ding, the second
story packed with hay; and below there were stored many wagons, some
farm machinery, and a quantity of lumber and building material, all
things that would burn well. Everything was ablaze, the roof fell in
as I looked, and the flames and sparks and smoke reached up like a
vast column, it seemed to the very clouds.

At last I saw it was no time for idleness, so I turned away and went
down-stairs. As I started to pull open the back door it came to me
suddenly that Pike and his men must have come. I reached behind the
desk and got Sours's Winchester. Then I went out, leaving Kaiser
behind, much to his disappointment. The heat struck my face like a
blast from a furnace, and the light dazzled my eyes. I crept very
cautiously over the snowbank behind Hawkey's and Taggart's till I came
to Fitzsimmons's. Here the heat almost scorched my face, and I saw
that the paint on the building was beginning to blister. I peered
everywhere for signs of the men, but saw nothing. I crept around the
corner of the building and looked across the square, but there was no
sign of human life. I expected nothing less than that the whole town
would be burned up; but I was helpless.

Finally I ran across the square and, leaving my rifle on the ground,
scrambled up the windmill tower. It was truly a beautiful sight, as I
knew despite my fears. The sky was covered with thick, low-hanging
clouds, and save for the fire, the night was pitch-dark. The whole
town lay below me, half lit up like day, half inky shadows. Even at
this distance I could feel the heat, and the sullen roar and crackling
of the flames never stopped. But though I shaded my eyes and peered
everywhere among the houses and across the prairie, I could make out
no living thing.

Cinders were falling all over town, but there seemed to be little fire
left in them when they alighted. The roofs were mostly flat and
covered with tin, though the depot, the Headquarters barn, and a few
others were of shingles. Suddenly a cinder unusually large fell on the
depot roof and lay there blazing. I hurried down the tower, and hauled
a ladder which I had noticed the day the Indians came from beneath the
platform, thinking I might climb up and put out the fire with snow.
There was no water to be had anywhere except from the well back of the
hotel. But the flame died out, and I dragged the ladder across the
square. It occurred to me that it would be no great loss to me should
the depot