"Oh, Tommy," screamed Alice, "what shall we do? We have set the house on fire!"
"No, we haven't," replied her brother; "it is dying down a little now. Open the windows and let out some of this smoke."
Alice opened the windows, and when the roaring had ceased, and the chips had burned to ashes, the two children sat down and looked at each other. Neither one could speak a word.
Mrs. Taylor came in just then, and when Alice saw her she burst into tears.
"What is the matter?" questioned her mother, sitting down and taking the child in her arms; but Alice could only sob that they almost set the house on fire.
"It was all my fault," spoke up Tommy. "I got some wet chips to build the fire, because I was too lazy to climb over the woodpile and get some dry ones. Then when they wouldn't burn I told Alice to pour on kerosene."
Mrs. Taylor put her arm around Tommy and drew him to her side. "My son," she said, "it was your fault that the chips were wet; but it was ten times my fault that you poured kerosene on the fire. If it has taught you a lesson, it has taught me one, too. I shall never use kerosene again to light a fire. It is a very dangerous thing to do.
"We often read in the paper of serious fires that have been caused in just such a way, sometimes even with a loss of life. Promise me now that you will never pour another drop of kerosene into the stove as long as you live, and I will give you my promise, too. Now let's all build the fire, together."
So Tommy ran cheerfully out to the shed and brought in a big basketful of dry chips, Alice crumpled up the paper, her mother lighted the match, and in a few minutes the kitchen fire was blazing merrily.
Why did Tommy bring in the wet chips?
Why did not the fire burn well at first?
What did Tommy suggest using? Why? What happened?
What might have happened if the kerosene can had been full?
What is the proper use of kerosene?