CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
TWO FIRES SUBDUED.
Barret, half ashamed of the wild anxiety he displayed, turned at once,sprang back into the burning house, and began to expend his energies inhelping his companions and the men of the establishment to save as muchas possible of the laird's property.
While this was being done and the attention of every one was directedexclusively to the work of salvage--in which work Pat Quin shoneconspicuous for daring as well as for all but miraculous power to endureheat and swallow smoke, Roderick, the groom, retired to the lawn for afew moments' respite. He was accompanied by Donald, his faithfulassistant, who was almost exhausted by his labours.
"Tonal', poy, what iss it that Muster Archie wull pe doin'?"
"I think he wull pe takin' the hoose!"
They had not time to make further inquiry, for just then the windchanged and blew the flames towards the part of the mansion that hadbeen already burned, giving some hope that the other parts might yet besaved, and calling for the redoubled efforts of all hands.
Donald was right in his conjecture. Archie was indeed "takin'" thehouse! He and Eddie--having succeeded in rescuing the photographicapparatus, and, finding that no lives were in danger, and that enoughpeople were already endeavouring to save the property--had calmlydevoted themselves to taking photographs of the blazing scene fromseveral points of view--a feat that was still possible, as daylight hadnot yet been diminished in power.
The change of wind, however, brought their operations to an abruptclose, for no idlers were tolerated. Even the women were summoned tostand in a row, and pass buckets from a neighbouring pond to the burninghouse.
The proceedings now had been reduced to some degree of order by GilesJackman, whose experience abroad had tended to develop his powers oforganisation.
The buckets were passed in uninterrupted succession from the pond to thehouse, where Mabberly received them at the front door, that being deemedthe point where danger and the need for unusual energy began. He passedthem in through the smoke of the hall to MacRummle, who handed them toRoderick and the butler. These last stood in the dense smoke of thestaircase, at the head of which the tall gamekeeper, Jackman and Barret,were engaged in close and deadly conflict with the flames, intense heat,falling _debris_, and partial suffocation. The rest of the people,headed by the laird, who seemed to have renewed his youth and becomeubiquitous, continued the work of salvage.
By that time the party of warriors who fought the flames was increasedby the shepherds and a few small farmers who dwelt in the neighbourhood.These being stalwart and willing men, were a valuable accession to theforce, and did good service not only in saving property, but inextinguishing the fire. So that, before night closed in, the flameswere finally subdued, after about one-half of the mansion had beenconsumed.
That half, however, was still a source of great danger, the walls beingintensely hot and the fallen beams a mass of glowing charcoal, which theleast breath of wind blew into a flame. A few of the shepherds weretherefore stationed to watch these, and pour water on them continually.But the need for urgent haste was past, and most of the people hadassembled on the lawn among the furniture when the stars began toglimmer in the darkening sky.
"My dear," said the laird, on finding his wife in the group, "it is allsafe now, so you had better get off to rest, and take all the women withye. Come, girls, be off to your beds," he added, turning with kindlysmile to the domestics, and with the energetic manner that was habitualto him. "You've done good service, and stand much in need of rest, allof you. The men will keep a sharp look out on what's left o' the fire,so you have nothing to fear. Off with you, an' get to sleep!"
There was no hesitation in obeying the laird's commands. The femaledomestics went off at once to their dormitories, and these werefortunately in that part of the mansion which had escaped. Some of theyounger girls, however, made no effort to conceal a giggle as theyglanced at their master who, with coat off, shirt torn, face blackened,hair dishevelled, and person dripping, presented rather an undignifiedappearance. But as worthy Allan Gordon had never set up a claim todignity, the giggles only amused him.
"Duncan! Duncan, man, where are ye?" he called out, when the ladies andfemale domestics had gone. "Oh! there ye are--an' not much morerespectable than myself!" he added, as the butler answered to hissummons. "Go and fetch the whisky bottle. We'll all be the better of adram after such a fight. What say you, gentlemen? Do you not relaxyour teetotal principles a little on an occasion like this?"
"We never relax our _total abstinence_ principles," returned Jackman,with a smile, as he wrung some of the water out of his garments. "Ithink I may speak for my companions as well as myself. Friendship hasbeen a sufficient stimulant while we were engaged in the work, andgratitude for success will suffice now that the work is done."
