midday
Other possessions were dropped beside them , pictures , sewing machines , furs , china ornaments , pieces of furniture , clocks , even the packed baby carriages and the clothes baskets . Only two things the houseless thousands refused to leave -- their children and their pets . It seemed to Pancha there was not a family that did not lead a dog , or carry a cat , or a bird in a cage . By midday the cart had made an uptown plaza , and there come to a halt for rest . The grass was covered thick with people , stretched beside their shorn belongings , many asleep as they had dropped . A few of them had brought food ; others , with money , went out to buy what they could at the nearby shops , already depleted of their stores . All but the children were very still , looking at the flames that licked along the sky line .