CHAPTER XX
FIRE AND FLAME
Long after the others had left her Martine sat alone. She was restlessand wide-awake, and any one looking at her would have seen that her facewas far less cheerful than usual. Her thoughts, indeed, were disturbed,and one or two tears fell as she held her mother's portrait before herand looked earnestly into the deep blue eyes.
The portrait was a miniature, painted in the days when her mother wasalmost as young in appearance as Martine herself, though in fact she hadbeen married for several years. The young girl especially valued itbecause she could remember perfectly when her mother had been very likethe lady in the picture, and also because this miniature had not beencopied. It was too valuable a thing for Martine to carry with her whentravelling.
Mrs. Blair's letter, with its mention of her mother's poor health, hadstirred her deeply. She had concealed her feelings in the presence ofMrs. Redmond and the girls; or rather, for the moment she had been moreimpressed by the suggestion that came to her, through Mrs. Blair'ssignature, of a connection between her family and the Airtons. Now,however, she began to dwell on the significance of the news fromCarlsbad, and the conclusion was hard to set aside that her mother'scondition was even worse than her father's brief letters had given herto understand. Putting away the miniature with a sigh, she drew the lasttwo letters from the portfolio, reading and re-reading them in a vaineffort to decide whether her father had written briefly merely toconceal his feelings.
"It's strange that men always write so little in a letter. Though papawould always rather telegraph than write, still, when he does write, I_do_ think that he might say something. Now if it were mamma, why, shewould tell me everything;" and upon this, with the knowledge that itmight be long before her mother could write to her, Martine burst intotears. As she tossed the letters aside Martine threw herself on her bed,and then--
How long she had lain there she did not know, although rising with astart, she realized that she had fallen asleep, and almost as quicklyshe perceived a strong smell of smoke in the room.
Opening her door, she turned toward the ell where Mrs. Redmond and thetwo girls had their rooms. The smell of smoke was stronger there, and inthe darkness some one brushed against her, crying, "The house must be onfire." With a leap Martine reached the top floor where her friends were.Mrs. Redmond's door opened to her knock, and then she rapped loudly onthe door of the room that Amy and Priscilla occupied together.
"Fire, fire!" she called, and in a moment Mrs. Redmond's voice was addedto hers.
"Open the door, Amy; don't wait to dress. Come, come, don't youunderstand? The house is on fire."
"Yes, yes, we are dressing."
"Unlock the door; I can help bring out some of your things."
The hall was thick with smoke. Mrs. Redmond and Martine knew that thefire was near. Amy's voice was heard from the room--or was itAmy?--speaking almost in terror, "I cannot open the door; I have mislaidthe key."
"Why did you take it from the lock? Oh, Amy!"
Mrs. Redmond uttered no further reproof now. It was a time for action."Martine," she cried, "we must go for help." But Martine made no reply.Already she was far on her way downstairs. All the people in the housewere now evidently aware of the fire. Doors were slamming, and she heardsteps and voices ahead of her. In spite of her difficulty in making herway through the thick smoke, Martine soon found herself near the broadfront door. Here two or three men were standing.
"Please help me quickly," cried Martine, breathlessly; "my friends arein a room in the wing, and cannot open the door. Come, I will show you."
Leading the way, Martine was soon at Amy's door again. She could see noone, for there were no lights in the hall, but she recognized Mrs.Redmond's voice.
"I found a pair of large scissors in my valise; perhaps with them thelock can be pried open."
One of the men who had come with Martine was already pounding on thepanels of the door to learn where it could most easily be broken in.After one ineffectual effort to pry open the lock, the other one hadthrown down the scissors that Mrs. Redmond had handed him. Both of thesethings had occupied seconds rather than minutes,--seconds that seemedhours to Martine and Mrs. Redmond,--and then, before further violencehad been done to the door, there was a click, a turn of the lock, andAmy and Priscilla stood before the four others. Their appearance showedthat they had indeed dressed hastily, but they made no apologies as theyhurried on.
When they reached the street Mrs. Redmond drew a breath of relief. "Oh,Amy," she cried, "how could you be so careless?"
"I took the key from the door absent-mindedly, and had set mytravelling-bag on it. I'm thankful enough that I found it, for the doormight have been hard to break in."
"Look, look!" cried Priscilla, excitedly. "We are out none too soon."
As she spoke flames were bursting from the wing of the house that theyhad so lately left, and men and women were pouring in and out of themain building, removing furniture, pictures, and clothes.
"Let me count you," cried Mrs. Redmond. "I am not sure--"
"It's Martine, mamma,--she is not with us. Where did she go?"
"After one ineffectual effort to pry open the lock, the other one had thrown down the scissors."]