"Run, Donald, boy, an' tell them to get some hot coffee ready at once!It's all very well, gentlemen," said the laird, turning again to hisfriends, "to talk of subsisting on friendship and gratitude; butalthough very good in their way, they won't do for present necessities.At least it would ill become me to express my gratitude to such goodfriends without offering something more. For myself," he added, fillingand tossing off a glass of whisky, "I'm an old man, and not used to thiskind of work, so I'll be the better of a dram. Besides, the Gordons--mybranch of them, at least--have always taken kindly to mountain dew, inmoderation, of course, in strict moderation!"
There was a quiet laugh at this among some of the men who stood near,for it was well-known that not a few of the laird's ancestors had takenkindly to mountain dew without the hampering influence of moderation,though the good man himself had never been known to "exceed"--in theCeltic acceptation of that term.
"Are ye laughing, you rascals?" he cried, turning to the group with abeaming, though blackened countenance. "Come here an' have your share--as a penalty!"
Nothing loath, the men came forward, and with a quiet word of thankseach poured the undiluted fiery liquid down his throat, with what theboy Donald styled a "pech" of satisfaction.
Ivor Donaldson chanced to be one of the group, but he did not comeforward with the rest.
"Come, Ivor, man, and have a dram," said the laird, pouring out a glass.
But the keeper did not move. He stood with his arms crossed firmly onhis broad chest, and a stern dogged expression on his handsome face.
"Ivor, hi!" exclaimed the old gentleman, in a louder voice, supposingthat the man had not heard. "After work like this a dram will do yougood."
"Oo, ay!" remarked one of the shepherds, who had probably began to feelthe "good" by that time; "a tram of whusky iss a fery coot thing at_all_ times--specially when it is _coot_ whusky!"
At this profound witticism there was a general laugh among the men, inthe midst of which the laird repeated his invitation to Ivor, sayingthat he seemed knocked up after his exertions (which was partiallytrue), and adding that surely he was man enough to take a little for hisgood at such a time, without giving way to it.
The laird did not mean this as a taunt, but it was taken as such by thekeeper, who came forward quickly, seized the glass, and drained it.Having done so he stood for a moment like one awaking from a dream.Then, without a word of thanks, he dropped the glass, sprang into theshrubbery, and disappeared.
The laird was surprised, and his conscience smote him, but he turned theincident off with a laugh.
"Now, lads," he said, "go to work again. It will take all your energiesto keep the fire down, if it comes on to blow; and your comrades must betired by this time."
Fortunately it did not come on to blow. The night was profoundly calm,so that a steady though small supply of water sufficed to quenchincipient flames.
Meanwhile Giles Jackman had left the group on the lawn almost at thesame moment with the gamekeeper; for, having been accustomed to dealwith men in similar circumstances, he had a suspicion of what mightfollow. The poor man, having broken the resolve so recently and soser
iously formed, had probably, he thought, become desperate.
Ivor was too active for him, however. He disappeared before Jackman hadfollowed more than a few yards. After a few moments of uncertainty, thelatter made straight for old Molly Donaldson's cottage, thinking itpossible that her unhappy son might go there. On the way he had to passthe keeper's own cottage, and was surprised to see a light in it and thedoor wide open. As he approached, the sound of the keeper's voice washeard speaking violently, mingled with blows, as if delivered with someheavy instrument against timber. A loud crash of breaking wood metJackman's ear as he sprang in. Ivor was in the act of rending theremains of a door from a corner cupboard, while an axe, which he hadjust dropped, lay at his feet on the earthen floor. A black quartbottle, visible through the opening which had been made, showed thereason of his assault on the cupboard. If there had been anyuncertainty on the point, it would have been dispelled by the wildlaugh, or yell of fierce exultation, with which he seized the bottle,drew the cork, and raised it to his dry lips.
Before it reached them, however, Jackman's strong hand seized thekeeper's arm. A gasp from the roused giant, and the deadly pallor ofhis countenance, as he glanced round, showed that superstition hadsuddenly seized on his troubled soul; but no sooner did he see who itwas that had checked him, than the hot blood rebounded to his face, anda fierce glare shot from his eyes.
"Thank God!--not too late!" exclaimed Jackman, fervently.
The thanksgiving was addressed to God, of course without reference toits influence on Ivor; but no words, apparently, could have been usedwith better effect upon the keeper's spirit. His eyes lost theirferocity, and he stood irresolute.
"Break it, like a good fellow," said Jackman, in a soft, kindly voice,as he pointed to the bottle.
"I broke one before, sir," said Ivor, in a despairing tone; "and you seehow useless that was."
"Give it to me, then."
As he spoke, he took the bottle from the man's grasp, and cast itthrough the open doorway, where it was shivered to atoms on the stonesoutside.
