I knew the first speaker's statement was true enough. One and all would have freely risked their lives to assist even a stranger who had dealt fairly with them; but they were stubborn men, unused to oppression, and recent events had roused all the slow vindictiveness that lurked within them. I felt very much as they did; but, remembering something, I was not quite certain that the teams were out of the stable, and the dumb beasts had served me well. Before I could speak a police trooper came up at a gallop. "Hallo! What are you gaping at? Can't you stir around and pull anything clear of harm's way, boys?" he shouted.
"We're not a Montreal fire brigade, and I forgot my big helmet," said one.
"Not a stir," interjected another.
"We'd pull the very sod up off the corral if you'd run Lane in for wholesale robbery," added a third; and it was not until the hoarse laugh which followed died away that I found my opportunity.
"I'm afraid the horses are inside there, boys," I said. "It's not their fault they belong to Lane, and whether you come along or not, I'm going to liberate them."
There was a change in a moment. I never saw even the most unfortunate settler ill-use his beast, though all young plow oxen and half-broken broncos, besides a good many old ones, are sufficiently exasperating. "Ormesby's talking now," said somebody; and there was an approving chorus. "Get the poor brutes clear, anyway. Coming right along!" Then I started for the stable at a run, with the rest of the company hard behind me.
Thick smoke rolled between us and the door, and when we halted just clear of the worst of it a bright blaze shot up from the thatch. The heat scorched our faces, and one or two fell back with heads averted; but the sound of a confused trampling reached us from the building. "We've got to get in before the poor brutes are roasted, and do it mighty smartly," said somebody.
That at least was evident; but the question how it was to be accomplished remained, for I recoiled, blinded and choking, at the first attempt, before I even reached the door. I had framed it, with my own hands, of stout tenoned logs, so that it would fit tightly to keep out the frost. One of the posts loosened by the fire had settled, apparently since the last person entered the building. Another man went with me the second time, but though we managed to reach the handle the door remained immovable, and once more we reeled back beaten, when a strip of blazing thatch fell almost on our heads. Because the roof fed it, the fire was mostly on the outside of the building.
"Solid as a rock," gasped my companion. "Say, somebody find a lariat and we'll heave her out by the roots."
A rope was found and with difficulty hitched about the handle, after which a dozen strong men grasped the slack of it. A glance at their faces, illumined by the glare, showed that the thought of the suffering beasts had roused them, and they were in earnest now. There was a heave of brawny shoulders, a straining of sinewy limbs, and the line of bodies swayed backwards as one, when a voice rose: "All together! Heave your best!"