"Perhaps she has gone back to her room for her things. She had lefteverything behind when she came to rouse us."
"Impossible! She would not be so foolish. The fire is close to her room.Here are the engines. Why were they so long in coming?"
"Where is Martine? We must find her."
"No, no, Amy," and Mrs. Redmond laid her hand on her daughter's arm.
"But, mother, if she had not called us--"
"Yes, if she had not called us we might be in there now. She did notthink of herself, and now she has gone to her room for some of herthings."
"Her diamond perhaps;" and then, as if ashamed of her words, Priscillaadded, "But I can help Amy, Mrs. Redmond. You cannot hurry as we must."
As Mrs. Redmond watched Amy and Priscilla running into the house shewished she had gone with them. Uncertainty was harder to bear than anyeffort she might have made. Her suspense, however, was not long, for toher relief she heard Amy's voice.
"Here's Martine, mamma. We had barely time to reach her. Look, look!"
This latter exclamation was called forth by the rapid spread of theflames. It was a beautiful sight--beautiful yet terrible to those who solately had been within the walls that now seemed to be melting in theheat. Yet even as they gazed Martine began to laugh hysterically. "Youlook so--so queer--Priss--Prissie," she cried, and again she laughed.The light from the fire enabled them to see one another plainly, and asthe others glanced at Priscilla they saw a black streak across herforehead that altogether changed her expression.
"It's a case where the pot can't call the kettle black," rejoined Amy;"your own complexion is not milk-white at the present moment, Martine."
"You are the only one who has her hair properly arranged, Miss Amy. Evenyour mother has a hasty coiffure, and no collar. Oh, Mrs. Redmond!" andagain Martine laughed nervously.
"It matters less how we look than how we feel. I wish that you, likePriscilla, had brought your coat, though I fear there is only one hatamong us."
"What a noise the engine makes! Can't we get away soon?"
"I hope so. If we only had a man with us we could send him off for acarriage. Even Fritz would be useful now."
From her mother's tone Amy could not judge whether or not she was inearnest, though in truth the same thought had come to her.
"After all," cried Martine, holding up her watch, "it is not half-pasteleven. I had begun to think that to-morrow had come. The flames are notso bright. I believe that the fire is dying down. It started in so wellthat I almost hoped that we'd see the house in ashes."
"Oh, Martine!"
"But nearly all the furniture has been saved, and the house is probablyinsured, and--"
"You are shivering, Martine. Come, we must make our way through thecr
owd. Even if we have to walk down to the large hotel near the station,that will be better than staying here."
So they made their way through the crowd. Heaps of household goods andpieces of furniture were scattered over the lawn, and even on thesidewalk in front. The engine was still hissing, flames were stilldarting from back and sides of the house that had so lately shelteredthem.
Hardly had the four reached the street when a man's voice called, "Stop,ladies, for a moment." As they halted, the man, whose outline they couldbarely distinguish, overtook them. "You are the American ladies whosedoors I tried to break open a little while ago. I would have helped youfurther, but I had to return immediately to my sister, who has been ill,and who is now in a neighbor's house. I have been anxious about you, foryou are strangers. Have you plans, or will you permit me to make asuggestion?"
"We shall be only too happy to hear your suggestion, Mr.--"
"Taunton," quickly rejoined the stranger, as Mrs. Redmond paused,adding, "I would suggest that you come with me to the house where I havetaken my sister, and I may say that I have been asked to bring you backwith me. The house is large, and you can all get a good night's rest."
It is needless to say that Mr. Taunton's invitation was gratefullyaccepted, and soon the four found themselves in a warm room, where ahospitable little hostess bustled about, offering them tea, and breadand butter, though after all it wasn't a meal-time.
"She's very good," murmured Martine to Amy, "not to mention how queer welook. For my own part, I haven't dared look a mirror in the face, thoughthere are two in the room. How much has happened in the last hour!--forit is only a little more than an hour since we knew of the fire; thatis, since I smelled smoke."
"I hope that it wasn't long enough for you and Priscilla to catch cold.We shall never forget how chilly the air of an August midnight can be."
"Oh, I am all right," responded Martine. And then, as if to disprove herown words, she sneezed violently.
"Why did you go back to your room, Martine? It was a dangerous thing todo. You brought nothing out with you but that little bag."
"Oh, I had barely time to get that. The room was so hot and smoky that Iquite lost my head, yet I got what I especially went for;" and sheopened the little bag and drew from it a small velvet case.
"Your diamond!" cried Amy. "Ah, Martine, how foolish to have had it withyou!"
"No, Amy, not my diamond pin;" and snapping a spring she disclosed theminiature of her mother.
