The confusion was terrible as French and Indians rushed for their lives from the burning huts and lodges into the blinding snow, where they saw little, and, for the present, understood less.

Tayoga who, in the white dusk readily passed for one of their own, slipped here and there, continually setting new fires, traveling in a circle about the fort, while Robert and Willet kept near him, but on the inner side of the circle and well behind the veil of snow.
The huts and lodges burned fiercely.

Where they stood thickest each became a lofty pyramid of fire and then blended into a mighty mass of flames, forming an intense red core in the white cloud of falling snow.

French soldiers and Indian warriors ran about, seeking to save their arms, ammunition and stores, but they were not always successful.

Several explosions showed that the flames had reached powder, and Robert laughed to himself in pleasure.