yes, and her face
was very white indeed, with her hair falling thickly upon either side in
two braids which reached to her hips.

Ford gave her one quick, startled glance, said "Come on," quite
brusquely, and gathered her into his arms with as little sentiment as he
would have bestowed upon the piano. His eyes smarted with the smoke,
which blinded him so that he bumped into chairs on his way to the door.
Outside he stopped, and looked down at the girl, wondering what he
should do with her. Since Kate had stated emphatically that she could
not walk, it seemed scarcely merciful to deposit her on the ground and
leave her to her own devices. She had closed her eyes, and she looked
unpleasantly like a corpse; and there was an insistent crackling up in
the roof, which warned Ford that there was little time for the weighing
of fine points. He was about to lay her on the bare ground, for want of
a better place, when he glimpsed Mose running heavily across the
bridge, and went hurriedly to meet him.

"Here! You take her down and put her in one of the bunks, Mose," he
commanded, when Mose confronted him, panting a good deal because of his
two hundred and fifty pounds of excess fat and a pair of
down-at-the-heel slippers which hampered his movements appreciably. Mose
looked at the girl and then at his two hands.

"I can't take her," he lamented. "I got m'hands full of aigs!"

Ford's reply was a sweep of the girl's inert figure against Mose's
outstretched hands, which freed them effectually of their burden of
eggs. "You darned chump, what's eggs in a case like this?" he cried
sharply, and forced the girl into his arms. "You take her and put her on
a bunk. I've got to put out that fire!"

So Mose, a reluctant knight and an awkward one, carried the girl to the
bunk-house, and left Ford free to save the house if he could.
Fortunately the fire had started in a barrel of old clothing which had
stood too close to the stovepipe, and while the smoke was stifling, the
flames were as yet purely local. And, more fortunately still, that day
happened to be Mrs. Mason's wash-day and two tubs of water stood in the
kitchen, close to the narrow stairway which led into the loft. Three or
four pails of water and some quick work in running up and down the
stairs was all that was needed. Ford, standing in the low, unfinished
loft, looked at the rafter which was burnt half through, and wiped his
perspiring face with his coat sleeve.

"Lordy me!"