Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1858-10-26

itOrs telling the wonders of jugglers. and wax
work shows, and delights incident TO their down
country advanced civilization and the new
State children relating adventures with bears
and wildcats, and their own personal concerns
with tanning squirrels and catching rabbits, and,
finally, the evening closed with a game of "for-
feits, in which Lyman, having been sentenced
to the common penalty Of bowling TO the pref
test, kneeling to the wittiest and kissing the
one he loved best" declared that all these dues
were TO his cousin Sally. His cousin Sally pro-
tested and resisted the girls all joined her, and
after q laughing scramble together, Lyman's
Oldest sister caught up candle, called ''COusin
Sally" to follow her, and they made good their
escape to the bedroom, aud bolted Lyman out
Lyman retreated; the evening was far advanced,
and the Leakes and their guests separated Err
the night, but not till after Lyman periorue
duty that had been postponed by his uuele's
arrival
While his mother, "on hospit lie thoughts
| intent" was preparing her little affairs for the
mornings breakfast, Lyman went TO the wood
house TO split kindlings for the mornings fires;
and, having finished, he could not resist the
temptation Of showing his well preserved AK to
his Uncle Ben The boy Is fool about that
Ak said his father; III ii was made Of a wedge
/ Of gold he would not be more choice of il he
even hides it away from me that gave it to him :"
/ Lyman looked at his uncle with quiet smile
/ "Come, come, Lyman" said his father, there's
/ reason in the roasting Of eggs throw your az
in here for tonight" He opened the door Of a
little closet next the fireplace. Don't 90 clear
back to the wood house this cold night" "A
place for everything, and everything in its
| place. replied Lyman, and the ak was returned
to the wood-hOuse. /" Now that's what l call
superstitious," said the father, while he took
from the open closet a splinter broom to
sweep up the wide spread Goals Of the FIRE he
had Just raked. Just as he was finishing his
wife called to him from the kitchen, and,
hastily throicag the broom INFO the closet, he went
to her. "John," she said, "there Is no water
in the hOuse."
Well, what of that !"
why, you know, never like to 90 to bed
| without pail of wate- at hand"
Il know that is one of your superstitiOns. "
John Leake, in spite of all his experience, per-
sisted in looking upon the provisions of fore
/ sight as "superstitiOns." " Let it 20, lust for
this one night, wife it's dark and biting cold.
aud the way up to the well all shOd with glare
ice"
d" lis bad" said his wife, meekly, and urged
no more but she looked wistfully at the
empty pail, she thought, if they should chance
to want water in the night, it would not be any
better getting it, and an anxious sigh escaped
her Coming events" do sometimes seem to
cast their shadows before
The family were soon all in bed, and in their
hrst Sleep the prOfundest Of the night; but there
is no sleep from which a mother cannot be 1wak-
ened by restless child, and about one O'Clock
Mrs. Leake was reused from hers by the nest
ling of her baby. She instantly wakened her
husband with, "John do get up and see where
er,,,Ea from ha ts Of
The bedroom was off the sitting-room; the doOl
was open into it, and the moment Leake raised
his head he saw bright light shining through
the crevices of the closet door into which he haC
thrown the splinter broom.
Some small Goals had adhered TO the broom
when John swept the hearth, but, shut in tn,
closet with very little air, they had been slow i,
kindling; but now they had kindled thoroughly
| and when Leake sprang 70 the clOset-dOOr, ant
opened IT the broom was in a lighted blaze, an,
the heated partition had taken fire. John seize,
the broom and threw it IN the fireplace, and a
that moment The fire had made so little progress
that single pail Of water at hand would hav,
sItinguished it.
"Oh, the paul Of IoaieT!' shrieked Mrs Leake
Leake thought with anguish of the empty pail
rushed to the kitchen for it. and rushed to the
well The ground was decending to the house
and, as he said, slippery as glass, and Leak
fell. Again he let the bucket down to the deel
well and filled his pail, and reached the hous
? with it, but the air had rushed in through tn
! open door and blew up the fire Ike a furnae
! bellows. II would not now have felt twent
! pals Of water. The smoke filed the who'll
house, and the cracking ofthe FIRE and the out
I cries Of John and his wife bad awakened III
1 whole family, who now came Out-all exceptin
two girls, who had bOlted themselves into th
little bedroom, had talked together late int
the night, and were now sleeping on in spite c
all the mischief, danger, and misery about then
Lyman rushed through sn outer room filed .
n suffoeation with smoke, and shrieked, "AnnS
Sally fire. frel'' There was on answer /
vain he banged against the door; it was 10
securely bOlted. Quick as thought he spran
. to 4 window communicating with the wOOGhOus
: passed through it, and in a moment returne
with his axe The smoke had become ire-th
$ room was blazing. But, with Heavens he
, and blessing (he said he could not-he could NJ
4 possibly have done it alone), in q breath Il
door was battered down, aud IN another breat
> the girls jumped from the window HRhGTma
followed by Lyman.
: The rabid consumption Of wooden-house
a the country in q cold, gusty night, can seareel
4 be conceived of by those who have not witnesss
a 1t. There was but just time to extricate Il
horses and cattle from the stable when that,
a well as the house and wood-house, was enve
q Oped in flames. all, as Leake's neighbor h'
a forewarned him, went together, and in one ma
IN of ashes lay the labor Of many months-the de
= old furniture of the Connecticut home, all Il
cIildren's pretty things, fond memorials Al
,d precious keepsakes that no toll, no art no kin
~ ness could make to them. "And all this drea
4 ful loss, MrCuTtis would repeat TO his Este
m ers in the school % for the want of -sI of tr1i
le in the right place. And life saved by the a,
e being in the right place, instead Of having be
thrown into the closet, as Leake proposed, besi
- the broom by the careless use Of which all 4
,e harm was done"