The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1899-09-21
persisted in coming back, and he
doggedly determined to keep on.

I y
| them.
Suddenly he thought of the Widow
Stearns, who lived three miles out from
the village toward the farm. What
would she do? Perhaps she had gone to
| the village. That would be the natural
thing for her to do. He was getting
near the place, and soon recognized the
| little driveway that turned up toward
the house. The smoke was so dense
that the house itself was hidden. Hot
embers were beginning to fall in the
road, and now he could distinctly hear
the cracking roar of the flames. Still
he urged the horse on. He had not ad-
vanced an eighth of mile beyond the
| Stearns' place before he realized that
| the fire had crossed the road in front
/ He could see the orange flames through
! the smoke.
| With a groan he turned the horse
about and started on the backward road
The instinct of self-preservation is
! strong. and wife and children were now
nearly forgotten in his efforts to es-
cape a dreadful death. Reaching the
drive leading up to the Widow Stearns'
! house he turned the horse in and drove
| up. He knew there was a meadow lot
south of the house, and thought that by
setting fire to the dried grass in front
of him and following in the wake of the
fire he might escape destruction from
the flames behind. Then he remem-
| bered there was q very deep well back
of the house. That, he thought, prom
| ised greater security than the other
plan.
The roar and craclSe of the fire to the
north was deafening now, and the heat
was becoming intolerable. Springing
from the wagon Mr.. Sigsbee cut the
/ harness and turned the horse loose.
perhaps he can escape" he thought.
Then he ran toward the well. 1t did
not astonish him to find stout rope
securely fastened to a plank, which lay
! across the mouth of the well. He was
too terrified to be astonished at any
thing. Selling the rope he quickly let
himself down, finding some interstices
in the wall in which he could place his
feet, and thus relief the strain on the
rope. After descending many feet he
heard voice, and looking down recog-
nized in the shadow the Widow Stearns.
Finding heTself N neril she had
sought safety in the deep we'll. The
season had been unusually dry, and
there was but little water in the well.
Mrs. Stearns was standing on the well
bottom, and the water did not reach
to her knees
Comparatively little smoke pene-
trated to the depth of the well, while
the fire roared and cracked overhead
and gradually spent its fury.
Meanwhile exciting events were
transpiring at the Sigsbee farm. When
his father had gone Frank hitehed the
remaining horse to pillow and started
to plow the field lying northwest of the
house. He wanted to get as large
space as possible plowed up before his
fathers return. The plan was if help
returned with Mr. Sigsbee to plow as
large an area as they would have time to
clear around the house and barn. In
this way they hoped to save both struc
lures. Accordingly, Frank commenced
blowing at considerable distance from
the house, and plowed quite long fur
rows. But he had not got many fur
rows plowed before he noticed that the
wind was blowing much stronger from
and soon after little fakes of ashes be-
gan to fall about him.
There won't be time to dc it!" he
said to himself with little gasp. II
wish father was here" he thought, his !
heart failing him in the face of the
dreadful danger, whose full terrors he |
was only just beginning to realize.
Something seemed to come up into has |
mouth, which he gulped down. Then
he thought of his mother and two |
young sisters. There was no one to |
protect them now but himself. He |
must think of some way to save them. |
He looked despairingly toward the
house and barn, dimly visible through
the smoke. 1t was useless to try to save
the buildings; they were p.ainly
doomed. Life was the most precious
thing. and that was all that must be
thought of now. But how could even
life be saved in the face of such a fire?
Frank knew il would be useless to try
to reach the village. The fire would
have crossed the road before they could
get half way there. There was one
other road. but it ran right up toward
the fire a few rods beyond the farm
house. The only direction in which
they could flee would be southwark
into the woods. Frank knew the forest
was thick there with dry underbrush
which would greatly impede their own
and at the same time hasten
the. progress of the fire. 1t would be
terrible to have the fire overtake them
in the forest. He would rather take his
chances in the cleared space.
a hot cinder, blown a considerable
distance in front of the fire, struck his
cheek, and he started as if it had sud-
denly burned an idea into his brain.
.xl lx.l Il 1,.,,- 1