back
that a bystander remarked that the only way to get the boy off would be
to "peel the mule."

When they returned it was nearly midnight. Cully had taken off his
"choker," as he called it, and had curled it outside his hat, They had
walked over from the show, and the tight clutch of the collar greatly
interfered with Cully's discussion of the wonderful things he had seen.
Besides, the mule had ruined it completely for a second use.

It was a warm night for early spring, and Carl had his coat over his
arm. When they reached the outer stable fence--the one nearest the
village--Cully's keen nose scented a peculiar odor. "Who's been a
breakin' de lamp round here, Carl?" he asked, sniffing close to the
ground. "Holy smoke! Look at de light in de stable--sumpin' mus' be
de matter wid de Big Gray, or de ole woman wouldn't be out dis time
o' night wid a lamp. What would she be a-doin' out here, anyway?" he
exclaimed in a sudden anxious tone. "Dis ain't de road from de house.
Hully gee! Look out for yer coat! De rails is a-soakin' wid ker'sene!"

At this moment a little flame shot out of the window over the Big Gray's
head and licked its way up the siding, followed by a column of smoke
which burst through the door in the hay-loft above the stalls of the
three horses next the bedroom of Carl and Cully. A window was hastily
opened in Tom's house and a frightened shriek broke the stillness of
the night. It was Jennie's voice, and it had a tone of something besides
alarm.

What the sight of the fire had paralyzed in Carl, the voice awoke.

"No, no! I here--I safe, Jan!" he cried, clearing the fence with a
bound.

Cully did not hear Jennie. He saw only the curling flames over the
Big Gray's head. As he dashed down the slope he kept muttering the old
horse's pet names, catching his breath, and calling to Carl, "Save de
Gray--save Ole Blowhard!"

Cully reached the stable first, smashed the padlock with a shovel, and
rushed into the Gray's stall. Carl seized a horse-bucket, and began
sousing the window-sills of the harness-room, where the fire was
hottest.

By this time the whole house was aroused. Tom, dazed by the sudden
awakening, with her ulster thrown about her shoulders, stood barefooted
on the porch. Jennie was still at the window, sobbing as if her heart
would break, now that Carl was safe. Patsy had crawled out of his low
crib by his mother's bed, and was stumbling downstairs, one foot at a
time. Twice had Cully