THE FIRE IN THE FARM-HOUSE.
Tommy Toppleton had certainly done what I had never known him to do
before--he had yielded a point. Though he distinctly stated, through
his messenger that he held Briscoe and myself responsible for the
trouble, and intended to court-martial us at his first convenient
opportunity, he had still abandoned his position; for, as nearly as I
could judge by appearances, he intended to continue the march, and let
the obdurate young farmer rest in peace for the present.
“Attention--battalion!” shouted the major, after a short conference
with his right-hand man.
The fragments of the body obeyed the order, and gave attention, but
they did not form in single line, as usual. Tommy’s adherents formed by
themselves and the mutinous portion did the same. The major gave an
order to unite the discordant elements, and probably the order would
have been obeyed if a third disturbing element had not at this moment
appeared. My attention was attracted to the house by the screams of the
old lady. I saw her rushing with frantic energy towards the open door,
from which a volume of black smoke was issuing.
Jed and his father had been seated on a log for some time, watching
the proceedings of the battalion. I suppose they did not wish to have
the unequal conflict renewed, and doubtless Jed concluded that he had
better profit by the good advice I had given. The two women had taken
position near the men, and had watched our movements with interest and
curiosity. The old lady appeared to have been the first one to discover
the smoke. She was followed, in her rush to the scene of danger, by the
two men and the pretty girl. As may well be supposed, all of them were
alarmed, for the house was on fire.
Jed was the first to reach the door, and to enter the house,
outspeeding his mother in the advance. He went in, but the dense volume
of smoke was too much for him, and he was compelled to retreat. He
came out rubbing his eyes, which were blinded by the smoke. Then his
father rushed in at the open door; but he was driven back as hastily as
his son had been.
“Fire! Fire!” yelled Jed, when he had in some measure recovered from
the effects of his visit to the interior of the house.
“Fire!” cried the old man.
The two women screamed; but none of the party seemed to have the
presence of mind to do anything to stay the progress of the flames.
“This is a bad scrape!” exclaimed Briscoe. “We haven’t seen the end of
it. What shall we do?”
“Let us put out the fire,” I replied.
“How shall we do it?” asked the senior captain.
“Throw on water. Stack arms, and send to the wagons for buckets!”
“Form companies!” shouted Tommy.
I looked at him. There was an evil expression of pleasure upon his
face as he regarded the mass of smoke which issued from the door of
the farm-house. He had not kindled the fire; but it was plain that he
rejoiced to see it. He was ready now to march, and leave the devouring
element to avenge the insult cast upon him. He was excited now, and
issued his orders rapidly for the formation of the companies. While he
was doing so, Briscoe marched his men--those only who had acted under
him in the late conflict--to the side of the road, where he ordered
them to stack arms. I followed his example. While we were thus engaged,
Haven rushed up to us, and wanted to know if we did not intend to
keep our promises. We had agreed to obey orders for the purpose of
continuing the march.
“We are going to help put out the fire,” replied Briscoe. “After that
we will obey orders.”
“You have nothing to do with the fire,” replied Haven. “Major Toppleton
orders you into line.”
We gave no further attention to him, but directed our men to stack
arms. Briscoe and myself led the way to the house, and all our friends
followed. I closed the front door, and sent a squad of my company to
the wagons for water-pails and other vessels.
“Come, Jed, bring out your pails, and everything else that will hold
water! We can put this fire out in about three minutes,” said I.
“Bring up that ladder!” called Briscoe to his force.
All the family, including the pretty girl, rushed to the back room,
to the barn, and other parts of the premises and soon appeared with
buckets, tubs, kettles, pans, and other vessels. Briscoe’s fellows
raised the ladder to one of the second-story windows. There was a pump
in the yard, and a brook crossed the road a short distance below the
house.
“Now, Briscoe, if you will form a line to the brook and to the pump, I
will take care of the water as fast as you bring it up.”
“All right, but be in a hurry,” replied the senior captain, who was
more excited than I was.
By this time all the pails, tubs, and pans, from the wagons and from
the house, were on the spot. I selected half a dozen reliable fellows
to help me throw on the water. The lower part of the house was so full
of smoke that it was impossible to go in. I went up the ladder and
entered the chamber above through the window. The fire was just working
up through the floor, near the chimney.
“Pass up the water!” I called to those who had followed.
[Illustration: THE FIRE IN THE FARM-HOUSE.]
“Pass up the water!” repeated Faxon, at the window.
At this moment Jed joined me in the chamber. He had partially recovered
his self possession.
“What shall I do?” he asked.
