side of the senseless form, he clasped his arms
around it, and rose to his feet with the burden on his back. Like all
misers, uncle Nathan was nothing but skin and bones, which do not weigh
heavily, and Levi walked along the ridge-pole to the other end of the
house with the nerveless body on his back.

It was not an easy matter to descend the ladder with such a load,
though Levi would have carried his uncle down alone if no help had
arrived. Before he reached the ladder, two men had mounted the roof,
and while one of them was directed to pour water on the fire, the other
assisted in bearing the miser down the ladder. He was carried to Mr.
Mogmore's house, and aunt Susan followed, having satisfied herself that
her husband was not dead, but had fainted.

[Illustration: A PERILOUS POSITION.--Page 24.]

Having deposited the form of the miser on the bed, Levi hastened back
to assist in saving the house. His post was in the midst of danger, and
he went up on the roof. A plentiful supply of water soon drowned out
the fire, and before the engine arrived the last spark had been
extinguished.

"O, my money!" had been the last words of Mr. Fairfield before he
fainted. Levi did not understand the force of this expression, for he
was not aware that his uncle had four thousand dollars in gold
concealed in the house. The miser had worked with the energy of
desperation to put out the fire, until the flames appeared to be
gaining upon him, and then he was in despair. At this point the thought
of his gold flashed upon him with such stunning force that it had taken
away his senses. Doubtless the smoke and the heat, as well as the
violence of his exertions, had contributed in some measure to this
result.

The house would be burned, and the four thousand dollars would be lost!
This was the reflection which overwhelmed the miser. Even death seemed
preferable to losing such a vast sum of money. His god appeared to be
riven from him, and the revulsion in his mind was terrible. If his hair
had not already been gray, the shock was heavy enough to have bleached
it out in a single instant.

When the fire had been put out, Levi hastened over to the carpenter's
house to ascertain the condition of his uncle. The patient, under the
skilful treatment of the old ladies who had ministered to him, was just
regaining his consciousness, but had not yet sufficiently recovered to
know what had happened to him. The house was not much injured. A hole
in