The Adventures of Joel Pepper

  XXIV

  HOW JOEL STARTED THE FIRE

  "Now," said Polly, to the old stove, "just remember how youacted that day when Mamsie made Mrs. Brown's jelly!" She wasstanding in front of it, and she drew herself up very straight."You ought to be ashamed, you naughty thing, you! to make suchtrouble. Now I've stuffed you up all good and nice in the holes,and when I come home I'll build a fresh fire, and then, says I,you've got to bake a whole batch of bread just as nice!" andPolly shook her brown head very decidedly, and whirled off tothe bedroom door. "Come, Phronsie," she called, "hurry up, Pet.O dear me!" Phronsie still sat on the floor by the big bureau,with one red-topped shoe in her hand, and patting it.

  "The other one is on, Polly," said Phronsie, as she saw Polly'sface; "truly it is," and she stuck one foot out.

  "I sh'd think it was," laughed Polly; "every button is in thewrong button-hole, Phronsie."

  Phronsie looked at the little shoe very gravely, then her lipquivered.

  "Deary me, that's no matter," exclaimed Polly. "We'll have thatall right in a twinkling." So she sat down on the floor, andtook Phronsie's foot in her lap, and unbuttoned and buttoned upthe shoe. "There now, that's done as spick-span as can be."

  "What is 'spick-span,' Polly?" said Phronsie.

  "Oh, nice--just right. Dear me, it means ever so many things,"said Polly, with a little laugh. "Now then, let's have the othershoe on," and she held out her hand for it.

  "Let me put it on," cried Phronsie, and drawing it back in alarm;"let me, Polly, oh, I want to put it on my very own self, I do!"

  "Well, so you shall," promised Polly, "if you'll hurry, for youknow I've got to bake my bread when I get back."

  "Isn't there any bread?" asked Phronsie, drawing on the littleshoe, and pausing, lost in thought, when it was half on.

  "Yes, just enough to last till I get the new loaves baked," saidPolly, longing to give the shoe a twitch and expedite matters;"that is, I think so. I never know how much Joel will eat."

  "O dear me!" exclaimed Phronsie, much troubled.

  "See here now, Pet," cried Polly, decidedly, "if you don't pullon that shoe quickly, I shall have to do it, for we must start--"which had the effect to make the little red-topped shoe slip onto Phronsie's fat foot in a trice.

  "Now then, we're ready," said Polly at last, tying on Phronsie'spink sunbonnet. "Come, Phronsie," and she took her hand. "Joel,"she called, as they went out the doorway, "where are you?"

  "Here," said Joel, thrusting his head down the loft stairs,where he had heard every word that Polly had said to the oldstove.

  "Now you and Davie must look after the little brown house," saidPolly, feeling very grown up and important, "and be good boyswhile we're gone down to the store after the bundle of sacks Mr.Atkins has got for Mamsie."

  "Yes," said Joel, "we will, Polly."

  So Polly ran over the stairs and kissed Joel and little Davie,who crowded up for one also, and then Phronsie had to comeup to be kissed too.

  "What are you two boys doing?" asked Polly.

  "Nothin'," said Joel.

  David was silently digging his toes back and forth on the floor.

  "Well, you better come right down and play in the kitchen," saidPolly, "then you can look after things;" and she helped Phronsiedownstairs and took her hand, and they walked down the path andoff on to the road in a very dignified way, for Polly loved tobe fine, and it was always a gala occasion when she could dressPhronsie up neat and nice, for a walk to the store.

  "I very much wish we had a parasol," sighed Polly, who nevercould get over the longing for one, ever since she saw MissPettingill's green sunshade, with waving fringe, that shecarried to church; "but then, I don't suppose I'll ever getone," and she sighed again.

  "It's nice to be walking down to the store, Polly," observedPhronsie, peering up at her from the depths of the pinksunbonnet, and smoothing her pink calico gown down in front.

  "So it is, Chick," said Polly, with a merry laugh. "I don'tb'lieve anybody ever had such perfectly good times as we do, inall this world."

