The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1875-11-04


helpless perplexity and anger.
He saw no way to get out of his pre-.
dicament. He could not go on. He
could not make his beasts back up the
hill. Once ne caught sight of his chief
tormentor standing in the doorway of
the old house that had stopped him, but
the exultant rascal laughed and lodged
out of the way.
No person present seemed sensible
enough to extricate the victim from his
difficulties, or cool enough to hear any
explanations. Everybody shouted, and
asked questions, and threatened, and
poured chorus of abuse upon help
less Luke.
At length some one called out that the
hay must be unloaded. Men from the
neighboring streets began to arrive at
the scene, and one of them happened to
be the local constable.
It was now almost dark, and Luke's
situation was miserable enough. Dis
tressed for the danger to the property in
his charge, he was trembling by this
time for his own safety, too.
The gamins who had trapped him
darted shrieking round the cart, call
ing: "Ho, here's Hinckley's tavern p
and mingling with the crowd, succeeded
in starting fight. A man climbing the
load to help throw off the hay was hit
by stone, and shouted angrily to the
constable to "arrest that boy !"
The constable, confused by the tu-
multi and darkness, grabbed Luke
roughly by the collar, without stopping
to make sure whether he was 9" that
boy" or some one else.
81 amt to blame !" screamed the I'M
lucky farmer lad, struggling to get
away. "It's them fellows that cheated
me, and told me to drive into -
A louder uproar drowned Luke's
voice, and with furious exclamations two
men leaped off the cart almost upon the
heads Of the constable and his pris-
oner.
Just then bright glare shot into the
sky, accompanied by smoke. Some one
of the boys had put a lighted match to
the hay 1t burned with alarming ra-
pidity. In few moments the whole
load was a mass of flame.
The people made wild dashes at the
wagon to draw it back from the house,
but their efforts were vain. The blazing
load was immovable.
Only one man had the courage and
presence of mind to hastily unyoke the
oxen and set them free. A few minutes
more, and the old house was burning in
half dozen places.
BY this time the town bells began
ringing the alarm. All Parsons street
was in imminent danger, if not the whole
town. The weather had been dry for a
long time, and the breeze blew in from
the sea. A hundred hands we're throw
ing water, but their labor did nothing to
stay the flames.
The engines came laundering and
Gathering down ; but the street was so
narrow that much time was lost before
they could reach the fire.
Meantime the officer, called off by
greater matters, had quilted his hold
upon Luke, and the lad, half wild with
terror, crept through hole in the board
fence which protecteda a sort of side yard
to the burning house. He jumped down
some rocks toward lower street, amid
shower of sparks, and in his flight
turned sharp corner and found himself
in a brightly-lightel garden-patch, with
two or three very small sheds on the
further side.
In the very center of this garden stood
an old man with bucket in his band,
pale as ghost, and trembling like a
leaf from head to foot. He was hatless
and shoeless, and the yellow glare of the
fire streaming full upon him, made him
look like specter.
His lips moved, and Luke heard him
groan, and mutter:
"The powder the powder Oh,
Lord, forgive u.s. Oh, Lord, protect
us -
"Powder Where is it?' cried the
boy, forgetting for the moment every
thing but the present danger.
" It's mine" said the old man, "and
it's stored over there in that shed with
the hole in the door. They'd put me in
Jail if they knew had it, but got il
cheap, and marked it 'Herrings, and
brought it home in the night. Oh, dear
and now it'll blow up the town, and kill
all the people Sec the fire come down
Oh, it's ketched It's ketched !"
1t was true-the shed was burning O
little on the roof. Here was peril in,
deed. With a feeling of desperation
leaped towards the building, crying:
Bring me water from the we'll there
Get that tin kettle Hurry Hurry :
Running upon the roof, he stripped
off his coat, and with the garment in his
hands succeeded in smotheling the small
flames. But now several houses were OF
fire. Sparks and embers were flying
everywhere in the hot air about him, anC
fell upon the dry shingles and kindlet
new flames faster than he could extinguisl
them.
The shed seemed doomed, but Luke
the farmer boy, parched with heat, ant
every moment increasing his risk O.
life by horrible explosion, fought the
fire with fierce and reckless courage
He drenched his jacket in every pailfu
of water that the trembling old maj
brought him, and beat it about lin OF
the burning roof, and threw the rest O
the liquid in splashes upon the flames.
All this time he was shouting "Help
help powder powder !'
"Don't holler POWDER" shrieked th,
old man, above the noise "theyll pu
me in prison It's agen the law to hav
it here !"
But Luke paid no attention, and back
wards and forwards the wretched oil,
man trotted, shaking the sparks from hi
shoulders, and growing weaker ant
weaker with fright. The upper part o
the shed was now fairly in blaze. Th
hencoops had already gone, and pig
sty in the next yard was beginning t
smoke.
eff sSark should get at the powder,