good-natured shake, which made the sleeper open his eyes to say
meekly,
“I only ran into Nat’s room to see him about something. Go away,
and let me alone; I’m awful sleepy.”
Nursey tucked Demi in, and went off to reconnoitre, but only
found two boys slumbering peacefully in Dan’s room. “Some little
frolic,” she thought, and as there was no harm done she said
nothing to Mrs. Bhaer, who was busy and worried over little
Teddy.
Tommy was sleepy, and telling Demi to mind his own business
and not ask questions, he was snoring in ten minutes, little
dreaming what was going on under his bed. The cigar did not go
out, but smouldered away on the straw carpet till it was nicely on
fire, and a hungry little flame went creeping along till the dimity
bedcover caught, then the sheets, and then the bed itself. The beer
made Tommy sleep heavily, and the smoke stupified Demi, so they
slept on till the fire began to scorch them, and they were in danger
of being burned to death.
Franz was sitting up to study, and as he left the school-room he
smelt the smoke, dashed up-stairs and saw it coming in a cloud
from the left wing of the house. Without stopping to call any one,
he ran into the room, dragged the boys from the blazing bed, and
splashed all the water he could find at hand on to the flames. It
checked but did not quench the fire, and the children wakened on
being tumbled topsy-turvy into a cold hall, began to roar at the top
of their voices. Mrs. Bhaer instantly appeared, and a minute after
Silas burst out of his room shouting, “Fire!” in a tone that raised
the whole house. A flock of white goblins with scared faces
crowded into the hall, and for a minute every one was
panic-stricken.
Then Mrs. Bhaer found her wits, bade Nursey see to the burnt
boys, and sent Franz and Silas down-stairs for some tubs of wet
clothes which she flung on the bed, over the carpet, and up against
the curtains, now burning finely, and threatening to kindle the
walls.
Most of the boys stood dumbly looking on, but Dan and Emil
worked bravely, running to and fro with water from the bath-room,
and helping to pull down the dangerous curtains.
The peril was soon over, and ordering the boys all back to bed, and
leaving Silas to watch lest the fire broke out again, Mrs. Bhaer and
Franz went to see how the poor boys got on. Demi had escaped
with one burn and a grand scare, but Tommy had not only most of
his hair scorched off his head, but a great burn on his arm, that
made him half crazy with the pain. Demi was soon made cosy, and
Franz took him away to his own bed, where the kind lad soothed
his fright and hummed him to sleep as cosily as a woman. Nursey
watched over poor Tommy all night, trying to ease his misery, and
Mrs. Bhaer vibrated between him and little Teddy with oil and
cotton, paregoric and squills, saying to herself from time to time,
as if she found great amusement in the thought, “I always knew
Tommy would set the house on fire, and now he has done it!”
When Mr. Bhaer got home next morning he found a nice state of
things. Tommy in bed, Teddy wheezing like a little grampus, Mrs.
Jo quite used up, and the whole flock of boys so excited that they
all talked at once, and almost dragged him by main force to view
the ruins. Under his quiet management things soon fell into order,
for every one felt that he was equal to a dozen conflagrations, and
worked with a will at whatever task he gave them.
There was no school that morning, but by afternoon the damaged
room was put to rights, the invalids were better, and there was
time to hear and judge the little culprits quietly. Nat and Tommy
told their parts in the mischief, and were honestly sorry for the
danger they had brought to the dear old house and all in it. But