Striding towards a pitcher of water which stood in a corner of the room,the keeper seized it, put it to his lips, and almost drained it.
"There!" he exclaimed; "that will drown the devil for a time!"
"No, Ivor, it won't; but it will _help_ to drown it," said Jackman, inthe same kindly, almost cheerful, voice. "Neither cold water norhottest fire can slay the evils that are around and within us. There isonly one Saviour from sin--Jesus, `who died for the sins of the wholeworld.' He makes use of means, however, and these means help towardsthe great end. But it was not the Saviour who told you to lock thatbottle in that cupboard--was it?"
An expression of perplexity came over the keeper's face.
"You are right, sir; it was not. But, to my thinkin' it was not thedevil either!"
"Very likely not. I think sometimes we are inclined to put many thingson the devil's shoulders which ought to rest on our own. You know whatthe Bible says about the deceitfulness of our hearts."
"I do, sir, an' yet I don't quite see that it was that either. I didnot put that bottle there to have it handy when I wanted it. I put itthere when I made up my mind to fight this battle in Christ's name, soas I might see if He gave me strength to resist the temptation, when itwas always before me."
"Just so, Ivor, my friend. That `if' shows that you doubted Him!Moreover, He has put into our mouths that prayer, `lead us not intotemptation,' and you proposed to keep temptation always before youreyes."
"No, sir, no, not quite so bad as that," cried the keeper, growingexcited. "I shut the door an' locked the accursed thing out of mysight, and when I found I could _not_ resist the temptation, I took thekey out and flung it into the sea."
"Would it not have been better to have flung the evil thing itself intothe sea? You soon found another key!" said his friend, pointing to theaxe.
"You say truth, sir; but oh, you hev no notion o' the fight I hev hadwi' that drink. The days an' nights of torment! The horrors! Ay, ifmen could only taste the horrors _before_ they tasted the drink, I dobelieve there would be no drunkards at all! I hev lain on that bed,sir," he pointed to it as he spoke, while large drops stood on his palebrow at the very recollection, "and I hev seen devils and toads andserpents crawlin' round me and over me--great spiders, and hairyshapeless things, wi' slimy legs goin' over my face, and into my mouth,though I gnashed my teeth together--and glaring into my tight shut eyes,an' strangling me. Oh! sir, I know not what hell may be, but I thinkthat it begins on earth wi' some men!"
"From all this Jesus came to save us, Ivor," said Jackman, endeavouringto turn the poor man's mind from the terrible thoughts that seemed aboutto overwhelm him; "but God will have us to consent to be saved in _His__own_ way. When you put the temptation in the cupboard, you disobeyedHim, and therefore were trying to be saved in _your own_ way.Disobedience and salvation cannot go together, because salvation meansdeliverance from disobedience. You and I will pray, Ivor, that Godwould give us his holy Spirit, and then we shall fight our battles infuture with more success."
Thereupon, standing as they were, but with bowed spirits and heads, theylaid the matter in the hands of God in a brief but earnest prayer.
While these two were thus engaged, the scene at the house had enteredupon another phase. The weather, which all that day had been extremelychangeable, suddenly assumed its gloomiest aspect, and rain began tofall heavily. Gradually the fall increased in volume, and at lastdescended in an absolute deluge, rendering the use of water-bucketsquite unnecessary, and accomplishing in a very few minutes what all themen at the place could not have done in as many hours. But that whichprevented effectually the extension of the fire, caused, almost aseffectually, the destruction of much of the property exposed on thelawn. The men were therefore set to work with all their energies toreplace in the unburnt part of the mansion all that they had so recentlycarried out of it.
In this work Ivor Donaldson found a sufficient outlet for the fierceunnatural energies which had been aroused within him. He went aboutheaving and hauling, and staggering under weights that in an ordinarystate of body and mind he could scarcely have moved. Little notice wastaken of him, however, for every one else was, if not doing the samething, at least working up to the utmost extent of his ability.
Before midnight all was over. The fire was what the cook termed blackout. The furniture, more than half destroyed, was re-housed. Thedanger of a revival of the flames was past, and the warriors in thegreat battle felt themselves free to put off their armour and seekrefreshment.
This they did--the males at least--in the gun-room, which, beingfarthest from the fire, and, therefore, left untouched, had not beendamaged either by fire or water. Here the thoughtful laird had givenorders to have a cold collation spread, and here, with his guests,men-servants, boys, and neighbouring farmers around him, he sat down tosupper.