Mower County transcript., 1903-01-21

They ram e0tt1 their unconscious burden
bet:Uee7l them.
him at that moment was in the line of
duty, and she would not have called
him back from it. But her heart cried
out for help, and she agonized for him
whom her soul dearly loved.
Down came the great wall Of fire and
smoke. The hot air scorched the faces
Of the fire fighters. Dim figures out on
the advance line were seen desperately
struggling with the element. The town
was enveloped in smoke and burned
out ashes Of prairie grass that sifted
over the workers until the faces and
hands Of all were black and grimy.
Scores Of men rushed upon the fire line
as it came on, checked some by the
short grass, and stamped out the
fame with their feet, with rags, with
old brooms, with pieces of carpeting
and bedding torn from their own
houses. Tie outstanding line Of fight
ers was forced back, burned and ex-
,hausted, but the fire had been checked,
and as it broke out in new places fresh
groups threw themselves upon it and
fought for the life of the town.
Dorothy could. not remember how
she came to be with the fighters on the
prairie instead Of with the water car
iriers, but it was undoubtedly her anx-
iety for Malcom's safety that urged
her out toward the fire. Her dress had
caught on fire and been put out several
times. Some one had thrown water
over her, but she had hardly known it.
She worked with all the others in ST.
lent frenzy. Suddenly she was con-
scious Of a tall, awkward figure near
her, looming up through the smoke,
thrashing at the fire with powerful en-
ergy, a very incarnation of resistance
and stubborn refusal to surrender.
"MalcOm!' she cried, and, faint as
she was, she felt new life at the sight
of him.
dorothy! Thank God, we got back
with him just in timer
There was no time to say more. The
danger was still great. Near together
now, husband and wife fought on. The
citizens of Conrad afterward bore wit
ness to the way in which they fought.
"Say, did you see Mr.. Kirk?" A
group of men at the postof6ce, several
days after the great fire, were talking
it over.
'These New England folks beat ev-
cry other kind when it comes to never
giving up"
eyes, or fighting the devil. Our min
lister beats all the rest at that" said
Carver, who spoke of Kirk as "our
minister" although he had never been
a member Of any church and rarely
went to hear even Malcom preach. But
it was a tribute to the hold Malcom
had secured on such men that they
appropriated him somehow to them
selves or to the best that was strug-
Cling in them.
1t was nearly the middle Of the after
noon Of that eventful day that the peo-
pie Of Conrad, exhausted, burned,
.blackened, saw the great danger pass
around them and the galloping whirl.
wind thundered off beyond the town,
leaving mighty and desolate expanse
OF black and smoldering prairie be-
hind it. -&7 a -,
Then it was that the severest trial
Of all came to Malcom and Dorothy.
They had gone into the house of one
Of their parishioners, where the body
Of Philip Barton had been carried. He
was living, but had received some in
juries from falling opt Of the wagon.
probably when the team ran away. &
They had come out Of the house and
were on their way home when some
one in the street suddenly clutched
Malcom's arm and, pointing through
the smoke, cried out: # sss 81.
.s-. II Look there! The church is on fireg
lro BE ooNrnUED.l !
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