arranged for Maggie to stay in the house, that the girls might not be
alone. Duke, also, was kept within doors for protection.

The girls passed a pleasant evening, and retired rather late. Duke
followed them up to their room, and went to sleep just outside the
door, which they left open on his account. Maggie slept in a room at
the end of the hall.

Gustus that night had sneaked out to see some of his friends. He had
stayed so late that he feared to return through the dark. Still he
dreaded even more the scolding that he would get if he were missed in
the morning. So he started home, whistling as he went, to keep up his
spirits. Suddenly his attention was attracted by a reddened sky in the
direction of the Davenport home.

"Foh de Lawd's sake," he muttered, "dat do look like our home wuz
burnin' for sure. Jes' s'pose it wuz. Little missy am thar an' might
burn. I'd jes' bettah take to my heels, an' run as fas' as ever I kin,
an' see." He ran a few steps, and then stopped. Besides the red in
the sky, he thought he saw sparks flying. His heart rose in his mouth.

"Jes' s'pose dat dar fire am de work ob de debbil. He might be waitin'
dar spoutin' out fire to kotch me. Dat's it. I won't go near dar all
by myself. I'll jes' go back."

He turned, and ran a few steps the other way, and then halted again.

"Jes' s'pose dat ain't de debbil, but a real shure nuff fire. Den
missy'll burn, an' I'll be to blame. I jes' ought to go an' see, but
what if it am de debbil? Den he'll hab me sure nuff, an' dat'd be
worser dan burnin'."

The Davenports' home was really on fire. It was never discovered how
the fire started. The only plausible explanation was a defective flue
in the kitchen stove, but it could never be proved.

The house was built of fat pine, and the fire spread with alarming
rapidity. First the kitchen burst into a mass of flames that leaped
along the roof of the piazza to the main part of the building. There
had been no rain for some time, and the dry wood proved as combustible
as if oil had been applied. The sparks flew over all the house until
it was one blaze of fire. The servants were sleeping in their
quarters, and did not discover the terrible danger of the inmates of
the house.

Maggie and the children slept on, and it seemed as if there would be no
awakening until it was too late, unless Gustus ran to the rescue.

The flames crackled as if trying to rouse the poor, innocent s