by Oliver Optic
Johnnie Jones woke up and heard him. So did mother, who was in the nextroom. "Please lie still, Mother," said Johnnie Jones. "I'll see what isthe matter." He was trying to help Mother all he could while Father wasaway.
He opened the door, and cried out: "Oh, Mother, the hall is full ofsmoke!"
Mother came to the door. She saw that smoke was pouring out from thehall below. "I am afraid the house is on fire," she said. "You must bevery brave and help me. Put on your wrapper and slippers and run up toMaggie's room, and tell her and Kathie to come down here."
Johnnie Jones was a bit frightened, but without another word he ran upthose long, dark steps, and aroused the two girls. It was brave of thelittle boy.
Meanwhile Mother had given the fire alarm through the telephone, slippedon her wrapper, and bundled the baby in a blanket. When the others hadcome down to her room, she closed the door into the hall.
"It would be dangerous to go downstairs," she said; "we must just waithere at the window until the firemen bring us a ladder."
"Oh, Mother!" Johnnie Jones said, "do you think they'll come soon?"
"Listen!" Mother answered.
Then Johnnie Jones heard a sound that made him clap his hands with joy.CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! Galloping down the street came the splendid bigfire-horses drawing the hook-and-ladder. CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! Down thestreet came the fire-engine, the hose carriage, and the salvage corpswagon.
Quick as a flash the firemen saw Mother and the children at the window!Quicker than you can think, they had two long ladders placed against thetwo window sills. Then two strong firemen climbed up. One of them helpedMother and the baby to reach the ground, the other looked after JohnnieJones.
Maggie and Kathie did not wait to be helped, they stepped down theladder faster than one would have thought possible, and reached theground first of all.
Jack did not know how to use a ladder, so he was thrown out of thewindow by one fireman, and caught in a blanket by two others. He wasn'thurt in the least, though Johnnie Jones had been worried for fear hemight be, but ran straight to his little master.
"If it had not been for Jack's telling us there was a fire, we mightnot have been able to leave the house so quickly," said Mother, as shecaressed the dog.
Elizabeth's mother, who lived across the street, asked Mrs. Jones andthe children to come into her house. They went, and stood at the windowwatching the fire until it was out.
It was a beautiful sight, for the flames flashed out of the thick smokeand made the whole neighborhood bright. Poor Mother felt too sad atseeing her home burn to enjoy the beauty of the fire, but as it was thevery first fire he had ever seen, Johnnie Jones did enjoy it, althoughhe was sorry, too.
"Never mind, Mother dear," he said, trying to comfort her. "Father willbuild us a new house if this one burns down."
All this time the brave firemen were working to extinguish the fire.They had unhitched the horses, and tied them, at a safe distance fromthe house. Some of them had fixed the hose to the engine and werepumping great streams of water onto the flames. Others were inside thehouse fighting the fire; and the salvage men were trying to save thefurniture and pictures and curtains.
Soon the flames became lower, and lower, until at last they died away,and the fire was out. Then the horses were hitched again to the engine,and hose carriage, and the other wagons. The whistle in the engine wasblown, and all went back to the engine houses where they belonged. Notas they had come, in a swift gallop, but slowly, for now men and horseswere tired.
Soon the neighborhood was quiet again, and everyone returned to bed. TheJones's passed the rest of the night in Elizabeth's house.
Next morning, they drove to Grandmother's home to visit her until theycould go into the country to spend the summer.
When Father came home he was very much grieved to find his home so badlyburned, but he felt very grateful to Jack for arousing the family, andhe was very thankful to the brave firemen and good horses, for coming soquickly and doing their work so well. He was distressed that he had notbeen at home, to save Mother from worry and care, but he was glad tohear that Johnnie Jones had been a help and comfort to her, and hadbehaved as a manly boy should.
* * * * *
Johnnie Jones and Fanny
Johnnie Jones enjoyed the country because he could be out of doors allthe day long, and because there were so many interesting things to do.This summer he liked it even better than ever before, for Little Brotherwas old enough to run about and play with him, in the soft grass underthe trees.
Then there was Fanny.
Fanny was a small brown pony which lived in the country all the yearround, and which had belonged to Johnnie Jones ever since he was a tinyboy only two years old. The little pony and the little boy loved eachother, and spent a great deal of their time together. Each morning,directly after breakfast, Johnnie Jones and Little Brother would go downto the field where Fanny and the horses lived, taking with them an appleor some sugar.
"Here, Fanny! Here, Fanny!" they would call.
As soon as she heard their voices, the little brown pony would comerunning to them and eat out of their hands, always being very carefulnot to nip their fingers. Then she would poke her nose into JohnnieJones's pockets to see if there were anything hidden away, that was goodto eat. She was so sweet tempered and gentle that she would let thechildren do anything with her that pleased them, and often romped withJohnnie Jones like a big dog.
