ast; the derricks and buildings of the adjacent wells were consumed,
while inch by inch the oil-fed fire crept nearer the town.

George had paid no attention to his horses all this time; in fact, he
had hardly thought of them until, almost exhausted, he was obliged to
rest a few moments, or be entirely overcome by the heat.

Then the recollection of his team, in which he took so much pride, came
to him, and he started towards the shed where he had left them.

One glance back at the fiery torrent, which even the children were
trying to turn from the town, and he realized how important was even one
man's labor in this battle with the flames.

A man on crutches was standing near him as he paused irresolutely, and
to him George said, hurriedly:

"I left a pair of horses in a light carriage in that shed up yonder when
the fire first broke out. Not even one man can be spared from here now,
and yet my team must be attended to. Crippled as you are, you can be of
no service here; therefore, if you will go there and get them, and then
drive them to some stable in town, I will pay you well for your
trouble."

"I'll see that they are well taken care of, and come back here to tell
you where they are," said the cripple, as he started towards the shed.

And George returned to the fight once more.

Had the men been working where it was cool, by their very numbers they
could have checked the advance of the flames; but hot as it was, fully
half who entered the conflict were overpowered by the heat in a very
short time, or obliged to cease their exertions for a while, as George
had done. Therefore, although fresh recruits were arriving each hour,
not one-third of all the force there could be counted upon as able
workers.

It was an hour after George had cared for his horses, as he supposed,
that the cripple whom he had engaged to do the work, approached where he
was, by the side of Ralph, strengthening the banks of the ditch that
carried off the escaping oil.

"I went up to the shed," shouted the man, "but there wasn't any horses
there, nor carriage either."

"Where are they?" asked George, in bewilderment.

"How should I know?" was the reply, in an angry tone.

And then, before anything more could be said, a shout, almost of
despair, arose from those who were working nearer the town--

"The waste oil has caught fire!"

The oil which had been drawn off from the tanks, through the
perforations made by the cannon balls, ha