takes to tell of it, the cattle were out of danger.

"Now the hens--hurry, hurry, Jot! I'm going to help Kent. It mustn't
get to the hay upstairs!"

Thanks to Kent's steady, tireless work, there was little danger of that
now. Already the flames were greatly subdued, and only sputtered
aimlessly under the regular showers of water that fell upon them. The
two boys toiled over them patiently till just a blackened corner told
that they had been there in the trig little barn.

It had been a short, sharp battle. A moment's indecision, a very little
less determined effort and presence of mind, and nothing but a miracle
could have saved the barn. And then the house! It stood so near--what
could have saved it?

It was an hour or more before Old Tilly would allow the live stock
brought back into the barn. They hovered anxiously over the blackened
embers, for fear they might spring into life again. But at last there
seemed no danger, and presently the building settled back to quiet
again, and the tired rescuers tried to snatch a little sleep in the hay.
Jot woke the others in the first dim daylight.

"Fire! Fire!" he screamed.

"Where? Where is it?" cried Kent, springing to his feet.

"Put--it--o-ut," mumbled Old Tilly.

It was only a nightmare, but the boys could not doze again after it.

It was just as the sun was rising clear and beautiful that the boys came
out from the barn, and as they caught sight of each other's blackened
faces in the dazzling light, they each gave way to a roar of laughter.
"Well, we all seem to be in the same boat," said Kent, making for the
pump and filling the pails one after the other. "Here's a pail apiece;
that ought to do it for us." Then he went to one of the wheel baskets
and brought back a crash towel and a generous piece of soap. "Now lay
to on yourselves, boys, and then we will see what we can scare up for
breakfast. I suppose there's no getting into the house, so we'll have
to depend on ourselves." But here Kent noticed how particularly quiet
Old Tilly was.

"What's up, lad?" he said, as he plunged his face down into one of the
dripping pails, and then after scrubbing and sputtering for a while he
reached out blindly for a, towel, which one of the others tossed into
his hands. When his eyes were free, he drew a long breath, saying,
"Water fixes a fellow all right." But as he did this he noticed
something that made him exclaim sharply. It was the sight of Old Tilly