About nine o'clock, Sam, the hired man, would hitch Fanny to a smallcart, and Johnnie Jones would take Mother, or Maggie, and LittleBrother, for a drive. Johnnie Jones could both drive and ride so verywell that he was often allowed to go out with Fanny quite alone.
One morning, after he had taken the others home, he started to thevillage shop to buy some butter. On the road he met a boy named Charley,who asked to go with him.
"All right! Jump in," Johnnie Jones told him, glad to have company.
"Let me drive?" Charley asked. So Johnnie Jones changed places with him,and gave him the reins.
The little brown pony would eat out of their hands]
Charley was older than Johnnie Jones and considered himself a muchbetter driver, but he did not know and love horses in the same way thatJohnnie Jones did, though he had always lived in the country.
"Watch me!" he said. "I'll show you how to make a pony run."
Before Johnnie Jones could stop him, he seized the whip and with it gaveFanny a sharp cut. The little pony had never before been whipped, andwas so surprised and hurt, that she began to run as fast as ever shecould. Bump! Bump! She dragged the cart over rocks and stones so fastthat the little boys were almost thrown out on the road.
Johnnie Jones was just as surprised as Fanny.
"Give me that whip," he said to Charley. "I don't allow anyone to use iton my pony. You've hurt her and made her run away. Give me the reins. Iwill never again let you drive."
"Leave me alone," Charley answered. "I'll teach her a good lesson."
He struck Fanny once more, and then began pulling on the reins with allhis might, hurting the pony's tender mouth, and making her toss her headand even kick.
Johnnie Jones was very angry and commanded Charley to give him thereins. Charley was beginning to be frightened, so he obeyed.
"Whoa! Fanny, don't be afraid," Johnnie Jones said to the little pony,as he took the reins and held them loosely in his hands.
As soon as Fanny heard the voice of her little master, she stoppedrunning, and soon stood still. Then Johnnie Jones jumped out of the cartand began to pat her. Fanny was very much ashamed of herself, and rubbedher nose against his sleeve, as if to say: "I am sorry, Johnnie Jones,but that boy surprised me. I'll never act so again."
Johnnie Jones drove on to the shop and then back home, but he was soangry with Charley that he would not let him ride any further.
"I don't like you any more," he told him.
And I do not blame Johnnie Jones, do you? For I could not like a b
oy whowould be so cowardly and unkind as to hurt an animal.
* * * * *
Fanny and Little Brother
One day, Elizabeth came with her mother to spend the day in the countrywith Mrs. Jones and the little boys. The children had enjoyed themselvesvery much, playing all the morning. Just before lunch they ran down tothe field where Fanny and Tim, the carriage horse, were, to pick somewild flowers for the table. Little Brother was with them, and while theothers were gathering the flowers, he toddled away, and lay down in thetall grass.
The two mothers were sitting under the trees near the house. From wherethey sat they could see the children in the field.
"Aren't you afraid to let the children play there where the horses are?"Elizabeth's mother asked Mrs. Jones.
"No indeed," she answered. "Tim and Fanny love them too well to hurtthem."
But just then Tim and Fanny began to play "Tag," as they often did, forthey were great friends. Fanny pretended to bite Tim, and came gallopingup the field as fast as ever she could. She did not see Little Brother,lying directly in front of her, hidden by the tall grass. On she came,galloping rapidly towards him.
Mother saw her, and was so frightened she could hardly stand, for shethought the baby would be trampled down by the pony. She started to run,but of course she could not run as fast as Fanny, and besides, she wasmuch further away.
Fanny rushed on until she was within a few feet of the baby. Then shesaw him! She tried to stop, but was moving too rapidly. Being a wiselittle pony, she saw there was but one thing to do, and she did it. Shejumped and landed on the other side of the baby without touching him,though her foot just did miss his head.
Mother caught Little Brother up in her arms, and examined him carefully.She could scarcely believe he had escaped without any injury, and wasvery happy indeed, when she found that such was the case.
"I don't believe any other pony would have had so much sense," she said.
That evening, when Father had heard of Little Brother's narrow escape,he told Mother and Johnnie Jones about an experience he had had when ababy.
His father had owned a wise old horse whose name was Charley. One dayCharley was eating the grass in the yard, and Johnnie Jones's father,who was then only a baby three years old, was lying on the ground,playing with the leaves After a while old Charley had eaten all thegrass near by, except the very long delicious blades underneath thebaby. He couldn't ask the little boy to move away, because he couldn'ttalk. So, very carefully, he took hold of the baby's dress with histeeth, lifted him up, and set him down on the other side of the yard.He did not even frighten him, but the mother, who was looking out of thewindow, was very much frightened, until she saw that the baby had notbeen harmed.
