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.

“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.