He knew men were shouting madly, and from the voices it was plain that those who thus gave tongue were both Cree Indians and Canadian _voyageurs_, for the latter had gone back to their French tongue with the advent of excitement--then it struck the Virginia lad that another sound which he had heard was very much along the line of the roaring flames, and immediately the conviction forced itself upon him that in some manner the forest close by had been fired, perhaps by some enemy of the factor, such as Dubois or Stackpole, and that there was danger of the conflagration leaping the barrier and attacking the houses within the compound.
