Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1852-06-28
From the Boston Carpet Bag.
The Fire Fiend. egia oS ;
BIZ GEORGE CANNING. HILL

81 sSe5&+ a NM0 fu fionu.
isss BIS. BY GEORGE, cANNlNe, HILL. il e5s
i At frstlit was only stifed oryysas Of 5
5I aThe winds of winter merea dashing. j
swiftsquadrDns down stlles street, tMistin
Iof loose blinds slamming insecure shutter
putting outslights in dingy lanterns, an
Ethensscurrying' away to the1 deserted mol
Ithatl stretchesfar out into the frozen hal
ber. ,t:'azas.isa :s3siseg,aa5s lia sgs8asa7s
IL The din Of rafting wheels and 4trampin
lfeet had Hong died out. Only the mad soreec
ofthe changing winds, or the clatter of Htb
crazy blinds, and shutters broke the disma
silence. The lights mall the honsessof .th
Estreet,were out; and. the feeble rays from
the sleepy lanterns scarce revealed the out
ward shape Of the buildings on which the!
The distant clock had changed, The hou
Eof midnight from its. lonely watch tow er
and the echoes fiomz its, iron tongue hae
scarce ben broken and lost in the strang,
angles and acrannies of the grotesque roof
The cry sounded as il it came from Il
heat snitten with deep terror, and spen
half its passage over liyid lips. s.ss.I ..s
Fire! FlRE!l FIRE.Hfe8 j Bs4 Ia,
- There was no mistaking that cry, then
A hundred strong men caught it up, a hun
dred strong throats poured it out on ths
midnig air, A single bellrang the alarm
to the immediate neighborhood, and instant
y score e-of bells caught the fearful tone
The air above the gables and roofs wus
peopled with voicesof fear, and the close
and narrow streets below were alive with
echoes of alarm. Bells and voices both
shouted Justify in the midnight 5a
Fire! Fire! Firep a - s@zaz.a ssa5
The street was filed and blocked up with
people A passage through it was, for the
time immpossible. for its narrow throat was
cboked up Every one was screaming and
shouting and ordering and entreating at the
top Of his voice. The place seemed a
Pandemonium let loose; every man mad
devil whose features the lurid fires lit up
with a ghastly and unearthly CLEAN.
The building was Of wood, and stained
with the beating storm Of years. On eth
er side were similar structures closely unit
ed with this. Doom seemed to have settled
down in the thick smoke-cloud that hung
over each one of them. i s.7 s#
The fires poured through the sashes of
the windows, while the glass melted as by
magic and run downupon the walk in a
silver flood They thrust their fearful forms
far into the street quite over the heads of
the swaying crowd, as if they would storm
the barrack Of wooden buildings on either
side. Then they wrestled themselves like
furious Gorgons into the entangling knots
aud spiral forms, and lifting their undulent
bodies up into the sky - And their hot
breathes were poured out upon the street
air, almost sitting the terror>stricked mast
that fell before them. 7s IS ssf<s
In an upper room a young child was
sleeping. Her window opened upon an ad.
jacent roof, whose shingles were already
cracking in the hungry jaws Of the Fire
Spirit. She had not walked, but laid ON
the couch blissfully yet frightfully ignorant
Of the demon that was on her track. =.
A single Whit Of The changing wind
and the fire fiend had mounted to the roof,
laying hold firmly by each Of shingles, and
finally pausing at the window Of the cbild's
bed chamber. If chmed up at the window
sill and looked in! go S
The picture Of innocence should have
made its lurid face pale before i'll ga
But ne-but no: The flames glared glee-
fully in at each pane, growing bolder with
the view. They licked their hungry
tongues, as if in sweet foretaste of the deli.
cious morsal that was theirs. They look
I'd out at their. victim through a hundred
Jealous and frey eyes, as if she might. by
,eme mlshap, be stolen from them. They
wreathed the sill-the casement-the little
yable-like.a vine all Of bright fire, and
uxuriaut with fla aming. foliage. They clap.
bed their hundred red hands above their
reads, and screcched, yelled, and bissed, in
heir 6 lee.
{ My child! SAGE my childn .=5i
It wasa> wild cry Of agony from one Of
he dense crowd below. The shrek Of the
voman's voice arose above the din of men
ind, famesa 1t pierced the thick smoke
louds. and reached the very room in which
be child lay. And the jubilant fire 6end
aught the wild echo, and answered it with
Kissing, hellish laughter.
The cry arose again-and again. The
lgonized mother could do no more. She
ank hfeless to the ground. 50 ~
) They lifted long ladders to the windows,
md brave men mounted the etopmost rounds.
But they could advance no further. A
wall Of fire kept them out al, the door. "A
heet Of fire threatened to enwra p them from
be roof. There was no advance, The
DOM could not be reached
Meantime, the glassin the window Of the
;hild's bed-chamber fell tinkling on the
ioor, and the hot breath Of the flames
her. She bounded into the mid
lie ofthe room, and stared widely around
Ter. She was as rigid as statue Of blood
ess marble. -,s
) IE another moment she had opened the
Ioor that conducted down stairs. But she
Iuickly shut it again. The stairway was
bank ofliviug flames! Firewas on every
ide' Tile legions Of the fend hemmed her
d completely. Neither through the win.
low nor through the door could she make
ler escape. And she stood like a statue
here, gazing in mute agony at the death
/, . 4