Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-11-10

Il
| nearly five minutes, it was still just alight
when he dropped it. When it hit the stove
| 1t snapped in two. The stem fell into the
CRATE. but the bowl, after rolling along the
| the umbrella stand Here, / am sorry
| to say, Mary, the under housemaid, was
| in the habit of keeping little bundle OF
| wooden and chamois cloths. greatly besmeareo
with beeswax and turpentine, together with
lump of the former and a bottle OF the latter
| materials which she used for cleaning the front
| staircase and the polished woodwork In the
| hall Some lighted ash fell on these cloths and
soon begat a slow and smoldering hre. How
| ever, as there was very little draugns IN tne
polished granite, all might yet have been well;
! but il was fated otherwise.
| When the rags had been smoldering quietly
| for about half an hour, and seemed in a fair
way to burn themselves out, big rat, taking a
constitutional in the vicinity, attracted by the
| smell of burning beeswax, came to see what
was the matter. Naturally burning his nose
/ he whisked away in great wrath, and so upset
| the turpentine bottle, to which there was no
cork In an instant the floor for yard round
was covered with burning spirit. There was
nothing to stop the flames, which caught first
| the umbrellas then the hall table and the
| woodwork of the stairs, and then the wainscot-
ing. and anything and everything that there
| was to catch.
Harry Melville was the first to give the alarm
| but too late for the slightest hope Of extin-
| gushing the flames. In fact, when once a
| large house, dry and airy and largely fitted
| with wood work. has fairly caught fire. a dozen
engines cannot put it out before it is thor
| oughly Quilted from basement to attic. The
| front staircase would soon be impossible, so
| that when the guests were reused the only
| thing to do was to lose no time in saving the
women and themselves. When Harry saw this
his first thought was for Nina, and he tore up
stairs with the flames literally at his heels. It
was he who opened the door at the bottom of
the corkscrew stair, admitting the volumes of
hot smoke as they rolled fiercely upward. He
saw her. candle in hand, when she fell back,
blinded and coughing; the next moment he
had her in his arms. He thought that there
was still time to make a dash for it down
the fiery stairs; it was the only chance
to save her life. One moment to wrap a
blanket around his darling as a protection
against the hungry flames, and then for the
rush. Whether he lived or died afterward did
not matter if he could only struggle on to the
bottom, where other hands would be ready to
take charge of his precious burden. That mo-
ment's delay saved both their lives. for Just as
he snatched the blanket from the bed, when if
they had started at first, they would have been
half way down the first fight, came bang!
crash with a deafening noise portion of
the outer wall of the room and the whole of
the corkscrew staircase fell while the whole
building shook. In the gunroom. ON the sec
ond floor, were kept the stores for reflling
empty cartridge cases, which included two
large TASKS Of meal powder which had come
from London only the day before. These. as
well as several hundred full cases. had exploded
and caused the damage. Retreat by the stair
case was now impossible. Under the window
was a sheer drop all the way to the ground;
a monkey could not have saved himself there.
The explosion had had one good effect for
in blowing out all the windows and even part
Of the outer wall ON that side it allowed the
wind, which was blowing fresh, to take most of
the smoke and heat over to the other part of
the house; otherwise they must soon have been
suffocated. They were standing together in
the corner. by the door. Though her feet were
on the ground Nina was still In his arms, with
the blanket round her, when they were going
to start for the dash down stairs
God help us my darlingr' said Harry. This
was the first time that either of them had
spoken.
For all reply she pressed his hand and turned
her face calmly and trustfully up to his.
Had it been Harry's last second ON this earth.
and he conscious of it, he could not have helped
Kissing her then.
Forgive me, my darling" he said hoarsely;
''but love you with all my heart"
And love you with all mine," said Nina
simply. Then suddenly she cried: Quick.
There is a trapdoor in that corner; you can
reach it by standing on the drawers"
Needing no second bidding. he leaped up on to
struggled with all his might to open it. 1t was
fastened on the inside with bolt. which from
long disuse had become completely rusted into
its socket. Twice he put forth all the strength
he could get to bear on the little knob. only to
lacerate his hands without being able to stir
the fastening. AS he gathered himself to-
gether for third try, Nina thrust garden
hammer into his hand. 1t was a small but
fairly heavy one, which she used for mailing up
the creepers. few blows with this, another
pull the bolt yielded; and Harry threw back
the trap. Sitting in the opening, he pulled
Nina up to his own level, and they were both
ON the roof.
Except for little gable in the middle the
roof was fiat On one side and under the turret
was the blazing house. but on the other. some
20 feet lower, was the roof of the laundry,
which. being to the windward. had so far en-
tirely escaped the contlagration. A water pipe
standing out about inches from the WALL took
the DRAWINGS from the gutter round the turret
to small rain-water cistern fixed against the
wall just above the laundry 1t was down this
that they must 90.
To climb down 20 feet by a small water-pipe
with only one hand and your legs to hold on
BY, and to support lady with the other hand
Is no easy feat even for a strong man and an
athlete, and Harry was neither. But love and
desperation gave him both strength and skill
to perform The descent safely. Only when,
about halfway down. first his legs and then his
hand came into contact with an iron support to
the pipe, did he feel a momentary pain. And
no wonder; for passing through the wall and
being clinched on the inside, it was nearly red
hot. great tongue of flame shooting out from
one of the side windows enabled those below
to see what was happening. ladder was
placed against the laundry wall, and amid lusty
cheers they were quickly half helped half
carried i'll safety to the ground
Thanks to the blanket, Nina had escaped
nearly scot free, but Harry Melville was badly.
though perhaps not dangerously, hurt. His
left hand in particular was terribly burned
The doctor was among the lookers-on and or
dered him to bed at the Eagle at once wbila
he himself hurried off for the lotion and other
necessaries to dress his wounds.
The ladies were accommodated with beds or
'shakedowns" at the vicarage; the gentlemen
had plenty to do in helping their host and his
servants. VI course, next to nothing could be
saved from the house; it was enough to be
thankful for that no lives had been lost. The
horses were blindfolded and led away; the car
rlages and harness were also saved. Then it
was decided to destroy great straw stack lest
the wind should shift and the fire be commune
Gated to that and thence to the lodge. By this
time all the village afOOt so that there
was no lack of hands. A groom had been
dispatched for the tire-engine at the first alarm
and meanwhile a couple of garden hose were
played on the fire, but without any appreciable
result. About dawn the engine arrived and
commenced operations on the slowly subsiding
copfagratlon. Though it was kept only four
miles from Allingsford, the IMAM who under
stood 1t slept nearly six farther on, whereby.
as the obstructionist town councillor observed
at the next meeting, considerable time was
lost. 1t was broad day ere Sir john his
brother, and guests, having done all that men