ed to me. Major Tomlin Perdue, of Halcyondale,
who happened to be here at the time, was walking about wringing his
hands and crying like a child. Up to that moment, I had thought him to
be a hard and cruel man, but we can never judge others, not even our
closest acquaintances, until we see them put to the test. Suddenly, I
heard Major Perdue cry, 'Ah!' and saw him leap forward as a wild animal
leaps.

"Through the doorway, which was now entirely covered with a roaring
flame, a blurred and smoking figure had rushed--a bulky, shapeless
figure, it seemed--and then it collapsed and fell, and lay in the midst
of the smoke, almost within reach of the flames. But Major Perdue was
there in an instant, and he dragged the shapeless mass away from the
withering heat and stifling smoke. After this, he had more assistance
than was necessary or desirable.

"'Stand back!' he cried; and his voice had in it the note that men never
fail to obey. 'Stand back there! Where is Dorrington? Why isn't he
here?' Your father, my dear, had gone into the country to see a patient.
He was on his way home when he saw the red reflection of the flames in
the sky, and he hastened as rapidly as his horse could go. He arrived
just in the nick of time. He heard his name called as he drove up, and
was prompt to answer. 'Make way there!' commanded Major Perdue; 'make
way for Dorrington. And you ladies go home! There's nothing you can do
here.' Then I heard Fanny Tomlin call my name, and Major Perdue repeated
in a ringing voice, 'Lucy Lumsden is wanted here!'

"I don't know how it was, but every command given by Major Perdue was
obeyed promptly. The crowd dispersed at once, with the exception of two
or three, who were detailed to watch the few valuables that had been
saved, and a few men who lingered to see if they could be of any
service.

"Pulaski Tomlin had been kinder to his sister than to himself. Only the
hem of her dress was scorched. It may be absurd to say so, but that was
the first thing I noticed; and, in fact, that was all the injury she had
suffered. Her brother had found her unconscious on a bed, and he simply
rolled her in the quilts and blankets, and brought her downstairs, and
out through the smoke and flame to the point where he fell. Fanny has
not so much as a scar to show. But you can look at her brother's face
and see what he suffered. When they lifted him into your father's buggy,
his outer garments literally crumbled beneath the touc