When they reached the outer stable fence--the one
nearest the village--Cully's keen nose scented a peculiar odor.
"Who's been a breakin' de lamp round here, Carl?" he asked,
sniffing close to the ground. "Holy smoke! Look at de light in
de stable--sumpin' mus' be de matter wid de Big Gray, or de ole
woman wouldn't be out dis time o' night wid a lamp. What would
she be a-doin' out here, anyway?" he exclaimed in a sudden
anxious tone. "Dis ain't de road from de house. Hully gee! Look
out for yer coat! De rails is a-soakin' wid ker'sene!"
At this moment a little flame shot out of the window over the Big
Gray's head and licked its way up the siding, followed by a column
of smoke which burst through the door in the hay-loft above the
stalls of the three horses next the bedroom of Carl and Cully. A
window was hastily opened in Tom's house and a frightened shriek
broke the stillness of the night. It was Jennie's voice, and it
had a tone of something besides alarm.
What the sight of the fire had paralyzed in Carl, the voice awoke.
"No, no! I here--I safe, Jan!" he cried, clearing the fence with
a bound.
Cully did not hear Jennie. He saw only the curling flames over
the Big Gray's head. As he dashed down the slope he kept
muttering the old horse's pet names, catching his breath, and
calling to Carl, "Save de Gray--save Ole Blowhard!"
Cully reached the stable first, smashed the padlock with a shovel,
and rushed into the Gray's stall.
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