it was not quite bedtime; for they had tea early at the island, so that after the fire was lighted in the big chimney the children might have a little hour with the grown-ups for a game or a story, or for whatever pleasant thing might happen.
kenneth and rose ran to get their fat cushions, and put them down in the two corners of the hearth. kenneth’s cushion was red, and he always sat on the right hand of the fireplace. rose’s cushion was blue, and she sat on the left.
papa began to poke the fire to make it burn more brightly, for it was not so big and bustling a blaze as usual.
“somebody forgot to fill the wood-box,” he said. “we need a nice crisp birch log to make[19] the fire crackle. who wants to run out to the wood-pile and bring one in?”
“i do!” cried kenneth, jumping up eagerly.
“oh, i do!” cried rose, jumping up too.
“well, you may both go,” said papa. “and between you i think you can bring in a good big one. but mind not to trip over it.”
out they ran to the wood-pile, which was close behind the house on the edge of the forest, where rose suspected that the fairies lived, and where kenneth was sure that there were indians. but neither kenneth nor rose was afraid. they were very brave children, especially by daylight.
“here is a nice little log,” said rose.
“oh, that isn’t half big enough,” cried kenneth scornfully. “let’s carry this one, rose. this is something like;” and he seized one of the very largest logs in the wood-pile.
“all right,” said rose; and she bravely stretched her little arms around the other end. they tugged and they tugged, and they grunted and grunted, and they pulled and[20] pulled; and finally, after pushing and hauling and rolling and shoving it, they got the log up on to the piazza, where it fell with a bang! out came their father and mother to see what all the noise meant.
“mercy!” cried their mother. “how could you two children bring in such an enormous log as that? aren’t your poor little backs broken?”
“i’m not so very small. i’m ten,” said kenneth, drawing himself up.
“and i am seven,” said rose proudly.
“of course,” said their father; “it is good exercise for them, mama, and will make them big and strong. don’t you remember the story about the poor little girl who learned to carry a cow upstairs, and so the prince married her?”
“oh, how did she learn?” cried rose eagerly. “could i do it?”
“why, you see, she carried the little calf upstairs every day—every day of its life. of course it was growing all the time, so that before she knew it, the calf had become a big[21] cow, and the little girl was carrying the cow upstairs as easily as you please. then the prince came along and married her.”
“that sounds like one of aunt clare’s stories,” said rose.
“what did he want to marry her for?” asked kenneth. “princes’ wives don’t need to carry cows, do they?”
“well, i forget the rest of the story,” said papa. “but there was a reason; a very good reason indeed, if i could only remember it. there always is a reason for things in fairy stories, isn’t there, rosie?”
“yes, indeed!” said rose. but kenneth sniffed.
papa seized the big log in both arms as easily as the princess did the cow, carried it in and threw it on the fire, which spouted up with a burst of sparks, like a fiery fountain. the bark began to crackle deliciously. rose and kenneth cuddled down on their cushions, one on each side of the fire, and watched the little tongues of flame lick the old log greedily.[22] they loved the fire. usually it made somebody think of a story.
suddenly rose cried out “oh!” so loudly that even kenneth jumped. rose was pointing into the fire, and her forehead was puckered with distress.
“why, what is it, rose?” asked her mother.
“oh, oh!” cried rose again. “oh, the poor little ants! do look!”
sure enough! the old log must have been an ants’ house. the poor little things were creeping out of the holes in it and scurrying wildly about in every direction, seeking a way of escape from their dwelling, which was growing hotter and hotter every minute.
the foremost of them tried to climb down the andirons. but these were too hot, and soon they went scurrying back again. they grew wilder and wilder, wandering about crazily as if they did not know what to do. their home was surrounded by flame on every side. some of them tried to jump down. but[23] rose shuddered to see the poor things fall into the fire or upon the hot hearth and shrivel up into sad little cinders. it was too dreadful!
“oh, mama and papa, what shall we do?” she cried. “i cannot bear to see them. it is just like a house full of people being burned, with nobody to help. kenneth, can’t we do something?”
“ding-dong! call out the fire-engine!” roared kenneth, jumping up and galloping to the kitchen for a pail of water. kenneth was always ready for a new game.
“water will do no good. you cannot put out the fire without drowning them,” called kenneth’s father. “i am afraid the poor ants are doomed, rosie. it is like a crowded tenement house, isn’t it?” he said to mama. “the poor little creatures crowd together like people in the upper-story windows, hoping for a ladder.”
“that is what they need—a fire-escape,” cried rose. “oh, i must make a fire-escape quickly!”
[24]she ran to the wood-box and seized a long, flat piece of wood. this she took for her fire-escape, resting one end on the rug in front of the hearth, and the other on top of the log which had now caught fire and was blazing briskly. it made a nice little bridge from the burning wood above the hot hearthstone. almost immediately an ant spied the fire-escape and started across it eagerly. another followed him; then another and another, until a constant procession was filing down the bridge toward safety.
“hurrah!” cried rose, as the first ant reached the rug; but she stopped suddenly. “look at him!” she cried. “he is going back!”
sure enough, back he was going,—back to the burning log. and all the other ants were doing the same thing. one after another they returned up the fire-escape, stopping to wave their feelers and make signs to all the ants whom they met coming down. they must have told these last something to make[25] them change their minds; for every single one turned about as soon as he was told. presently it was plain what they meant. the ants were coming out in crowds, and each was carrying something white in its mouth.
“the ant babies! they are trying to save the ant babies!” cried rose. and that is exactly what they were doing. eagerly the children watched the crowds running down the fire-escape with their precious burdens. faster and faster they came, and the hearthrug was black with them when papa took it up gently and carried it out to shake it over the piazza railing. how glad the poor little ants must have been to feel the cool grass under their feet!
they were all saved at last, and it was high time, for the log was now one mass of flame.
“i think you should have a fireman’s medal for life-saving, rose,” said her mother.
“oh, i ought not to have a medal,” said rose modestly. “i only built the fire-escape. but every one of those brave ants who came[26] back into the fire and saved the babies ought to have one.”
“yes, we should call them heroes if they had been men,” said papa.
“they would rather have something sweet than a medal,” said kenneth, who knew a great deal about sweet things.
“sure enough!” cried rose, clapping her hands. “mama, may i scatter some sugar out there in the grass where papa shook the ants?”
her mother said that she might. so i dare say the rescued ants had a jolly banquet that night to celebrate their wonderful escape. but i suppose that the ant babies were too little to share in it.
