"It wull pe somethin' on fire, Tonal'," said the groom, dropping the
harness-brush and running out to the yard.
Donald being of the same opinion, followed him. At the same moment a
piercing shriek was heard to issue from the house and wild confusion
followed.
"Fire! fire!" yelled a voice in the yard outside, with that intensity of
meaning which is born of thorough conviction.
Who that has never been roused by "fire!" can imagine the sensations
that the cry evokes, and who that really has experienced those
sensations can hope to explain them to the inexperienced? We cannot.
We will not try.
But let us not plunge with undue haste into a fire!
It will be remembered that we left Jackman in Barret's room, having just
ended his elephant story, to the satisfaction of his friends, while Mrs
Gordon was on her way to the nursery, bent on investigation. Well, the
voice that shrieked in the nursery was that of Mrs Gordon, and that
which yelled in the yard was the voice of the groom, supplemented by
Donald's treble.
Of course the gentlemen sprang to their feet, on hearing the uproar,
dashed from the room in a body, and made straight for the nursery. On
the way they met Mrs Gordon with Flo in her arms--all safe; not a hair
of her pretty little head singed, but looking rather appalled by the
consequences of what she had done.
"Safe! thank God!" exclaimed the laird, turning and descending with his
wife and child, with some vague thoughts that he might be likely to find
Mrs Moss in her favourite place of resort, the library.
He was right. He found her there in a dead faint on the floor. He also
found his three boys there, exerting themselves desperately to haul her
out of the room by a foot and an arm and the skirt of her dress.
"We knew she was here, daddy," gasped Eddie, "and came straight to help
her."
"Out o' the way!" cried the laird as he grasped Mrs Moss in his arms
and bore her away. "Mother and Flo are safe, boys. Look out for
yourselves."
"I'll go for the photographs! Come, help me, Ted," cried Archie, as he
ran up the now smoking stairs.
"I'll go for Milly!" cried the heroic Junkie, as, with flashing eyes, he
dashed towards her room.
But Barret had gone for Milly before him! and without success. She was
not in her room. "Milly! Milly!" he shouted, in tones of undisguised
anxiety, as he burst out of the nursery, after finding, with his
companions, that no one was there and that suffocation was imminent.
Then, as no Milly replied, he rushed up to the garret in the belief that
she might have taken refuge there or on the roof in her terror.
Just after he had rushed out of the nursery, Junkie burst in. The boy
was in his element now. We do not mean that he was a salamander and
revelled in fire and smoke, but he had read of fires and heard of them
till his own little soul was ablaze with a desire to save some one from
a fire--any one--somehow, or anyhow! Finding, like the rest, that he
could scarcely breathe, he made but one swift circuit of the room. In
doing so he tumbled on the chair on which the cause of all the mischief
still sat smoking, but undeniably "dood!"
"Blackie!" he gasped, and seized hold of her denuded but still
unconsumed wooden body.
A few moments later he sprang through the entrance door and tumbled out
on the lawn, where most of the females of the establishment were
standing.
"Saved!" he cried, in a voice of choking triumph, as he rose and held up
the rescued and smoking doll.
"Doan! my da'ling Doan!" cried Flo, extending her arms eagerly to
receive the martyr.
By that time the house was fairly alight in its upper storey, despite
the utmost efforts of all the men to extinguish the fire with buckets of
water.
"No use, no use to waste time trying," said the laird, as he ran out
among the females on the lawn. "Is everybody safe? eh? Milly--where's
Milly?"
"Milly! where's Milly?" echoed a stentorian voice, as Barret bounded out
of the smoking house with singed hair and blackened face.
"There--there she is!" cried several of the party, as they pointed
towards the avenue leading to the house.
All eyes were eagerly turned in that direction, and a general
exclamation of thankfulness escaped, as Milly was seen running towards
the scene of action. She had been down seeing old Mrs Donaldson, and
knew nothing of what had occurred, till she came in sight of the
conflagration.