"That is more to me than ten diamond pins. I had barely time to snatchit from the bureau and pick up this bag."
"Then you left the pin behind!"
"No, child, no; it is safely hung around my neck. But one of my ringswas on the cushion, and it will delight Priscilla's heart to know that Idid not save a single brush or silver-topped bottle. It will be ratherhard for papa, for he'll have to replace them all next Christmas. But Ido wish that I had my hat and my suit case. Until we overtake our trunksat Halifax we can't make ourselves perfectly respectable."
"But still," rejoined Amy, "I am thankful that we have a place where wecan sleep to-night--and mamma is beckoning us, so let us follow."
It was nine o'clock, and the sun was streaming brightly through theirwindows before Mrs. Redmond and the girls left their rooms next morning.All but Priscilla had slept well, but the latter had tossed about allnight, with her thoughts dwelling more on Martine even than on theexciting events of the fire. Clearly Martine had acted very generouslyin the efforts she had made to awaken the others. She had had ample timeto save all her own possessions, yet quite neglectful of herself, herone thought had been for others. If Priscilla was sometimes harsh in hercriticisms, she at least wished to be fair. After her night of confusedthoughts, it was not strange, perhaps, that Priscilla awoke heavy-eyedand dull, thus causing Mrs. Redmond to wonder whether this oneexperience might not undo all the good accomplished during their weeksin Acadia.
Martine was still inclined to sneeze, but she laughed when caught in theact.
"It sounds like hay fever, doesn't it? I have never had a fashionableailment before, and if it is hay fever, why, I am in the part of theworld where patients are often sent, and my recovery will be rapid."
After breakfast Mr. Taunton, their new acquaintance, offered to helpMrs. Redmond in any way that she might suggest. "You may wish yourluggage or your tickets attended to--or, or your shopping," heconcluded. "My sister and I saved both our trunks, and she is resting socomfortably this morning that I can put myself at your service."
"I do not wonder that you speak of shopping. We could hardly go even asfar as the station without buying a few necessary things. If we couldhave a carriage in about an hour we could do some errands. We are goingto Halifax by the afternoon train."
"You have lost more than most of the other boarders, in proportion towhat you had in the house," continued Mr. Taunton. "Our late landlady isthe heaviest loser, but she is a cheerful little body, and consolesherself with the thought that she is well insured."
"Don't forget to pay our board bill, mamma; it just occurred to me thatwe left so unexpectedly that we forgot even to mention it to her,"interrupted Amy.
Mr. Taunton laughed heartily at her suggestion, and then began anearnest plea for his own city, St. John, in contrast with Halifax.
"If you can visit but one, St. John is the better worth seeing. We cometo Nova Scotia occasionally to rest, but St. John is wide-awake, and itschurches and public buildings will compare favorably with any in theUnited States. Then you have heard of our wonderful reversible falls,that flow with the tide one way and with the river the other, and thebeautiful Kennebecasis--"
"You would make a good tourist agent," interrupted their amiablehostess, Mrs. Andrews, entering the room at this moment. "But if Ishould begin to paint the charms of the Citadel, and old St. Paul's, andthe Northwest Arm, and--"
Mr. Taunton laughed. "It's a feud as old as the hills, this rivalrybetween St. John and Halifax, and a stranger can settle the matter forhimself only by seeing both places; but if you must give up either, Ihonestly believe that you can best spare Halifax."
Before Mrs. Andrews could protest, a violent ringing of the doorbellcalled her from the room. A second later she returned to thesitting-room, followed by two young men.
In an instant half a dozen tongues were loudly exclaiming, "Why, Fritz,how in the world did you find us?" Mrs. Redmond held the hand of one ofthe new-comers while she looked affectionately up into his face; Amy,drawing back a little, appeared far from displeased at this suddenappearance; and Martine,--Priscilla could hardly believe her eyes,--yes,Martine had certainly thrown her arms around the neck of Fritz'scompanion, who was no other than the Freshman "Taps," of whom Priscillahad had a passing glimpse on the Yarmouth boat.
While Priscilla gasped in amazement Mrs. Redmond and Amy could notconceal their surprise at Martine's demonstrativeness. But they had notto wait long for the explanation, which Martine herself saw was duethem.
"There, there, Lucian, don't be too affectionate until I explain--"
"Explain what?" asked the so-called "Taps."
"Wait, listen;" and slipping her arm through that of Fritz's friend,Martine turned with a bow toward Mrs. Redmond.
