The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1902-06-14

on the grass" signs on every side. And
thcn. when it was no longer wanted,
the disaster came.
Just week after the departure Of
inc l;sst workman Mrs. Danvers went
! with her husband to concert, leav-
ing the house and sleeping children in
| Margery's care
Marsery spent the first hour In tho
Nitchcn, making peanut taffy. When
a' last she returned to the front of
lhe noise she was greeted by an odd
~ Lgent order.
81 wonder, said she, "if could
have scorched my candy? No; the
smell seems to come from the front
fall. Perhaps something is burning
upstairs"
snc stopped appalled, when she hal
reached the top step. Something GER
talnly was burning. The upper hall
was full of thick, gray smoke.
me chidren!" gasped Margery
darung through the smoke and into
Here the smoke was dense, and
through it. at the far end Of the room
"nere closet door was standing open
Margery could see dull red glow.
Quick! Quick" she sobbed, drag
glng the heavy, half-stupefied childr ~
out OF their beds, out of the suffocating
room. through the hall and down the
stairs. "Oh. do hurry! The house is
all on fire."
THERE" said she, snatching vase
of flowers from a table in the lower
hall, and jashing flowers, water and
all into the faces of the poor, aston
ishcd children, thereby producing two
indignant howls.
There, your lungs are all right If
you can cry like that! Now 60 sit on
the carriage block, and don't you dare
to come into this house again until
call you. and don't you tell a soul
that this house is afire. I'm going to
put it out myself.
"Oh, | must-1 must DO it," cried
Margery, seizing the two heavy pals
of water which Mrs. Danvers kept
ready in her little conversatory for the
purpose of watering her plants. 'The
fire is all in that one room. II l let
the firemen in they'll ruin the new
floors with their muddy boots, and
they'll flood the whole house with
water. Oh, can't let them spoil that
lovely pale-green paper and those love,
ly floors!"
So, never thinking that her mother
would rather lose a thousand beauti
full parlors than one little loving
daughter, Margery rushed into the
dense smoke and buried the contents
of her pals straight at the scarlet
glow.
The smoke stung her throat and al
most blinded her, but she CROPPED her
way from the room, felt her way
across the hall, ran down the stairs,
and refilled her pals at the kitchen
sink The bath room was nearer, but
Margery remembered that the faucets
there were small, and knew she would
save time by going to the kitchen.
She drank little cold water, filed
her lungs with fresh air at the open
door and tucked up her skirts. Then
up she went with her heavy burden,
not spilling a drop on the precious
floors After the third journey Mar
gerry noticed that the scarlet spot had
diminished in size, although the smoke
vas quite as dense.
Il must be careful not to put on
scrap more water than | need" said
this model fireman, as she toiled up
ward with her heavy pals. Il mustn't
spoil the dining room ceiling. l be-
licve the fire is in the pillows and bed
ding stored in that closet. I'll open
the window and throw them all out. If
l can"
And she did. but 1t was not pleas
ant task. The smoldering quilts
burst into flames as she pulled them
apart. and the sparks burned her
wrists and hands. But with the win
dow open 1t was possible to breathe.
and when the reking pillows had becn
added to the blazing heap on the lawn
below, the atmosphere was decidedly
although still by no means
clear.
AS they discovered afterwards. the
fire started from a few oiled rags used
in polishing the hardwood floors. and
tucked into the closet by careless
maid. It had burned almost through
the Dashboard, and would in a few
moments have eaten its way into the
partitions, where it would have been
beyond control.
Margery had undoubtedly saved the
day and a great many dollars although
she had, without realizing 1t. risked
far'm more precious.
She had bathed her face and hands.
had opened all the windows to let out
the disagreeable odor Of burned feath-
ers, and was going downstairs, well
satisfied with her evenings work.
when her father and mother appeared
at the front door. Perched on the
newell post in the front hall she told
them all about the catastrophe.
Where are the children?" was Mrs.
Danverss first question.
co{d EorUorv NThov