now with awe,
towards the high flames.

The man who had information was at his best. In low tones he described
the whole affair. "That was the kid's room--in the corner there. He
had measles or somethin', and this coon--Johnson--was a-settin' up
with 'im, and Johnson got sleepy or somethin' and upset the lamp, and
the doctor he was down in his office, and he came running up, and they
all got burned together till they dragged 'em out."

Another man, always preserved for the deliverance of the final
judgment, was saying: "Oh, they'll die sure. Burned to flinders. No
chance. Hull lot of 'em. Anybody can see." The crowd concentrated its
gaze still more closely upon these flags of fire which waved joyfully
against the black sky. The bells of the town were clashing
unceasingly.

A little procession moved across the lawn and towards the street.
There were three cots, borne by twelve of the firemen. The police
moved sternly, but it needed no effort of theirs to open a lane for
this slow cortege. The men who bore the cots were well known to the
crowd, but in this solemn parade during the ringing of the bells and
the shouting, and with the red glare upon the sky, they seemed utterly
foreign, and Whilomville paid them a deep respect. Each man in this
stretcher party had gained a reflected majesty. They were footmen to
death, and the crowd made subtle obeisance to this august dignity
derived from three prospective graves. One woman turned away with a
shriek at sight of the covered body on the first stretcher, and people
faced her suddenly in silent and mournful indignation. Otherwise there
was barely a sound as these twelve important men with measured tread
carried their burdens through the throng.

The little boys no longer discussed the merits of the different fire
companies. For the greater part they had been routed. Only the more
courageous viewed closely the three figures veiled in yellow blankets.

X

Old Judge Denning Hagenthorpe, who lived nearly opposite the
Trescotts, had thrown his door wide open to receive the afflicted
family. When it was publicly learned that the doctor and his son and
the negro were still alive, it required a specially detailed policeman
to prevent people from scaling the front porch and interviewing these
sorely wounded. One old lady appeared with a miraculous poultice, and
she quoted most damning Scripture to the officer when he said that she
could not pass him. Throughout the night som