Mother and Johnnie Jones agreed that Charley had shown almost as muchsense as Fanny, but that it wasn't very safe to leave little childrenalone when there were horses and ponies about.
* * * * *
When Johnnie Jones Learned to Swim
One summer, when Johnnie Jones was six, he and the other members of thefamily spent a month in the woods. They lived in a small log house whichwas close to a beautiful lake, and almost completely surrounded bytrees. Johnnie Jones enjoyed the life there immensely. He learned torow a light boat on the water, and every day he went for a long walkthrough the woods, meeting many birds and small wild animals on theway. Sometimes, in the distance, he caught a glimpse of the beautiful,graceful deer, which were too timid to permit him to come very nearthem.
Just in front of the house was a wooden dock where Johnnie Jones likedto play, but where he was never allowed to go alone as the water aboutit was very deep. "Teach me to swim," he said to his father. "Then Ishall be able to play wherever I please."
Father had been intending to give Johnnie Jones lessons in swimming andwas only waiting for a warm, sunshiny day. Such a day came very soon,and, about twelve o'clock, he and Johnnie Jones, dressed in theirbathing suits, went in the water. The little boy considered bathinggreat fun as long as he remained close to shore where the water wasshallow but he did not like it so well when Father carried him out tothe raft, where the water was so deep that it reached the shoulders ofthe grown people standing in it.
"Now, son," Mr. Jones said, "I want you to stand on the raft, and jumpwhen I count three. I will catch you in my arms, let you go down underthe water, and bring you up again. Remember to hold your breath, so thatyou will not take any of the water into your nose or mouth. Perhaps youhad better keep one hand over your face for fear you might forget andtry to breathe before you reach the surface. Now jump, I am quite readyto catch you."
Johnnie Jones stood on the raft and looked down at the water. He did notwant to jump into it, but neither did he want to disappoint his father.Besides he wished very much to learn to swim.
"Will you be certain to catch me?" he asked Father.
"I promise you I will," he answered.
Johnnie Jones knew that Father always kept his promise, so, after amoment or two, he said he was ready.
"One, two, three, jump!" said Father. And Johnnie Jones obeyed.
As soon as he touched the water he felt Father's strong arms abouthim, and then he did not mind going down, down, into it. In a secondhe came to the surface again, of course dripping wet, but withouthaving swallowed any water, as he had remembered to hold his breath.
After the first plunge, he enjoyed taking others, and jumped into thewater as many times as Father would catch him. Next day they went inbathing again, and Father carried Johnnie Jones out to the raft asbefore. But when the little boy was ready to jump, Father said: "To-day,I shall not catch you when you first touch the water; I shall wait untilyou come to the surface by yourself, and then I shall hold you up."
After he had jumped into the water, Johnnie Jones was surprised to findthat he came up again just as quickly as when Father's arms had beenunder him. Then while Father held him he lay flat on the water andpaddled himself about with his hands and feet.
In a few days the little boy learned to swim a short distance, quitealone, although he was not allowed to go into the water unless an olderperson were with him.
One day, before Johnnie Jones had learned to swim very well, he had anexciting experience. He was on the dock with his uncle, and a very highwind was blowing the water into waves, which dashed against the dockwith a roaring sound. Indeed the waves were so noisy, that when JohnnieJones suddenly slipped and fell off the dock, his uncle, whose back wasturned, did not hear the splash.
However, a boatman at the boat-house saw Johnnie Jones fall, and he ranas fast as possible, towards the dock.
Meantime Johnnie Jones sank down into the water, and came up to thesurface again. The brave little fellow remembered what to do. He closedhis mouth, and holding one hand over his nose, he paddled with theother, until he was able to grasp the dock, against which the wind wasblowing him. He held on bravely, never opening his mouth to cry, nortaking his hand from his face.
In less than a minute, though it seemed much longer to Johnnie Jones,his uncle and the boatman had drawn him from the water. He was not inthe least harmed by his unexpected bath because he had remembered, evenwhile he was falling, the proper thing to do.
Mother stripped off his wet clothing, and after she had rubbed him untilhe was all in a glow, she wrapped him in blankets so that he should nottake cold.
Johnnie Jones went to sleep. When he awoke he felt very well, and wasglad when he heard Father say: "You were a brave boy and I am proud ofyou."
Johnnie Jones's uncle was sorry he had been so careless as to turn hisback when the wind was blowing such a gale, and promised that it shouldnever happen again.
Johnnie Jones was more careful, too, and had no further trouble in thewater. Every day, Father gave him a swimming lesson, and before the timecame to return to the city, Johnnie Jones felt very much at home in thewater. He could swim very well, and could float, lying flat on his back,but another summer passed b
efore he had quite learned to dive.