Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1886-03-16

PIE plates and CAKE uns, occAslonAii
leaving her work TO dart into the sitting
room, TO assure herself that every thin,
was In order for the homecoming Of he
loved ones.
"G-ins to ride M IN de chariot
sooner In do mornln"'
she sang. But bark What was that
A cry OF terror or distress. She flew &
the door. followed by Hannah. The,
saw Patrick crawling on his hands auC
knees.
"The prsrie Is on fire." be 'hol,st
Immediately: "Holy mother. be m;rei'
ful for i,s helplss, | am entirely"
"The prari. was indeed on fire. though
at some distance. Pa, from his p'rch
on the barn. had spied i, and ia bis
haste 20 g., down and give the alarm,
had slipped on ,h. ladder and fallen TO
the ground. severely 'praining his ankle.
"You mus, burn a streak, Miss Milly.
and jus, a. qaiek as ever y; can, for 'he
FIRE |, coming like an express usin."
Milly under,,ooi-ihe had often heard
Of i,-and already the matches were IN
her hand.
"where, Pat" she eallel.
"Ou, FORMS, yoa wire fence. Ill
dhnw water. and Hannah must carry |,
,ill ye. to sprinkle the ground this side
Of yer FIRE" And Patrick dragged him
self painfully TO the we'll.
Mlly did a. she wa, tod aud every.
thing succeeded brlvely. The ffigh, bad
a wonderful sGee, on Hannah's rheu.
matte limbs. and she carried water on
the double quick.
Oa came the grrA, fire. nea'er anl
nearer and nearer. Milly could hear the
roaring aud his,ing Of the flame. the
,ramping and snor,ing Of horses, aud the
b,lloving Of cattle. as they raced for
life.
Al the rish, and lef. Of her hre they
passed. bu, the child scarcely noticed
them. She dimly saw through the
smoke several gsan, prairie wolves dash
by: bu, IL seemed perfectly natural and
she had no though, Of fear. She vas
saving her home.
With We, blankets she whipped back
the fire, when |, threatened 10 come
where |, should not. A, Jas, she had
the satisfaction Of seeing - wide bel,
Of barn, land between her home and the
grca, fire that she Eel, sure they were
safe, and she started 10 seek refuge from
the binding smoke Ia the house her
efforts had saved. tu', borne on the
wind. far up In mid air came sailing a
blazing mass Of straw. and TO Millys
horror. i, fell on the house roof. With
almost superhrmAn 'wif,as. she ran
forward 10 the new scene Of dagger. Up
the stairs she d.rtsd. catching n she ran.
q bloom. From q dormer sindov she
climbed on, on the roof. aud wi,h broom
she showed the hsming straw 10 the
ground. where /, ~as qasneh.d by Pat
Hannah va. =, the open window With
water for Milly TO polr 90 tho now blar.
ing roof. She eaush, pail and dashed
the contents on the flame. unhsedins ,ha,
her own clothing was on fire ba, Han
nah saw. and seiring bed quilt. she
climbed ou, Of the window almos, n
quickly as Milly herself had done. and
wrapped her pe, to smother the flame.
Hannah had done her best, but before
she reached her the calico dres. was
burned literally of. as was nearly all her
clothing. The blaze was easily esiin-
gui.hed. ba, /, had done It's work.
With hearts elouded with terror and
foreboding., Mr.. Morgan and Edith
drove toward home that afternoon over
the olaeksnsd deser, that had been 80
beautiful bu, two days before. The
shadow. lifted as they came in sigh, Of
the cory farm house standing safe In an
o.si. Of green.
Thank Cod" said Mr.. Morgan. aud
Edith responded. "amsn =
Ba, when they reached home they found
sorrow en,hroned awaiting them. Milly-
wise. genile. brave Mlly--ourned al
most pas, recognition. lay upon the bed,
her curl. bl.ekenins the pillow. The
father aud sister saw that II was too
late for remedies Milly Was dying
She did no, appear to suffer, but lay
unconscious. though At intervals she
marmured little .nA,ehes Of the hymn
she loved best. sadisnly shs sang. aud
her voice Was clear and ',rons as ever;
"Ds chariot De chariot ils -heol' on ire.'
A long silence followed. broken only
by the labored breathing, Of tie little
martyr. Then she sang .of,ly AID slow
ly;
"s-,a. ..,,s. loo. sweet chariot ''~'''-''' to
The hear.broken watchers listened TO
catch the remaining words; bu, they
never were sung. unless. IL may be, the
strata WAS finished in the upper home.
Unseen the mystic ehario, had swung
low.-IEiepcndeni.