"Let me introduce to you and Amy and Priscilla, as well as to the restof the company, my brother, Lucian Stratford, otherwise 'Taps.' There,Lucian, don't say a word. Let me explain how it was. Of course at firstwe didn't mean to make any secret of it, but Lucian and I thought itwould be fun to see whether you could tell whether we were brother andsister, and he made Fritz--I mean Mr. Tomkins--promise not to tell you.It seemed rather funny that you hadn't heard. Then when Amy was sosniffy--excuse me, Amy--about having boys in the party, why, I had topromise not to tell. It was hard at first, but I got interested inkeeping it up when I found that Priscilla was so suspicious."
Priscilla, coloring, looked more and more uncomfortable, Mrs. Redmondwas slowly grasping the situation, and only Amy appeared to be angry.
"
It's like you, Fritz," she exclaimed, "to go out of your way to play apractical joke on me, but I did expect something better from Martine."
Martine's face grew serious.
"I can't see that the joke affects you, particularly, Miss Amy Redmond!"rejoined Fritz. "To be sure, you have had various accidents that mightnot have happened had we been with you to protect you, but as to knowingthat 'Taps' was Martine Stratford's brother, why, you could have foundthat out for yourself, or at any rate I should have told you only toogladly had you given me a chance. But when you banished me socompletely--"
"Come, come, children, no quarrelling. We won't banish you again, Fritz,and if you feel like going on with us we shall be only too happy to haveyour company. Your coming now is certainly most opportune. You can do somuch to help us; we have shopping--But first let me introduce you to Mr.Taunton, who has been so kind to us, and to Mrs. Andrews, our hostess,and to the others."
After the introductions Fritz explained why they had come to Windsor.
"Halifax may be slow, but it is reached by telegraph, and the dailypapers contain some news, so when I saw the headlines 'Fire at Windsor,'I naturally read the whole thing, for, according to the schedule whichLucian had from his sister, you were due here yesterday, or the daybefore, and we had even thought of running up to meet you."
"Though we decided it would be better sport to take you by surprise atHalifax," interposed Lucian.
"Yes, and when we read that some American ladies had barely escaped withtheir clothes--"
"Not all of their clothes," murmured Martine.
"We thought," continued Fritz, "that we'd risk it by rushing up here."
"So we bolted our breakfast," interposed Taps, "and made the 'Yankee'and--"
"We poked among the ruins," added Fritz," and when we didn't find anyremains, we asked a few questions of some others who were poking there."
"And here we are," concluded Taps, "and from this on I'm going to keepmy eye on Martine. You didn't set the fire, did you, sister?"
"There, Lucian, if you tease like that you'll be banished."
"No more banishment for either of us," cried Fritz, boldly. "You've allhad accidents enough to show you the need of adequate protection."
"Perhaps you could have prevented the fire," said Amy, with somesarcasm.
"I could have prevented your staying at any house but the mostfire-proof hotel in the town, and that I believe is still standing."
"What did you save?" asked Lucian, in an effort to turn theconversation.
"Oh, my mother's picture," said Martine, softly. And then, as if afraidof seeming sentimental, "But I lost an emerald ring and all my silverbrushes, and a pair of slippers, and one of my gloves, and a dozenpostage stamps."
"Stop, stop, Martine."
"Well, I saved my best stock, and Mrs. Redmond saved her umbrella, andwe--"
"Are all clothed and in our right minds, excepting you, Martine, whoseem in danger of losing yours," interrupted Amy. "I believe thatcarriage at the door is the one that Mr. Taunton telephoned for; so, ifwe are going to Halifax to-day, it is surely time to start on ourshopping expedition."
Acting on this suggestion, Priscilla and Martine helped Amy gathertogether their few remaining possessions, while Mrs. Redmond discussedher plans with Fritz.
When at last the moment came for the few words of farewell, Mrs. Redmondand the girls felt that in bidding good-bye to Mrs. Andrews and theTauntons they were parting with friends whom they had known for weeksinstead of hours.
Mrs. Redmond and the girls drove to the station, where Fritz and Lucianmet them after a brisk walk down town.
"Fritz," said Amy, as the two stood together in the hotel sitting-room,"I have a confession to make."
"Open confession is good for the soul, so out with it at once, fairlady."
"It is simply this: I am really glad that you are here to take charge ofthings. Even in travelling mamma, you know, hates to attend to practicaldetails. Now of course we have got on very well, barring one or twolittle things."
"Fires and such." There was a mischievous twinkle in Fritz's eye.
"Oh, well, even that might have been worse; so now, until we reachHalifax, I do wish that you would take charge of everything."
"With pleasure," responded Fritz. "Especially will I see that you do notmislay your keys. But you look tired, Amy. Come, sit down."
Whereupon Amy sank wearily upon a sofa, only too glad that for thepresent her responsibility was shifted to some one else.
