we all felt better. “Our loss was only four tons of hay, but many of our neighbours lost all their hayricks. The fire started by the Vermilion River, and was raging for days before it reached us and swept on towards Battleford. There is no doubt whatever that our fire-guard in a great measure saved the town site. “Apart from the horror of it, that fire was a most wonderful sight. Of course, on the prairie you can see for an enormous distance, and for thirty or forty miles there was nothing but flames. How thankful we were the fire reached us in the morning and not at night!”