  "No, I don't b'lieve they ever did," said Phronsie, shaking heryellow head, delighted to see Polly gay once more. So theywalked on quite contentedly.

  Meanwhile, Joel turned to Davie up in the loft. "We'll keep thecrickets in the box," he said, "till by'n by, an' go down,'cause Polly said so. And I'm goin' to help her; you'll see."With these mysterious words he shoved a tin box half full ofhopping black crickets under the bed, saying, "There, thecover's on. Come on, Dave," and scrambled down the stairs to thekitchen.

  Little David went down more slowly, as if something were on hismind. When he reached the kitchen, Joel was standing in front ofthe stove, a pile of paper was down on the floor at his feet,and he had a match in his hand. Davie stared at him in amazement.

  "I'm going to help Polly," declared Joel, loudly, holding hismatch quite fast with one hand, while he twitched off one of thecovers, with the lifter.

  "Oh, Joe, you aren't going to make a fire?" cried little David,horror-stricken, and rooted to the spot.

  "Of course I am," declared Joel, boldly. "I heard Polly talkingto the old stove just before she went away, and she's got tobake bread when she gets home, an' it's all right, an' she'll beso glad to see it ready for her." All the time he was talking hewas stuffing the paper into the stove; then he ran into thewoodshed, bringing out some kindlings. "We've got to fill thewood box, Dave," he said, to make talk and divert David's mind;and he crammed the wood in after the paper, till there wasn'tmuch room left.

  "You ought not to do it, Joe. O dear me, do stop," imploredDavid, clasping his hands.

  "I'm big enough," declared Joel, strutting around and pulling atthe things that Polly said were dampers--though why they shouldbe damp, when there was a fire in the stove every day, he nevercould see. "And when Polly sees that I can make it as good's shecan, she'll let me do it every day. Yes, sir-_ree!_" Withthat he drew the match, and held it to an end of the paper,sticking up. And forgetting to put back the cover, he raced offto the wood, shed again for another armful of kindling.

  _"Joel!"_ screamed David, left behind in the kitchen. "Come!Oh, we're afire! We're afire!"

  Joel dropped his kindlings and the heavier pieces of wood he hadgathered up, and went like a shot back to the stove again. Greattongues of flame were shooting up toward the dingy ceiling.

  "Why didn't you put the cover on?" cried he, terribly frightened,for he began to think, after all, perhaps it would be quite aswell to let Polly make the fire. "It'll be all right, I'll haveit on in a minute," suiting the action to the word, as he stuckthe lifter into the cover and advanced to the stove.

  "Oh, Joe, you'll be burnt up," cried David, in a dreadful voice,and wringing his hands.

  Joel made a dash, but the flames swirled out at him, so hebacked off.

  "You can't do it," screamed Davie; "don't try it, Joe, you'll beall burnt up."

  When Davie said that he couldn't do it, Joel made up his mindthat he would. Besides, the very thought of the little brownhouse taking fire turned him desperate with fright; so he made asecond dash, and somehow, he never could tell what made it,the cover slid on, and the flames muttered away to themselvesinside, in a smothered kind of way, and there they were, shut upas tight as could be.

  "'Twas just as easy as nothing," said Joel, drawing a longbreath, and beginning to strut up and down, still carrying thecover-lifter. "You're such a 'fraid-cat, Dave," he addedscornfully.

  David was beyond caring whether or no he was called a 'fraid-cat,being stiff with fright, so Joel strutted away to his heart'scontent. "Now I must put in more wood," he declared, and,twitching off the cover, he crammed the stove as full as itwould hold, on top of the blazing mass. Then he wiggled thedampers again, to suit him, paying particular attention to thelittle one in the pipe, then wiped his grimy hands, in greatsatisfaction, on his trousers.

  "You see 'tisn't anything to make a fire," he observed to David;"an I'm goin' to build it every single day, after this. Polly'llbe
so s'prised. Now come on, Dave, let's go an' play," andJoel gave a long and restful stretch.

  Little David, seeing the stove behaving so well, gave a sigh ofrelief, and coming slowly out of his fright, clattered afterJoel, and soon they were down back of the house, where they hadscooped out the ground, and filling it with water, had made whatthey called a pond. Here they now began to sail boats made outof bits of paper.

