LOOKING FOR A SETTLEMENT.
Lying on the floor near the fireplace was a kerosene-lamp, the glass
shade of which was broken. The fire had started at this part of the
room; and it was evident that the little girl had lighted the lamp, and
dropped it upon the hearth. Doubtless she had tried to put out the fire,
and the flame had communicated with her dress.
The ceiling of the room was plastered, but the walls were cased with
pine. With this combustible material to supply it, the fire had rapidly
crept to the ceiling, and penetrated the attic above. Ash Burton saw
that it was useless to pour water on the flame below while the fire was
rapidly ascending to the roof. With a bucket of water he led the way
up-stairs, and found the fire just coming through the floor.
He turned the water very carefully into the hole which the fire had
made, though he was very nearly suffocated by the smoke that filled the
attic. The effect was immediately visible: the flame was checked, though
the smoke continued to pour out of the opening. Taking the water brought
by his companions, he used it to the best advantage. Their work appeared
to be accomplished in this part of the house, and Ash sent part of the
boys down to dash water on the burning boards in the room where they had
found the children.
For some time the boys watched and worked, pouring on water whenever
they found any signs of fire.
The flames had destroyed the wall by the side of the fireplace, and made
a considerable opening into the attic. The smoke had been very trying to
the young firemen, for the rooms were filled with it. When Syl Peckman
opened one of the windows, Ash instantly closed it; for he knew that the
draught of air would feed the flame with the element it needed to
increase its force. They worked as long as they could find any vestige
of fire.
They had broken in the front door so that they could the more readily
get the water where it was needed; but after he went up stairs, Ash did
not come down till the fire was out. The others had a little relief from
the smoke when they went out for water; but he remained in the attic to
pour on the water, and he suffered much more than his companions. His
eyes rained tears, and they were red and swollen. All of them attended
to these important organs as soon as they found the time, and washed
them thoroughly. The fresh air and the water soon relieved them in a
great measure.
There had been smoke enough to be seen in the distance; and when the
fire was fully extinguished, people began to arrive. The smoke had been
seen by some men at work in the field, and they had given the alarm.
They were too late to be of any service in putting out the fire; but
they took the two children, and conveyed them to the next house.
The older girl was not so badly burned as the boys feared in the
beginning. She and the little one had evidently begun to scream before
her dress took fire, probably terrified when they saw the flames running
up the wooden wall. It takes longer to tell the story than it did for
the fire to get under way. The boys were not far from the house when
they heard the screams; and the child's clothes could not have been
burning more than a moment when they came to her relief.
The girl's hands, and her limbs near the knees, were considerably
burned, and she had received injury enough to cause her great pain. The
farmer and his two men were the first to arrive; but the fire was out,
and the good man gave all his attention to the sufferer. His house was
but a short distance from the cottage; and he carried her there,
assisted by one of his men. On his arrival he sent his companion for the
doctor.
Before he could reach his home, an engine from the town, which was not
half a mile distant, rushed to the scene of the fire. The foreman
examined the premises, but he could not find any fire. He bustled about
for a time while he made his examination, but there was nothing else for
him to do.
"It came very near burning the house," said he to Ash Burton, who showed
him over the premises, and explained the situation. "How did it take
fire?"
"The girl was in so much pain that I did not ask her any questions,"
replied Ash, as he led the fireman into the front room, in which the
family lived. "There is a kerosene-lamp on the floor, and the fire began
there. The shade is broken, and perhaps the girl dropped the lamp on the
floor after she had lighted it."
"What was she doing with a lamp in the middle of the afternoon?" asked
the foreman.
"That is more than I know; but it looks as though the fire was caused by
dropping the lamp on the floor," replied Ash.
"It was lucky for the owner that you happened to be near," continued the
fireman. "Where were you when you saw the fire?"
"We were just coming around that bend in the road when we heard the
screams of the children. We did not see the fire at first. When we got
here the doors were all fastened, and we had to beat in the back one
with a stick of wood. We put out the fire in the girl's clothes first,
and then we poured water on the flames."
As the man asked more questions, Ash explained fully the manner in which
they had treated the girl, and then put out the fire.
"You have saved the house; and if you had been a minute later, the
little girl might have lost her life. You boys have done remarkably
well. You have been brave and resolute, and you have managed the fire
with excellent judgment," said the foreman, when he had learned all the
facts. "Most boys would have continued to throw water on the fire in the
room below; but you went up-stairs, where alone the fire could be
checked. You have done well; and the whole fire-department of Genverres,
if it had been here, could not have accomplished any more, or done it
more neatly."