There was a funny side, however, to the zeal displayed by Fritz andLucian. They insisted, with an emphasis that no one dared oppose, thatthe girls and Mrs. Redmond should rest quietly while they went out toshop.
"My dear boys," Mrs. Redmond had protested, "there is hardly a thingthat we shall really need before we reach Halifax. In the parlor cars weshall be unnoticed and perfectly comfortable, and after we have openedour trunks we can tell what we most require."
"Oh, Mrs. Redmond, there must be some errands for us to do. Can't youtrust us?"
Lucian's face was so expressive of disappointment that Mrs. Redmond wasglad that she had made out a small list.
"Of course there are some things--and we are ever so much obliged to youand Fritz for your willingness to do errands."
"You see," continued Lucian, confidentially, and dropping his voice thathis sister might not overhear him, "I didn't ask Martine what sheneeded. That would have started her off to suggest no end ofthings,--you know what girls are. I can tell pretty well what she oughtto have, so we'll just slip off before she can say anything."
Fritz had condescended to accept a few suggestions from Amy, and the twoboys rushed off in high spirits. An hour later, when they returned,their arms filled with packages, followed by a grinning hotel boy whowas dragging a large parcel, Mrs. Redmond lifted her hands in amazement.
"Two hats!" she exclaimed, in still greater surprise as they undid thestrings of the larger package, "but only one was really needed. Martineleft hers behind, but Amy--"
"Now, Mrs. Redmond," said Fritz, "perhaps you didn't observe Amy's. Why,some one must have turned the hose on it; the flowers were allbedraggled, and the ribbon--Mrs. Redmond, surely you must have noticedits condition. But these are so pretty that I couldn't let Lucian be theonly one to buy a hat."
"It's certainly very thoughtful in you, Fritz, but still my list--"
"Oh, we've got everything that was on the list, only these little extraswere just to amuse ourselves."
"Six stocks! you extravagant boy!" Martine, arriving on the scene, hadopened one of her brother's parcels.
"Six stocks!" he repeated. "Why, that's only one and a half apiece!"
"And gloves; well, we could have waited until we reached Halifax. Theyare probably better there. I wish I had thought to speak of shirtwaists," continued Martine. "This is hardly respectable."
"Oh, I thought of that, too," replied Lucian; "at least, I rememberedyou hadn't a coat, so I supposed some sort of a wrap would do. Coatshave to be kind of tailor-made and fitted, don't they?" While he spokeLucian was undoing the largest package, from which he drew out a Scotchshawl of brown and yellow plaid.
"There, that's the thing!" he exclaimed with pride. "It looks as if ithad come straight from Edinburgh. You can throw it over your shouldersinstead of a coat."
"Oh, Lucian," cried Martine, "you can't expect me to wrap myself up likethat, especially on a warm August afternoon!"
"Why shouldn't it be all right travelling?" asked Lucian, with lesselation. "You wouldn't have to think about the fit."
But when he saw that all the others were laughing at him, he walked offtoward the window, murmuring what sounded like "There's no pleasing somepeople."
"Come back, come back," cried Martine, as he turned away; "the shawlwill be very useful if we go yachting at Halifax, and no one but youwould have thought of these delicious boxes of chocolates. We all thankyou very, very much; see, there's a box for you and Priscilla, Amy, aswell as for me."
Lucian's face brightened under his sister's praise, while Amy andPriscilla thanked him for their chocolates.
"You were dreadfully worried, weren't you, Prissie," said Martine,mischievously, "over the chocolates that I offered you last evening? Butthough Lucian was the giver in that case, perhaps you will enjoy thesebetter, knowing where they came from."
"Shall I put this magazine in your bag?" asked Priscilla, hoping thus todivert Martine from further teasing.
"Certainly," replied Martine. "Let Lucian help you with the catch. It ishard to open."
"The magazines are Fritz's contribution," explained Lucian, as he workedwith the spring of Martine's bag. "There's one for each of the party.But hello, what's this? Did you think of digging a grave, or anything ofthat kind, sister, when you brought this along? It's a strange thing tohave saved from a fire;" and before Martine could protest Lucian hadwithdrawn his hand from the bag in which he had been fumbling, andbefore the gaze of the whole party held up a queerly shaped littletrowel.
"I didn't ask you to meddle with things in my bag," cried Martine,excitedly, after the manner of sisters.
"Well, what's the matter with the little spade?" asked Lucian, lookingfrom one to the other.
No one replied as Amy snatched it from his hand. In fact, Amy was theonly one to recognize it as the Acadian relic that Balfour Airton hadgiven to Martine.