  "Hi--there--you!" shouted a harsh voice. Joel and David,absorbed in getting their boats across the pond without runninginto each other, didn't hear. "_Hi!_" yelled the voice again, "yourhouse is afire!"

  Joel lifted his black head and stared. "Come here, you!"screamed a man, jumping out of a wagon in the middle of the road,in front of the little brown house. He was big and redheaded,and he held a whip in his hand.

  This he shook frantically up toward the roof, screaming,_"Your house is afire!"_

  Sure enough. Great volumes of smoke came pouring out of thechimney, which wasn't any too good, and once in a while a tongueof flame would sweep out, licking the sides of the bricks,as much as to say, "You can't shut me up entirely, you see." Oh,how merrily they danced!

  "''TWAS JUST AS EASY AS NOTHING,' SAID JOEL"]

  "Get a bucket. Step lively, if you want to save your house!"roared the man at Joel, who took one good look at the chimney,then sprang for Mamsie's pail. "Get something, Dave," hescreamed, "and bring some water."

  Now that the fire had really come, David, strange to say, feltall his fright dropping from him. It was as if Mamsie said,"Save the little brown house, dears," and he rushed on the wingsof the wind over down across the lane, and helped himself toGrandma Bascom's big bucket, always standing on a bench besideher kitchen door. And, with it almost full of water, he soonstood by the big red-headed man's side.

  "You're a likely-headed pair o' chaps," said the man, as Joeldashed up with his pail, which he hadn't been able to find atonce, as Mamsie had put some cloth she was going to bleach intoit, and set it in the woodshed. "Now, then, I must climb theroof, an' you two boys must keep a-handin' up th' water as smartas you can."

  "Oh, I'm goin' up on the roof," cried Joel, and springing up thegutter-pipe.

  "Do ye think ye kin?" asked the man. But Joel was alreadyhalfway up. And presently the first pail of water was handed up,and splash it went on the flames, by this time coming out verylively at the chimney-top. But it didn't seem to do any good,only to sizzle and siss, for just as soon as a pailful of waterwas dashed on, out they popped again, as bright as ever. A boy,coming whistling down the road, stopped suddenly, took one look,and ran like lightning over across the fields on a short cut."Fire--_fire!_" he screamed, and pretty soon, by dint of jumpingstone walls and fences, he got into the street, at the end of whichstood Mr. Atkins' grocery store. "Fire--_fire!_" he bawled everystep of the way. "Where--where?" cried the people at the store,rushing to the door and craning their necks, as he flew by, intenton getting to the fire-engine house, so as to run back with the menwho dragged the machine by the ropes.

  "At the Pepperses little brown house," bawled the boy, plungingon.

  "Now, Polly," Mr. Atkins was just saying, when the boy's screamwas heard, "you tell your Ma she needn't hurry about these coats.I guess that paper'll cover 'em, if I put another knot in th' string.My land! what's that!--"

  "_Fire! Fire!_" the boy was bawling all along the street."It's the Pepperses little brown house."

  Somebody said, "Poor children." Others, "Don't let 'em hear,""Too late!" and various other things.

  "Come, Phronsie," said Polly, hoarsely, seizing the little fathand. Phronsie, who was regarding some very pink and whitesticks in a big candy jar on the shelf, tore her gaze away, andfollowed obediently as Polly pulled her along to the door.

  "Oh, Polly, you hurt me," she said in a grieved way.

  "Here, I'll take you," cried an old farmer with a long beardthat looked like a bunch of hay, and he seized Phronsie and sether in his big wagon. Polly hopped in beside. "Don't be scart.We'll all go down and help," screamed a half dozen voices afterher. Rattle--rattle--clang came the fire-engine, the boy who hadbrought the news having secured one of the most important placesat one of the long ropes. And away they went, the processiongaining in length and strength at each step, till it seemed asif all Badgertown were on the road and bound for the littlebrown house.

