The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1898-02-17

y
tive asins.. tall oi yssr& and shioh Bf
auouut ot peuuasian, either ofal of dtgeI
l.itve, t,d ever been tnown 70 iuduos g
> .ecvlerAls h,s progress 70 sBytbins fast, !
tbuo stat wslt
Il hsi been 30 uunsu,lly bot simmer,
A, TIE usio ssept slUns The lake shore
uoucad thr vegetation spneAfei vety Or.
and rsfehed, sni that ihe hide pools,
which alwsys 4 .shei like gems from the
ROCKY ola slaus he edge oi the lske hsd
d,ssppeuei Tue yeliop.red swsmp lilies
thst itIaged the matshy Rround TO the
north mst. 10 Of The track seemed 10 liter
ally burn in the eeorchiug rays OF the At
tefnoon 80 sud the sparks from the eu
eue stack fell uuple.ssntly near tone dry
hem loek brash that edged the lake. Ia
comfortable thoughts Of forest free came
up 10 my mlud. Asty Of TO the wet /
could see a wreath Of thin, black smoke
curling itself l,zly upwsrd ~stched
moment aud il seemed to get thicker
aud blacker.
A trspper cooking supper, ! thought.
bn, the notion Of forest conf lgstion still
/ fingered unpleass9tly 10 my mind.
AZ the train slosed up | grabbed my
yalise sni spraug fl onto the platform
/ rhe ndactor 10 the caboose behind-it
was long train Of two passenger coaches
aud twenty or so freight cars waved bis
arms aud the heavy train once more in
creased rs speed. Soon 1t had vanished
stound the curve | walked up and
down the rough platform; waiting for my
Stage, and NY thoughts again returned to
the possibility ois tite on the mountain
WHAT terrible thing it would bel
Bat lnst then | spied the sntedeluvisn
rig winding 10 and out among the trees,
about half mile up, and | quickly dis
missed from my mind all thoughts OF fire.
Tess was driving the convey lnce aud was
alone | was delighted with the prospect
OF two bours' tete-s-tete with her, but
thought 1t strange that old JOE, the farm
hand, ha not come for me, as usual |
Iess explained that the man was oil at
Tour Crolx, a noishborng town, helping
dght a 1. rest FIRE. Great Heavens eI
claimed Suppose the II should come
this way and overtake us before we get
hUml
Tess laughed. No dsnger of that. ]
guess, che said, as she turned the horses
head bach in the direction he had come.
1t was a delightful AFTERNOON, The cir
was now cooling down and, under the
shade Of the trees that overhung our
homewsri wy, it was very pleasant. We
chatted and lang he'd until we quite forgot
the e1istsnoe Of any oh thing as fire or
danger
1t Was a good eight miles from the rail
road to the farm bouse and we had cover
ed about quarter Of that distance, when
on looking to the south, ! suddenly nctic
ed a dense black smoke rising in large,
thick masses three or four miles otl. 1t
seemed to be rapidly sppro o,chiug, Again
that terrible thought OF fire suggested It
self
We had better get home as quickly rs
possiblt That is the ftrest on frel said
Teas. Wouldn't it be q terrible thing il 1t
should reach the road before we dol 1t is
certainly coming toward US |
And coming toward us it was, at q most
alarming rate. Oar octogenarisn steed
would rot move any faster and the road {
seemed to cross the track OF the fire some
distance ahead Of as. Oar situation was
becoming serious. The road was not
vide enou to afford us sn oasis 10 this
approaching slmoom, and il the flames got !
within half mile Of us We could not es t
,ipe. except by miricle. The fire came c
nearer IDere was 20 mittskiDg 1t now :
The evergreens and vitbered underbrusb !
lsd become vefitsbIe tinder 10 the long l
continued hot and dry SPELL and before
now before the sun II VAS only about !
lsif an hunr siuce | frrt noticed the u
moke, and now We could hear distinctly
be dntiut crack and rosr OF the flames, d
nd every now and ihen tue heavy, reso a
lsnt swish aud boom az some great king .
4 the forest fell, crashing through the b
mailer growth bsnesth 1t The twilight Il
vas coming spi tly on We began to get =
frightened rs the fire came Q
,ester aud nesrsr and nearer, {
4 great coud Of cinders and smoke, \
he advance guard Of The sll devourng y
nemy, bfgsn TO blow 10 orr faces and 4
Ire the dry undefbrush at our feet. A
,fet 2, had sprung up We might have n
led Tor it two bours before srd net re q
eived il, tut nov, when its presence vss q
post deadly, 1t appeared TO give erester q
eoclty to the already furious pace OF our o
destroying enemy. r
spplied the whip vigorously to the u
la horse, and be seemea to put forth Lis
'est energies, but the cftzj wagon was 20
eayy that se did not get along any isster 0
han good trot, u
The girl beside me was pale, bot ber
ps were firmly yet aud her Eyes burned -
nth lusuo1s det rnined light She
IouId not hocs. saw. She came Of
,ern etun. title tsnder youog Girl, aud the
erce stubborn spirit Of her Datch suces
y vas standing her now IN good stead =
knew Tees would not isiut or scream or
0 anything foolish or Wild, but would be :,
comrsie 10 me 10 or danger. With
or,... a,,.I Il mt supe,io, IN nv nun