“We wondered at these proceedings, but the mystery soon cleared up; the sapling bent back, touching the ground, then sprang forward with elastic violence, and from its branches, like a meteor, darted a glancing, hissing brand, lodging on our frail roof with an ominous thud. In unison came a joyful shout from the villains, who made a rush for the door.”
“My word, you were hardly pressed,” exclaimed Wrench.
“Ah, it’s nothing to what followed. It was a smartish piece of business—take it altogether.
“Pell-mell, firing, &c., on rushed that mass of brutal, drunken strength, thirsting for the lives of us two men. A well-timed volley drove them back, less by four; but on the forest-edge stood the horse-thief, exultingly pointing to the blazing roof.
“The solar rays of noon, the roof in a whirlwind of flame, and the dense smoke made the house a suffocating oven; hot cinders fell upon us, and the floor below in perilous proximity to the powder; glowing coals fell upon our bare breasts, and put us in momentary agony.
“Death stood at our shoulders, and Hope did not accompany him. Seconds now were priceless.
“We dashed down the ladder as a heavy beam fell from the roof, and left the loft open to the shots of the enemy. Quickly the boss pulled up a trap from the floor, pushed me down, sprang in himself, and shut and bolted it.
“The rapid tramp of feet overhead teld our escape was none too soon; we heard the reckless fiends tearing away the barricades, shouting in expectant revenge.
“I followed the boss along a narrow, low, excavated passage, till coming into a sort of cellar, which he said was the storage place for the spirits, he exclaimed, hoarsely—
“‘Take this pick, and dig for your life, through the wall, upward; after bursting the spirit-barrel, I will do the same.’”