  The big red-headed man had dashed up to the roof by the side ofJoel. "You better go down and hand water," he said, "an' bringthe axe, we may have to cut away th' ruf." Joel, knowing it wasworse than useless to disobey, slid down, and got the axe first,to have it ready--oh, dreadful thought!--to cut the little brownhouse with; and then the two buckets, as full as they could belifted, went up, and came down empty. Up and down. Up and down.

  "Here come th' folks," yelled the man on the roof. "Now we'reall right. Don't you be scart, boys, th' fire-engine's comin'."

  None too soon! A little fork of flame was just beginning to popits head out between the shingles close to the chimney, as if tosay, "You really needn't think you are going to keep us shutup." Up clattered the fire-engine with a dreadful noise into theback yard, which suddenly seemed to be full of people of allsizes. Joel, when he saw the firemen on hand, sprang for the roofagain. This time he staggered up with his bucket of water.

  "Oh, Joel!" He looked down and saw, as well as he could, forsomething seemed to be the matter with his eyes, Polly's face.Now that the danger was all over, for of course the fire-engineand all those people would save the little brown house, Pollywas the last person whom Joel really wanted to see. And hebusied himself in helping to haul up the water-buckets, that nowcame up pretty lively as the boys filled them and handed them tothe firemen.

  "You'd better get down," said more than one fireman. The roofnow seemed to swarm with them.

  "I ain't goin' to," said Joel, obstinately, reaching out foranother bucket; "it's our house, so there!"

  "Let him alone," said the big red-headed man, "he'll work assmart as any two of ye men. If it hadn't 'a' been for him andthat one there," pointing with a grimy thumb to David on theground, still patiently getting water and handing up his bucket,"we'd 'a' been all burnt up, by this time."

  Joel's face got fiery red, all through the smut and grime. "If ithadn't been for me!" and down went his black head. "Would Mamsieand Polly ever, ever forgive him?"

  "Oh, Joel," screamed Polly from the ground, looking at himpiteously, "do come down, dear!" But he really didn't hear now.It seemed to him if he didn't work to the very last, he couldnever look Mamsie in the face again, so he was now on the otherside of the chimney, where the fire was the hottest.

  "It's an even chance, if we save it," Joel heard one of thefiremen say; "it's got in between the joints. See!"

  "Then we've got to cut just that spot," said the big red-headedman, who, by reason of being on hand first, was considered to bethe leader, and he swung his axe over his head. "Crash!" wentthe little brown roof. At the sound, Polly dragged Phronsie overto David's side.

  "Now, then, in with the water lively, boys, and splash her out,"cried the big red-headed man, who very much liked being a leader.And thereupon he stopped working, and set the others at it insuch a brisk fashion that the water ran down in perfect riversall over the roof, one or two of the streams soaking through, todrop into Ben's and Joel's and David's bedroom in the loft.

  "It's out! It's out!" bawled some of the firemen on the roof tothe men and boys. "You don't need to send up any more water."

  "Look behind you!" screamed the boy who had first discovered thefire. He seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, and thefiremen, whirling around, saw a little tongue of flame shootingdeterminedly up. It had run along underneath the shingles andhopped at the first chance it could get. So the buckets of waterhad to keep on flying up, to come down and be filled. Up anddown, up and down, till Polly sank on the grass, unable to bearit another bit longer. "Oh, if I weren't a girl," she moanedpassionately, "then I could be up there, and I know I'd save thelittle brown house. Oh, M
amsie! Mamsie!"

  "Don't fret, Polly," said a good woman living in the village,--forby this time a long procession of men, women, and childrenhad hurried in, crowding and jamming into the yard,--"ef itburns down, you shall all come to our house an' stay a spell,till you get another one."

  "Don't," cried Polly, passionately, and shrinking off; "we can'tlive, if the little brown house goes. Oh, Mamsie! Mamsie!" andshe sobbed as if her heart would break, and covered her facewith her hands.

  "Don't cry, Polly," and Phronsie's little hand crept softly upto her neck. But Polly couldn't stop. If there had been anythingfor her to do, she would have kept up, but to sit there and seethe little brown house burn up, and know because she was a girlthere was no place for her on the roof--why, there she was,sobbing as if her heart would break, and Phronsie clingingpiteously to her neck.

