Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1897-10-21
SAVED THE CANARY.

me. and won. A man who had been |
introduced to me as Captain Jaynes |
made the next highest score. 1t seemed
to me that the other contestants took
their defeat good naturally, but on the
way home my friend told me to Hook
out for this Captain Jaynes. He was a
hotheaded Kentuckian, and it seems
that this was the first time he had been
defeated in year or SO, and it worried
him good deal. My friend told me
that he had taken dislike to me and
would probably try to pick quarrel
with me at the first opportunity.
ssWell, that same afternoon I invited
all the men who had been at the shoot
ing match to come over to the tavern
It was customary for the winner of the
match to stand treat to the others Cap
tain Jaynes came in rather late, while
we were all sitting around and talking.
arose and asked him to join the party.
He bowed very coldly and said that he
was not in the habit Of drinking with
strangers Well, I was pretty hot blood
ed in my younger days. said: Very
well, captain. withdraw the invita-
ton. 1 made the mistake of supposing
that you would feel at home in a COM
pany Of gentlemen. knew what to ex-
pect when 1 said that. He started to
draw knife, but before he could lift it
I had hold of him. They pulled us apart
and tried to quiet him, but he went
away raving mad. They all said that
he would kill me the first time we met,
but he must have cooled down when he
had time to think it over saw him
often after that-passed him on the
street He never made a move, but
knew that he hated me and would be
glad of a chance to do me an injury.
''The captains house was right on
the bank of the Green river and stood
near his mill. 1t was an old fashioned
two story house, very broad and well
built and Tricky surrounded by trees.
1t was considered the best house in
Crosbyville The captain was the
wealthiest and one Of the most prom
inent citizens of the town. He was a
widower and had two children-a boy
of IA or so and young lady named
Elizabeth. She was very beautiful girl
very charming. had met her several
times, but, of course, I had never be-
come well acquainted with her on &C
count of my feud with her father.
.'Well, to make a long story short,
the whole town was aroused by an alarm
of fire one night, and when we turned
out the Jaynes mill was one mass Of
flames. It was an old style structure,
with framework Of heavy logs, and it
made fearful blaze The wind was
blowing the flames toward the house.
Every one saw that it was Of no use to
try to save the mill, SO we turned in to
defend the house-got up on the roof
and passed buckets and put out wet
blankets to catch the sparks, but it was
no use The men were driven off the
roof, and the water dried as fast as 1t
was thrown on All at once one whole
side of the house seemed to spring into
a fame There was general shout, and
everybody retreated to o safe distance.
The members of the family and the
neighbors had been removing the house
hold goods. Just as the house caught
fire and all the men were getting out OF
it as fast as they could heard Eliza
beth Jaynes cry out, The canaryP Then
all ran back into the house, with every
one calling to her to stop. Ididn't hest
tate moment, but ran after. She ran
through that terrific heat and dense
smoke right up the stairway, and fol-
lowed. I caught her by the arm at the
top of the stairs and told her to come
back. She was hysterical and excited.
She said she wouldn't leave until she
got the bird. In spite Of all l could &c
she pulled away from me and ran to
the front room-her bedroom, | be-
lieve-and felt her way to where the
bird was hanging. Gentlemen, it was
never hotter in any bake oven than
it was in that room AS soon as she got
the bird cage 1 dragged her back through
tho hall
'sThe smoke was not so thick now, be-
cause the fire had got free draft
through the house and was making a
fearful roar and spreading rapidly.
When we reached the stairway, the
whole lower end of it was ablaze.
dragged the girl away to the front win
dow, but by that time the whole yeran-
ia was on fire. The crowd outside saw
| us and shouted something, I couldn't
| tell what. I saw that there was no es-
cape over that burning veranda. When
the people outside began to shout, the
girl tainted. I threw her across my
shoulder and started for the rear OF the
house, because I knew that was my
only salvation. The whole stairway was
ablaze by that time, and flames were
creeping up through the floor. l closed
my lips tightly, and in about four leaps
I reached a back window Outside there
i was big tree, almost brushing thu
/ window. I kicked out the window sast
and simply jumped into the tree i
was the only thing to be done. Luckily
I got my arm over limb, which sagget
i with us and dropped us to the ground
scrambled to my feet and ran, will
the girl still hanging absolutely liml
and helpless over my shoulder. I wen
straight for the river with the intention
Of jumping in The heat was something
deadly. It had driven away the mel
who had been filling their buckets a
the river.
/ "Just as staggered down the rive
bank saw slziff. Some one had prob
ably rowed across the river to the fire
for the beat was not fastened. drop
ped, with the girl, into the boat AM
gave it strong push out into the cur
rent, and in a few seconds we wer
!. floating down stream and were safe. 7"
| "She had the canary, SUPPOSE sal
the lightning dentist.
"Qh.. yes. She was in a dead faint
II rrvarvhodv Savs So