When indications of a fire are noticed, every
available hand--men, women, and children alike--is hurried to the spot
for the purpose of "fighting" it. Getting to leeward of the flames, the
"fighters" kindle a counter-conflagration, which is drawn or sucked
against the wind to the part already burning, and in this manner a
vacant space is secured, which proves a barrier to the flames. Dexterity
in fighting fires is a prime requisite in a forest overseer or workman.
"And now, something about Leeds's devil!" I said to my friend, after
satisfactory definition of the Pine Rat; "what fiend may he be, if you
please?"
"I will answer,--I will tell you," replies Mr. B. "There lived, in the
year 1735, in the township of Burlington, a woman. Her name was Leeds,
and she was shrewdly suspected of a little amateur witchcraft. Be that
as it may, it is well established, that, one stormy, gusty night, when
the wind was howling in turret and tree, Mother Leeds gave birth to a
son, whose father could have been no other than the Prince of Darkness.
No sooner did he see the light than he assumed the form of a fiend, with
a horse's head, wings of bat, and a serpent's tail.
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