  A ringing shout struck upon her ear. "It's coming!" shiveredPolly; "the roof's tumbling in!" and she hid her face lower yet.Wouldn't God stop the dreadful fire ever yet. He must, forMamsie said He loved to help all His children. And--

  "Hooray, Polly!" called Joel in her ear, putting a very blackface up close to her pale one. "Don't you understand? It's allout. It is, truly, this time, every single squinchin' bit."

  But Polly didn't understand, and they laid her back on the grass,and one woman said, "Get a pamleaf fan," and another cried,"Get th' water in that pail there," pointing to one not used, on thegrass. And everybody got in everybody else's way, and crowdedaround her, and the water was dashed over her face till she wasin a little pool of it, and still she didn't open her eyes. AndPhronsie wailed and clung to her, getting as wet, so a thinwoman remarked, "as a drownded rat," and David was on the otherside, nearly as bad. As for Joel, he rushed up and down,completely gone with fright. After all his brave fight, to havePolly give out was something so very dreadful he couldn't thinkof it.

  "Here comes Mrs. Pepper," said somebody, and, "Thank the Lord,"said another, and down the road in the doctor's gig, the littledoctor driving like mad, came Mamsie. They helped her out, andshe was in the yard, never looking at the little brown house;for her black eyes were searching among the crowd, and her whitelips tried to frame some words.

  "All safe, Marm," sang out the big redheaded man; "and you'vegot some smart chaps," thinking he'd give all the comfort, andat once, that was in his power.

  "Polly ain't just well," spoke up somebody, sympathetically, andin a minute Mamsie was down on the grass, with Polly's head inher lap, the other children swarming around her, and Dr. Fisherin the midst.

  "Oh, I'm so ashamed," gasped Polly, coming to, and hiding herface on Mrs. Pepper's breast.

  "Don't you feel badly, Polly child," said Mamsie, smoothing herbrown hair gently; "you're all tired out. The little brown houseis all safe--just think of that!"

  Polly thrust up her head and took one look. "Mamsie," shewhispered, holding to Mrs. Pepper's neck convulsively, "God didstop the dreadful fire, didn't He?"

  "He surely did," said Mrs. Pepper, looking around on all herlittle group. The neighbors and townspeople, the firemen and thecrowd, stole silently off and left them there, but Dr. Fisherstayed.

  Suddenly Joel was missing. "Where is he?" asked Mrs. Pepper, afresh alarm gathering on her face.

  "P'r'aps he's gone with the engine," piped up the boy who haddiscovered the fire, and who seemed to think it his duty towatch that it didn't break out again.

  "Oh, no, Joel wouldn't do that," said Mrs. Pepper.

  "I'll find him," said little Dr. Fisher, who had his own viewsabout Joel, after closely regarding his singed eyebrows andblack face; "lucky enough if he doesn't need considerablepatching up," he muttered to himself, as he strode off toreconnoitre.

  "There's no use in your hiding," he said aloud, as if talking tosome one. "So you might as well come out at once, and let meknow where you're hurt, Joe, and I'll fix you before your mothersees you."

  "I ain't hurt," said a voice from the lilac bushes.

  "Oh, you are not?" said the little doctor, opening the bushes topeer within, his spectacles setting well down on the end of hisnose, so that he looked over them. "That's good," and he soonhad Joel out. "Now then, I'll fix you up as good as ever," andhe rummaged his ample pockets for the things he had thrust intothem for this very work.

  "I ain't hurt," said Joel, wriggling furiously.

  "Stand still, Joe," said the little doctor, coolly, "for I'mgoing to patch you up, so that you're decent to see your mother.Aren't you ashamed to get this way when Polly, poor brave girl,has been so sick? Why, what's the matter with you!" suddenlygiving Joel a whirl, so that he could look in his face.

  Joel's face was working frightfully. "I 'most--burnt--the littlebrown house--up," he gasped. "I made a fire in--the stove!"