“If it had been Abijah or Silas, I know I could never have forgiven him for getting in the berry patch,” she said, “but there is something promising about Frank.”
“Wonder if I turned out that stove,” Mrs. Gorham said thoughtfully. “Seems like I smell something. Tommy,” she called raising her voice, “will you see if I turned out that fire under the syrup? I smell smoke.”
“OK,” called Tommy.
He got up slowly from his seat on the back steps and sauntered into the kitchen. The minute he walked in there poured out a spurt of flame and smoke from the woodwork behind the stove, and Tommy slammed the kitchen door and ran for a pail.
It seemed incredible how fast the flames spread. Summoned by his outcry, the girls opened the door leading into the kitchen from the dining room and quickly shut it again when they saw the flames. Tommy and Jack pulled the garden hose around to the back door and played the stream of water on the fire.
Mrs. Gorham made straight for the telephone, calling up the Judge, and two or three of the nearest neighbors for help. The Peckham boys from the sawmill were the first to respond, and five minutes later Matt was on the spot, having seen the rising smoke and flare in the sky from Maple Grove, Becky’s old home.
“You’ll never save the place,” old Mr. Peckham told them flatly. “Everything is dry as tinder and the water pressure is low. Better start carrying things out, girls, because the best we can do is to keep the roofs wet down and try to save the barn.”
While the fire was confined to the kitchen, the two older Peckham boys set to work upstairs, under Jean’s direction. Kit had made for her father’s room the first thing. When Jean opened the door she found her piling the contents of the desk and chest of drawers helter-skelter into blankets.
“It’s OK, Jean,” she called. “I’m not missing a thing. You tie the corners up and have the boys carry these downstairs and bring back the clothes basket and a couple of tubs for the books. Tell Doris to take the cat out of here.”
“All right,” answered Jean. “And Mrs. Gorham is getting all of the preserves out of the cellar, and Mr. Peckham says he’s sure they’ll save the piano and most of the best furniture, but, golly, Kit, just think of how Mom and Dad will feel when they see the flames in the sky, and know it’s Woodhow burning.”