Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1895-05-08
A BUSH FIRE.
Hot I

fire. A heat that had sucked up all mois-
ture and marbled the land with cracks of
shrinkago and turned the water holes into
mere mud baths, while tho distant creek
had nothing but It's brown flag grass and
dry swamp bed To show where tho water
had run.
About the homestead tho few cattleStill
alive hung with their heads stolidly over
the slip rails, refusing I'm spite of all driv-
Ing, to seek again for tho sustenance IL
was impossible To find. Tho framework of
horse, his head between his legs, and as
much In the shade as he could get on tho
lee side Of anold ironbark, stood impassivc
and motionless. All round tho horizon n
dirty haze Of smoke melted into yellow
veil OF fog covering tho sky.
The sun glarcd down. Tho air SHIN
mered tremulously, as though 1t sickened
with Its burden. And over all that land
not one CLEAN of freshness, not one sound
OF JOY, not murmur save the eternal
zing, zing, zing Of tho locust. Scared,
blasted, stricken, curse was upon 1t and
upon every living thing.
Abe Saunders was down at what used to
be tho creek trying to draw out his last
milking COW from the place when she had
begged In vain effort to find water grass.
shirt and trousers clinging to him with
sweat Tho beast kicked and plunged
fcebly, its little strength quite gone, and
after two hours work it was more firmly
begged than ever.
Its no good, said Abe, ~ must get
help. III go up the gully for old Mason
and his tackle. IL wa lose that COW, what
Will the children do for milkY'
Wcarily he turned to CO. when tho sound
OF "Coo-ecp' turned him sharply about.
"Coo-ec!" he shouted.
A little pause, and again the cry echoed:
"CoOee!''
"It's Mary" he said "What the DEVILS
upf' 1t was n good three miles to the
ridge; but, like u wallaby with the dogs
In full cry, he sped over rock and gully
back to the homestead. Long before he got
there, he heard n strange roaring in the
air, saw black, belching clouds over the
tree tops and felt fierce rushing furnace
breath.
The bush was on Gre.
With the energy of fear he dashed along.
There was the clearing, with Mary at the
house door still shouting at intervals.
Even as he came up, the red storm was
upon them. In mad frenzy he seized the
two children, one under each arm, and
shrieking to his wife above the din Of the
fro to bring the baby, he rushed to the
center Of the plowed paddock. There they
crouched painting. The children were
bowling, the baby was crying, and Mary
was sobbing. The man said nothing. He
watched the fire.
Would the house escape? There was 80
feet of bare ground all about it. But the
air, SO calm a minute ago, was now q roar
ing hurricane travelling at racing speed
over the ridge The tea tree scrub melted
before 1t, and the bush trees remained In
its rear only as black and burning trunks.
The fence had caught; the flames licked 1t
up daintily. The shed, with his cart and
harness, were, and were not, while he
looked. A piece of burning stringy bark,
whirled by the wind, settled on the shin
giles of the house. The woman moaned and
pressed the child closer to her bosom. The
man S face was drawn in agony.
The house was burning, the work Of his
own hands. How many months of weary
saving and splitting had its shingles and
slabs cost him He thought of 1t all as he
stood there, helpless and half suffocated.
In loss than a minute the flames were
shooting out Of the doOrways and windows,
and loud report was followed by the fall
of q side Of the house. 1t was the explosion
of his powder flask, hung on the well.
Cant you put 1t out, Aber'
"Put out h-!' And he ground his
teeth.
Through the open framework they could
see the bed, the tables, the chairs all blaZ-
ing one after another. The spirit of the
man revolted.
"Look, Mary" he cried; "there goes the
cradle made for the kids" And as he
spoke the aspect of his face changed. The
limit of his suffering had come, and, like
an old time victim of tho rack he began
to laugh. A hollow laugh, weird and ter
riblo
"That's good joke, Mary! The farce
is ended-all over In ono act Ha, ha ha"
you're mad, Abe" said his wife,
shrinking from him with great dread in
her eyes. Don't laugh like that. It's
horriblep
mad, my dear That's good. Ha! hal
ha! Say I've been mad, the most con-
founded lunatic in this blasted blistering
country. To slog and belt for ten long
years to make homo of our own, to clear
land, to fence it, drain 1t, plant it-and
all to make five minutes bonfirep Yes,
I've been mad, stark staring mad, but now
hal hal hal 1 was never SO sensible In
my lifel
''See how tho cradle burns, Mary. It
was bit of she oak and worked like q
watch. Don't 1t look pretty nowp They
might be silk curtains, all those hounces
round 1t Why don't you laugh, girls It's
great joke. Look Tho roof Is falling
inl It's as good as fireworks. Hold up the
kids; let them laugh. It's all the samo
price. Ha! ha! hal"
But the woman replied nothing, fright
ened, staring Mt him. Tho children
screamed
The driving sheet OF flame had long
gone by. Skirting tho plowcd ground
where they stood, 1t had left tho bare sur
face an untouched blank In It's ghastly fu-
neral trail. Only tree stumps posts and
fallen branches, smoked and sinoldercd
here and there. Tho man stood motion
less till morning, but tho four charred
corner posts remained OF his home.
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