, and in a second Harriet was borne down
under it, and then Harry was there with his coat, and Sim White, and
the fire was out. Poor Harriet was not much hurt, only a few trifling
burns; but if it had not been for the woman she might easily have
gotten her death, and our centennial ended in a tragedy.

It had all been done so quickly that we had not fairly seen who the
woman who snatched up the rug was, but when the fire was out we knew:
Caroline Liscom. She was somewhat burned herself, too, but she did
not seem to mind that at all. She was, to our utter surprise--for we
all knew how she had felt about Harry's marrying Harriet--cuddling
the girl in her motherly arms, the sleeves of her best black
grenadine being all scorched, too, and telling her that she must not
be frightened, the fire was all out, and calling her my dear child,
and kissing her. I, for one, never knew that Caroline Liscom could
display so much warmth of love and pity, and that toward a girl whom
she was determined her son should not marry, and before so many. I
suppose when she saw the poor child all in a blaze, and thought she
would be burned to death, her heart smote her, and she felt that she
would do anything in the world if she only lived.

Harry Liscom was as white as a sheet. Once or twice he tried to push
his mother away, as if he wished to do the comforting and cuddling
himself; but she would not have it. "Poor child! poor child!" she
kept repeating; "it's all over, don't be frightened," as if Harriet
had been a baby.

Then Mrs. H. Boardman Jameson came close to Caroline Liscom, and
tears were running down her cheeks quite openly. She did not even
have out her handkerchief, and she threw her arms right around the
other woman who had saved her daughter. "God bless you! Oh, God bless
you!" she said; then her voice broke and she sobbed out loud. I think
a good many of us joined her. As for Caroline Liscom, she sort of
pushed Harriet toward her son, and then she threw her poor, scorched
arms around Mrs. H. Boardman Jameson and kissed her. "Oh, let us both
thank God!" sobbed Caroline.

As soon as we got calm enough we took Harriet upstairs; her pretty
muslin was fluttering around her in yellow rags, and the slight burns
needed attention; she was also exhausted with the nervous shock, and
was trembling like a leaf, her cheeks white and her eyes big with
terror. Caroline Liscom and her mother came too, and Caroline
concealed her burns until Har