efore the heat drove her away.
Through this opening several of the poor fowls escaped; but most of
them were miserably roasted, feathers and all.

This was the last effort of the fire in this direction, for the portion
of it that met the cleared spaces, new furrows, and back-fires, soon
subsided for want of fuel; while beyond the fields it swept away to the
northward, bearing death and destruction in its course.

While most of the men had been engaged in saving the house and its
adjoining fences, a small party, under the direction of Mr. March, had
guarded the mill. They, however, had little to do save watch for flying
embers, it was so well protected by its pond on one side and the river
on the other.

By sunrise all danger had passed, and heartily thanking the kind
friends who had come so readily to his assistance, Mr. Elmer dismissed
them to their homes.

It took several days to recover from the effects of the great fire, and
to restore things to their former neat condition; but Mr. Elmer said
that, even if they had suffered more than they did, it would have been
a valuable lesson to them, and one for which they could well afford to
pay.

Soon after this Mr. Elmer decided to go to Tallahassee again to make a
purchase of cattle; for, with thousands of acres of free pasturage all
around them, it seemed a pity not to take advantage of it. Therefore he
determined to experiment in a small way with stock-raising, and see if
he could not make it pay. This time he took Mark with him, and instead
of going down the river to St. Mark's to take the train, they crossed
on the ferry, and had Jan drive them in the mule wagon four miles
across country to the railroad. On their way they came to a fork in the
road, and not knowing which branch to take, waited until they could ask
a little colored girl whom they saw approaching. She said, "Dis yere
humpety road'll take yo' to Misto Gilcriseses' plantation, an' den yo'
turn to de right ober de trabblin' road twel yo' come to Brer Steve's
farm, an' thar yo' be."

"Father, what is the difference between a plantation and a farm?" asked
Mark, as they journeyed along over the "humpety" road.

"As near as I can find out," said Mr. Elmer, "the only difference is
that one is owned by a white, and the other by a colored man."

They found "Brer Steve's" house without any difficulty, and, sure
enough, there they were, as the little girl had said they would be; for
"Brer Steve" lived clos