the house."

"Would it burn much," Keith wondered.

"Your father has five cords of good birch wood stored in the top attic,
so I think the whole city would see the blaze."

"And the people up there?"

"They would have to come before we closed the doors, but God have mercy
on us if it ever gets that far. Remember, boy, there is nothing worse
than fire so you must always be careful never play with matches."

"I know," said Keith, nodding sagely.

But he really did not know what fire meant until a few nights later. The
whole family was sound asleep, Keith on the chaiselongue, his father and
mother in the big bed on the other side of the room. While still half
asleep he could hear his mother crying his father's name in a strangely
agitated voice.

Then he woke fully and looked up. Every object in the room was clearly
visible, but the light coming through the windows was not daylight. It
was reddish and glaring, and the very reflection of it within the room
filled the boy with vague uneasiness.

The father jumped out of bed and ran to the window.

"It is fire," he said. "Something terrible. My Lord, half the town must
be burning. The whole sky is a mass of flames. And it's in the direction