Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-12-29

y It was short and to the point. It raj
thus: "Come along, old fellow; stay az
long as you like"
went. I lived with the detachment
and what fun we had! Fishing in fine
river close by; cricket; a little shooting
for September was upon us now; rowing
up and down the stream; and dining with
the hospitable Irish residents, made ur
, the total of our days after parade or in.
spection.
One guest night-for we had our little
social parties occasionally--we were sit.
ting at the open windows, when the sub
OF the party exclaimed:
''What glare there is yonder It's q
fire, l believe"
"Bedad, your right" said one of the
guests. "It's down by Sir Johns; he Las
a house full. I hope it's not tho house
itself.n
'Shall | turn out the pickett" asked
my brother. "Why, look, it's increasing
they may want assistance"
AS he spoke the flames mounted up
and the lurid smoke rose high into the
glare above.
Sound the fire call and turn out the
plckets, Hamblyn," said my brother
Take the men down at the DOUBLE
Wen drive over. Come along. Look
sharp!"
hurried out for coat to cover nv
dress clothes. OF course, being in hur-
ry, | was delayed. In the dark I CROPPED
unsuccesstully, and at length when l
crosseIfrom my room I found that the
M l.cI Il Of Al.
guests had come over i'll.
The sentry at the gate civiIIy s'shoul-
dered his rife as passed. and in reply
to my question told me that the captain
and the whole party had gone, leaving
word for me to follow, if liked.
eyes; but how9 They've taken all the
cars, sentry"
Eyes, sir: but there's the gig, sir"
Whose eig?"
ATbe boat, sir. You can scull down
almost az quick as they'll drive, yer hon
Or"
would pull down. It was not far;
the moon was still bright. I knew the
river pretty well. No sooner thought
than done. A soldier from the guard
room came across and helped me to
launch the gig.
That's big fire, sir; they do say it's
at the hall below Poor creatures! I
hope they'll all escape, alright, sir?"
replied in the affirmative. He let 90
the painter, with two vigorous strokes Of
the light SOULS l was in the stream
Fortunately l knew almost every turn
and bend Of the fine river or I should
have more than once had very narrow
escape, If l had not been quickly upset.
1t is all very we'll to row in daylight, but
In the gloom, when the banks and thu
water alongside are equally shrouded, so
that where one Eegins and the other ends
is an extremely difficult problem to solve.
and snags and submerged shoals are quite
invisible, the pulling down rapid stream
alone is no joke. Bat did not mind it
then. Urgtd by reckless daring, l
sculled rapidly on alone.
Alone but for ali The company of two
good planks. Whence came they, and
whittier they were bound, did not think;
but | noticed thar they were kept close to
me--now swir!ing away, now in the dim
light meeting, then dividing, turning
round, separating themselves, and soon
lrclosiDg my SOULS, so as to impede INV
way and endanger my safety. They
Rugged re so closely at last that I Law on
my oars, and clutching the intrusiv.
boards pulled them into the boat, where,
under the thwarts' they exchanged drip
ping condolences as to what they would
do next What they did shall be told in
due course.
USnch oreat effacts fro,r, 4r;,,;ol oo,,,.,
The blazing house was now almost
visible. The reflection was caught by
the water just beyond me. On 1 scud-
ded round the bend of the bank, the
stream hurrylng me down, and now
have opened up the town reach, and the
burning and half-demolished building is
cracking and roaring half mile off.
The smoke, dotted with million sparks,
flies up to heaven, while screams and
cries and the roar Of falling timbers as
cend with them To the lurid sky. Those
tiny j is of water only served to aggra-
vate the thirst in the fiery threat, and
not to quench it: no man can live near
such a fire as that; the heat even in my
gig was soon telr distinctly, and the tw.
planka beneath my feet winked to each
other in the glare, and glIstened side by
side at the thought of what was COM
ing.
A yell, a roar Four people had got
upon the crlmb ing parapet, some feet
above the stable-roof, ana were CRYING
and snrleking for assistance. Twent,
men at once rushed in to offer ropes and
help. What could they do? The I'm.
happy inmates, clad in evening dress
looked wierd ana unearthly in the fiery
glare. One was lady, three were men
Taking OF their coats they knotted them
by the sleeves, and let the lady down to
the lower roof in safety. Such a cheer
arose for this. Well done, brave men.
we'll done! watched and waited. Pull
ing III. the heat was great. pulled away
to the opposite wing, abbutting on the
river, now almost wholly clad in flame
and smoke, but still itself unburninp.
What is ths;Y Can it be man or wo
man kueeling there, and unobserved amid
the shr'uding smoke by all the rest who
are gazing at the gallant men around the
stables2 'rse soldiers had arrived and
were doing good service; but no one
elss perceived the solitary form wrapped
in an ulster coat. and trembling on the
wall above the river.
Not moment was to be lost. pulled
in hastily.
leap" shouted, ''leapl'
AS spoke rose up IN the boat. The
planks wipked once more and ratified
'Jump1' yelled in my excitement
One look TO heaven--a glance down to
the swit'y-running river and the person
| addressed leaped feet first Unthink-
inglv. moved suddenly; the light gig
rocked la vain attempted to recover
by balance; The boat tipped over and