"Beat it, Lizzie, beat it! Beat it!" he shouted above the noise of the
pouring waters. But Betty, white with horror, seemed to have frozen to
the spot. She could not have moved if she had tried, and her brain
refused to order her to try. She felt as if the end of everything had
come and she were paralyzed.

Down the street with dash and flourish, licking up excitement like a
good meal, dashed the gang, the fire chief ostentatiously arraying
himself in rubber coat and helmet as he stood on the side of the engine,
while the hysterical little engine bell banged away, blending with the
sound of the bell of the incoming train at the station. Bi, with his
mouth stretched wide, and one foot holding him for the train while the
other urged toward the fire and excitement, vibrated on the platform, a
wild figure of uncertainty. Where Duty and Inclination both called,
Cupidity still had the upper hand.

For once Bi did not have to act a part as he stood watching the three
travelers descend from the train. The excitement in his face was real
and his gestures were quite natural, even the ones made by his one and
only long waving top-lock of gray hair that escaped all bounds as his
hat blew off with the suction of the train. Bi rushed up to the three
men wildly:

"Say, was you goin' down to Carson's house after that Hope girl?" he
demanded loudly.

The three men surveyed him coldly, and the young one gave him a decided
shove:

"That will do, my friend," he said firmly. "We don't need any of your
assistance."

"But I got a line on this thing you'll want to know," he insisted,
hurrying alongside. "There's a guy down there in a car goin' to take her
away. He ain't been gone long, but you won't find her 'thout my help.
He's goin' to take her to a insane institution. I let on I was helpin'
him an' I found out all about it."

"What's all this?" said Reyburn, wheeling about and fixing the old
fellow with a muscular young shake that made his toothless jaws chatter.
"How long ago did he go? What kind of a looking man was he?"

"Lemme go!" whined Bi, playing to make time, one cunning eye down the
road. "I ain't as young as I used to be, an' I can't stand gettin'
excited. I got a rig here a purpose, an' I'll take you all right down,
an' then ef he's gone, an' I s'pose he must be, 'cause your train was
late, why, we'll foller."

"Well, quick, then!" said Reyburn, climbing into the shackley spring
wagon that Bi indicated, the only veh