" Yes," said several, " but it 's too late. It 's
too far round by the road, and no man could find
his way across the fields in season. "We '11 have to
take wha,t comes, this tiipe, P?irson."
. Every eye was instinctively turned towards the
Neck as the cavalcade came put into the fields. It
was utteirly dark. " If we had supposed the wind
would act in this way, \ye would have had a fire at
the Neck six hours ago, but it 's too late now," was
the inevitable conclusion of each ; and yet they hes-
itated to go townward, as if they hoped against
hope to do something yet to stay the fire.
" What 's tha,t," said Bill Sawyer to his neigh-
bor, suddenly, " over at the Neck ? Is that the
moon or a star there among the trees ? " ,

" Can't see it," said the neighbor.
',' I 've poor eyesight," sgid Bill, " bjit there is
something there as true as gospel."

Every eye was strained looking towards the Neck.
There was certainly something there, as Bill said ;
a light, at any rate, or what looked like that. It
was a moment of intense anxiety to the whole party.
The able-bodied men of the village were there in



FACEM, NON PACEJU. 243

the wagons, and the shift of the wind had been too
sadden for any to go from the town, and a back-fire
at the Neck seemed too unreasonable to be true.
