Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-05-26
ed, helmeted heads suspended. a. Il

AA !s Soi1etnlnE grand and
ennobllng in the irresistible sweep of a
great volume Of flame. Icould moral
ize over a confagration as Chateaubri-
and did over Niagara. Dullan is of the
same bent of mind, and the Gentleman
was ready to turn anywhere from his
own thoughts. We all began running
in the direction of the blaze.
At first we ran languidly, Jogging
along with many other people who were
hurrying toward the same goal. Then,
as we came into a quarter Of the town
which we knew we'll, we almost invol-
UNFAIRLY quickened our pace, until,
tearing round familiar corner at racing
speed, we pulled up and eazed SILENTLY
into each others pale faces. There, not
a hundred yards from us, stood the
high house of Eldon street.-the house
under whose hospitable roof we had
spent so many happy hours-with the
red flames licking round the whole low
er story and squirting out of every chink
and c%revice, while a dense pail of smoke
obscured the upper windows and the
roof.
We dashed through the crowd to-
gether and fought our way to the clear
space on which the 1iremen were con-
Meeting their hose. As we reachedthem,
a ha!t-naked man, ~bare-footed and dis
heveled, was pleading with the superin-
tendent, clutching f~rantically at his arm.
and pointingupeo the dark clouds above
him, already rent with Jagged streaks of
Ascending flame.
TOO shortw he screamed in a voice
which we were Mortified to recognize as
that Of Mr.. Newsome. cit can't bet
mustn't be! There are more a
than one. Oh, man, man, she is burn
neutrality-suspicious.! Do some
thing! Save her! My child-my beau
tiful child-the only one l have!"
In the agony of his fear, he fell at the
hreman's feet and implored his assist
ance.
was paralyzed by the horror of the
thing. The situation was apparent at a
glance. There, seen dimly through the
smoke, was Cissy Newsome's window,
while beneath it, separated by a broad
expanse of wall, was the head of the fire.
escape. 1t was too short by a good
twelve feet. The whole lower story was
one seething mass Of fire, so that there
seemed no possibility of approach from
that direction. A horrible feeling of
impotence came over me. There was
no sign of movement at the young lady's
window, though crawling trails Of flame
had climbed up to it and festooned it
round with their red garlands. 1 re-
member hoping in my heart that she
had been suffocated in her sleep, and
had never awoke to the dreadful reality.
Ihave said that we were paralyzed for
the moment. The spell was rapidly
broken. ''This way, lads!" cried a reso-
Lutte voice, and Charlie Welstead broke
in among us with a fireman's Ratchet in
his hands. We pushed after him as he
rushed round to the rear of the house,
where there was door usually used by
the servants. 1t was locked, but a
couple of blows shatteredit topieces. We
hurried up the stone kitchen stairs,
with the plaster falling in strips all
around us, and the flags so hot that they
burned into the soles of our boots. At
the head of>the stairs there was a second
door, thicker and stronger than. the first,
but nearly charred through by the fire.
"Give me room!' gasped Welstead,
swinging round his ak.
Don't do it, SIR" cried a stalwart
fireman, selling him by the wrist;
''there's flames on the other side of that
door,"
s'Let me go!" roared Charley.
"We're dead men if you break it,"
s'Let me go!"
"Drop it, Sir; drop it,!
There was a momentary struggle,an n
the ak clattered down upon the stone
steps. 1t had hardly time to fall before
some n caught it up. I could not see
who for the dense blue reek of smoke.
A man dashed past the fireman, there
was the crash of a parting lock,
and a great lick of flame, like a
hound unleashed, shot out and envel-
oped us. I felt its hot seal as it coiled
round my face, and I remember moth
ing more until I found myself leaning
against the d%oor-post, breathing in the
fresh air of night, while Welstead, ter
ribly burned, Struggled furiously with
the fireman who held him back to pre-
vent him from r~eascending the stair
case, which was now a solid sheet of
fire.
"Hold back, sir!' 1 heard the honest
fellow growl; saint n life thrown
away enough? That little cove-him
with the gaiters-the same that broke
the door-he's gone, I seed him jump
right slap into the middle of it. He
won't never come back no more!'
Together we led Welstead round to
the front once more, all three stagger-
ing like dunken men. The flames were
higher than before, but the upper story
and the roof still rose above them like
a black island in a sea of fire. There
was Miss Cissy's window, dark and un-
opened, though the woodwork around
it was in a glow. There was no sign
of the futter of a female dress. How
terrible it was to stand and wait for the
| end, powerless to stretch out a saving
hand. Poor Welstead leaned against
me sobbing like a child. A ghastly
longing came into my heart that 1 might
see flames in that room, that I might
know it to be all over, and her pain and
trouble at an end. Then 1 heard the
crash of glass falling outward, and 1
obent my head to avoid seeing the very
thing that I had wished for; and then
there broke upon my ear a shout from
ten thousand voices, so wildly exultant
| orI ~oI1r s,h;1ork %bo% T roUor boro tn