Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-11-07

WIN ''yvoosnr- ana dIved back again.
This performance was repeated six
times, the captains language and the
I compliments he paid the hens becom-
ing more picturesque every moment.
At length he announced, "That's all,
thank goodnessw and began to climb
through the window. This was diff
cult task, for the window was narrow
and, in spite of what Captain Fri had
called his ''injy rubber" makeup, Cap
tain Perez stuck fast.
| Catch hold Of my hands and haul,
will you, Pashy?" he pleaded. That's
it; pull hard! It's gittin' sort of muggy
| In behind here. I'll never complain
at havin' cold feet ag'in if git out of
this. Now, then! Ugh Here we be!'
He came out with jerk, like cork
out of bottle, and rolled on the ground
at his lady's feet.
ooh, Perez" she exclaimed, 'are you
hurt?"
"Nothin' but my feelin's," growled
| the rescuer, scrambling upright.
The captains face was blackened,
and his clothes We're scorched, but his
spirit was undaunted.
| "Pashy," he said, do you realize
that if we don't git help this whole
! shebang, house and all, will burn
DOWN."
Perez. you don't mean itr'
Il wouldn't swear that l didn't.
Look how that things blazin'! There's
the barn t'other side of it and the house
t'other side of that"
But can't you and me put 1t out?"
II don't dare resk it. No, sir! We've
got to git help, and git it in hurry
too!'
Won't somebody from the station
see the light and come over?
mot in this fog. You can't see a
hundred foot. No, I've got to go right
off. Good land! 1 never thought! Is
the horse gomez"
mo, the horse is here. Abner took
one of the store horses to go to Harniss
with, but he did take the buggy and
there's no other carriage but the old
carryall, and that's almost tumblin to
pieces"
Il was cal'latin' to go horseback"
What! And leave me here alone
with the house afire7 No, indeed! If
you go, I'm goin' too"
well. then, the carryalls got to do,
whether or no. Git on shawl or
somethin' while 1 harness up
1t was frantic Harvesting, but it
was done in a hurry, and the ram
shackle old carryall, dusty and cob
webbed, was dragged out Of the barn,
and Horace Greeley, the horse, was
backed into the shafts. AS they drove
out of the yard the flames were roar
Ing through the roof of the henhouse
and the lath fence surrounding it was
beginning to, blaze.
"Everything's so wet from the fog
and the melted snow" observed the
captain, that it'll take some time for
| the fire to git to the barn. If we can
git gang here we can save the house
easy and maybe more. BY mighty"
he calculated. II tell you what Wen
do. I'll drive across the ford and git
\ Luther and some of the station men to.
\ come right across. Then I'll go on to
/ the village to fetch more. 1t was Z
when l looked at the clock as we come
In from washin' dishes, so the tide
must be still goin' out and the ford
jest right. Git dap!'
Hurry all you can, for goodness
sake! Is this as fast as we can go?
Fast az we can go with this ever
lastin' Noah's ark Heavens, how them
wheels squeal.'
"The axles amt been creased for l
don't know when. Abner was goin' to
have the old carriage chopped up for
kindlin' wood"
Lucky for him and us faint chopped
up now. Git dap, slow poke! Better
chop the horse up, too, while he's bout
it."
The last remark the captain made
under his breath.
My gracious, how dark it is! Think
you can find the crossin'?"
"Got to find 1t; that's ALL TITS dark,
that's a fact"
1t was. They had gone but few
hundred yards, yet the fire was already
merely shapeless, red smudge on the
foggy blackness behind them. Horace
Greeley pounded along at jog and
when the captain slapped him with the
end of the reins broke into a jerky
gallop that was slower than the trot.
stop your hoppin' up and DOWN.
commanded Perez, whose temper was
becoming somewhat frayed. "You
make me think of the walkin' beam on
a steamboat. If you'd stop tryin' to fly
and go straight ahead we'd do better"
They progressed in this fashion for
some distance. Then Miss Davis, from
the curtained depths Of the back seat,
spoke again.
ooh, dear mel! she exclaimed. care
you sure you're on the right track?
Seems IS If we must be abreast the
station, and this roads awful rough"
Captain Perez had remarked the
roughness of the road The carryall
was pitching from one hummock to an
other, and Horace Greeley stumbled