"The door is locked! Run for the back door! There are children in the house, and they will be smothered in the smoke if we don't do something quick," gasped Ash, out of breath with his efforts.
They reached the back door, and that also was fastened. The woodpile, what there was of it, was close to this entrance. Of the half-dozen sticks that remained, there was one at least six inches in diameter. Ash and Sam seized this, and butted with it a few times against the back door. It was an ill-fitting and poorly constructed affair, like all the rest of the house, and it readily yielded to the vigorous blows of the assailants.
Ash rushed into the house, and made his way to the front room, where he had seen the smoke issuing from the window. There he found a child of seven, with another not more than four. The older was a girl, and her dress was on fire, as was the side of the room nearest to the fireplace, for there was no stove. Sam and the others were close behind him, and discovered the terrible peril of the child almost as soon as he did.
"Lay her down on the floor!" shouted Ash, as he sprang to the bed in the room.
He took the comforter from it, for he found no blanket, and rushed to the child. He was wrapping the girl in it when he saw that the flames had caught in the cotton which projected from the ragged holes in it. It began to blaze, and he cast it aside. A piece of old carpet was spread before the fire, and he hastened to wrap the child in that. It was too small to cover the sufferer; but Ash and Sam fought the fire with their hands, and in a moment had extinguished the flame.
Hop Cabright brought a bucket of water he found in the back room, and the contents were poured over the child. The smaller child's clothes had not taken fire, and she was not injured. But both of them continued to scream even after the fire on the older was extinguished.
"Don't cry any more, little girl," said Ash, in a tender tone, as he proceeded to look at her and see how much she was burned.
"The house is on fire, Ash, and we must put it out!" cried Sam, as he took the smaller child, and rushed out doors with it.
