Hunting her had had one good effect, it had occupied the boys and
prevented them from carrying anything off. The stable was safe. What
had been burnt was the hay rick, whence the flames had climbed to the
house. The roof had fallen in, and the walls and chimney stood up
blackened and dismal, but there was a good deal of stone about the
house, the roof was of shingle, and the heavy fall, together with the
pouring rain, had done much to choke the fire, so that when Blane
began to throw aside the charred bits of beams and of the upper
floor, more proved to be unburnt, or at least only singed, than could
have been expected.
The great black iron pot still hung in the chimney with the very meal
and kail broth that Patience had been boiling in it, and Rusha's
little stool stood by the hearth. Then the great chest, or ark as
Patience called it, where all the Sunday clothes were kept, had been
crushed in and the upper things singed, but all below was safe. The
beds and bedding were gone; but then the best bed had been only a box
in the wall with an open side, and the others only chaff or straw
stuffed into a sack.
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