They had now reached the brow of the hill above the Forge, and had an uninterrupted view of the fire. A single glance showed that all the mills were doomed, and that the firemen would have all that they could do to keep the flames confined to the mill yard. It would have been a grand sight were it not for the devastation and ruin it brought. The mill yard contained about an acre, and taking all the buildings within its precincts, they numbered twenty. Every one of these was on fire, and the yard had the appearance of one solid mass of flames, which leaped into the air, as though defying the dark clouds that hung over, and threatened soon to drench them. The sombre background reflected the rays, so that for a long distance around the smallest object was plainly visible.
"It is just terrible, isn't it, boys?" asked a voice behind them, and they turned around to see Mr. Carleton. "I don't think I ever saw a fire that seemed so greedy, so eager to devour everything before it as this," he continued; "were you going down nearer?"
"Yes, sir," replied both lads, and they accompanied him down the hill, Edward meanwhile explaining how Ray had discovered the fire, and given the alarm.
"There can be little doubt that the fire is an incendiary one, and probably was instigated by the strikers," Mr. Carleton remarked. "When will men learn that they cannot make wrong right, nor help on their own interest by violence? The loss is going to be a terrible one." Then, more softly, as though to himself, "I wonder if even this wrath of man shall praise HIM?"
They found on reaching the foot of the hill that ropes had been stretched across every street leading up to the burning mills, and that policemen were holding the vast crowd back from a nearer approach; so they stood there for some time watching the firemen as they heroically fought back the advancing flames, until a sudden and providential change of the wind revealed that the tenement houses would all be saved.
Mr. Bacon found them here, and questioned Ray more particularly as to his discovering the fire. The lad told his story freely, omitting only that he knew who the incendiaries were; and when he had finished, Mr. Bacon asked:
"You saw nothing of Jones, our watchman, then, and he in no way gave the alarm?"
"No, sir," replied Ray; "and I didn't even think of him until Edward spoke of it. It is strange."
"It is, indeed," said Mr. Bacon. "I got the firemen to look around the mill yard, but they could find no traces of him. I fear he has perished in the flames."
"There's a light in his house up yonder on the hill—shan't I go up there and see if he's there?" asked a small boy who stood by.