"Ash Burton was the leader of the party, and he found all the brains,"
said Chick Penny magnanimously.
"That's so; we followed his lead," added Sam Spottwood; and the others
expressed their assent.
"I thank you, sir, for what you have said. I tried to do the best I
could, and I am glad we succeeded; for I am sure I could not have done
any thing if the other fellows had not worked like firemen. They all
behaved first-rate, and did not give up when the smoke had strained
their eyes nearly out of their heads," returned Ash, giving his
companions the credit they deserved.
"There is nothing for us to do here, and we may as well return to our
quarters. I am afraid that child is badly burned, and we will stop at
the house where she is," continued the foreman, giving his men the order
to return.
The rope of the engine was not very heavily manned, and the six boys
were permitted to take part in dragging the machine back to town; and
this, to the average boy, is supposed to be fun, however it may be with
full-grown men. They were all well rested after the work they had done,
and they had even forgotten for the time the unpleasant results of the
cruise of the Goldwing. The engine stopped at the next house, where the
farmer lived. Ash Burton and the foreman went in to inquire about the
sufferer.
"I am keeping her quite comfortable by putting cold water on the burns
about once a minute," said the farmer's wife. "I don't know as the
doctor will approve of it when he comes, and I should not apply my
remedy if the burns were on the head or body. For burns in any other
places, cold water is my remedy, because it deadens the pain at once."
"How does the girl seem?" asked the foreman.
"She is pretty badly burned, but she will get over it without any
trouble. I always told Mrs. Sankland that she ought not to lock up the
children when she went out to work; but the poor woman has a terrible
hard time of it, and I suppose she could not help it, for she has to
earn enough to get food for her family," replied the good woman.
"But she has a son," suggested the fireman.
"It would be a good deal better for her if she had no son, for he is a
good-for-nothing fellow. He won't work to earn any thing, or even take
care of the children while his mother is at work. She has to feed him,
and it would be a good thing if she had one less mouth to fill."
"He is a bad boy, and runs with Tom Topover, which is enough to condemn
any boy," added the fireman.
Ash Burton and his companions winced under this remark, and they were
glad they had gone so far as to resolve to avoid him in the future.
"My husband would give the boy work all summer, and pay him all he could
earn; but he will not do a thing, and he is worrying the life out of his
mother," continued the farmer's wife. "I think something ought to be
done with him; and it would be a good thing if he could be sent to the
house of correction, or some other institution, where he could be made
to work."
The foreman of the engine quite agreed with her, and promised to inquire
into the matter on his return to the town. The march, for it was not a
run on the return, was resumed with the machine, which soon reached its
destination. Several persons who kept horses had ridden out to see where
the fire was, and the report of what had happened was already in
circulation through the place.
It was not more than four o'clock, and the reformed Topovers—as they
regarded themselves—were not inclined to go home until they had done
something about the cruise of the Goldwing. As they came out of the
engine-house, they saw Captain Gildrock in his buggy. He had stopped in
the street, and was talking to a fireman who had just left the engine.
The reformers halted, and decided to hail the principal as soon as he
finished his conversation with the man. The latter seemed to be talking
to him very earnestly, and pointed down the street. Suddenly the captain
turned his horse in the direction the man had pointed, and drove off so
rapidly that the boys could not hail him. He turned the next corner, and
the boys followed him.
They had gone to another corner when they saw the captain's team
standing at the door of a mechanic's shop. He had left the vehicle, and
secured the horse by a weight. Sam suggested that he was getting out a
warrant for the arrest of those who had stolen the sloop; but Ash was
confident that no magistrate lived on that street, which was occupied
mainly by mechanics' shops and small factories.
"I don't want to miss him next time," said Ash. "I should like to have
this business settled, or at least to know what is going to be done
about it, before I go home. Captain Gildrock goes off like a rifle-shot
when he starts, and seems to be thinking of something all the time."
"That's so," Sam replied. "We don't want to disturb him while he is busy
about something. I will go around to the main street, and stop him if he
comes out that way."
This suggestion was approved and adopted. Sam and two of the party went
around, and soon appeared at the other end of the street, for they did
not want to be seen till the principal had time to attend to them.
It was all of half an hour before Captain Gildrock appeared.