“Get an axe, and cut a hole through the floor here where the fire is
coming through.”
He went to the window and asked his father to send him an axe. The
smoke in the room was becoming very dense; but the first bucket of
water now appeared, and I poured it upon the spot where the flame was
struggling through the floor. The pails came up now as rapidly as I
could dispose of them. The axe was sent up, and Jed chopped away an
aperture, so that I could throw the water down into the room below.
In a couple of minutes we had produced a decided impression upon the
fire, and we had soon put out all the flames we could see. Leaving
Faxon to pour on the water in the chamber, I descended by the ladder
to the ground, with the intention of getting into the room below. I
wished to see where the fire was, and to assure myself that it was not
spreading in a direction where we had not reached it. I opened the door
and went in. I could remain but an instant; but a single glance was
enough to enable me to comprehend the situation.
There was a great pile of chips, shavings, and pine wood by the side of
the stove, which had been brought in to heat the oven in the afternoon,
as the old lady told me afterwards, when the “men folks” had gone to
work. In the absence of the family, who had remained in the yard to
watch the movements of the battalion, the heap of combustible matter
had taken fire. The flames had been communicated to the wood-work, and
were rapidly forcing their way upward.
The quantity of water which had been poured down from the chamber
above, had extinguished the fire in the partition, but it was spreading
along the floor. Thus far the conflagration had been mainly confined
to the heap of wood and shavings; for I assure the reader that it has
taken much longer for me to relate the circumstances than it did for
our fellows to do what has been described.
“Hold on above there, Faxon!” I shouted to my companion up stairs, as
soon as I had rubbed the smoke out of my eyes.
“Is it all out?” demanded the lieutenant.
“No; but the water you throw on now does no good. Come down.”
I took a bucket of water, rushed into the kitchen, and dashed it upon
the burning pile. The effect was good, but I was obliged to retreat
instantly. I hastily explained the situation to the group around me,
and one after another a dozen fellows made a dive into the room, poured
a pail of water on the fire, and then retired before the smoke had
wholly blinded them. On my next visit to the scene of danger, I found
that the fire had been nearly extinguished. I opened the doors and
windows, so that the wind drove out the smoke. A few more buckets of
water completed our work, and the family came in to see the effects of
the fire.
The apartment was certainly in very bad condition, so far as
appearances were concerned; but the damage was not very great. The
wood-work around the chimney, and the floor near the stove, were burned
away. The old man said that twenty-five or thirty dollars would repair
the damages. The old lady declared that she never saw such a mess in
her life.
“Well, who’s to pay for all this?” said Jed, after the excitement had
subsided.
“I don’t know,” I replied, glancing at my new uniform, which had
suffered somewhat in the battle with the fire. “Do you think those who
put the fire out for you ought to pay for it?”
“Well, no; I don’t know’s I think so,” replied he. “But it all come of
your making such a row here--I mean the Toppleton boy. If he don’t pay
for it, I’ll take it out of his hide.”
“Captain Skotchley!” shouted Faxon, rushing into the house. “The major
has taken all our guns, and is marching down the road with his fellows.”
“What does that mean?” I inquired, astonished at this intelligence.
“I don’t know; I suppose Tommy is going to bring us to terms,” laughed
Faxon.
“All right. Let him go. We will follow when we get ready.”
“Are you sure the fire is all put out?” asked the old lady, anxiously.
“I think so,” I replied, “but we can make sure of it before we go.”
I went out doors, followed by Faxon. Our fellows were not a little
excited by Tommy’s last move, but Briscoe was quieting them. I ascended
the ladder again, and entered the window still attended by Faxon. There
were no signs of fire in the chamber; but I thought it was possible
that the flame had ascended within the wood-work, and I wished to
examine the attic above. I soon found the stairs, and went up. Before
I had reached the garret floor, I heard the step of a man. The door
of the room over the chamber where we had poured down the water was
suddenly closed, and I heard the springing of a bolt on the inside.
“There is somebody here,” said Faxon.
“So I see,” I replied, trying the door. “I heard the step of a man as
we were coming up the stairs. There comes Jed.”
“It’s all right now,” said the farmer’s son. “Come down stairs, and
I’ll see to this.”
“But the fire may have crept up here; and I hope you won’t be burned up
after we are gone.”
“I’ll see to that,” replied Jed, anxiously.
“Who’s in that room?”
“It’s a man that used to work for us; he’s crazy now,” added Jed,
placing himself between me and the door. “I will see to this room.”
My curiosity prompted me to see the crazy man; but I could not insist,
and I went down.