At intervals news came of what was doing behind the smoke cloud. The
area of the flames spread all night. People who had decided that their
houses were outside of the dangerous area and had decided to pass the
night, even after the terrible experience of the shake-up, under their
roofs, hourly gave up the idea and struggled to the parks. There they
lay in blankets, their choicest valuables by their sides, and the
soldiers kept watch and order. Many lay on the bare grass of the park,
with nothing between them and the chill night air. Fortunately, the
weather was clear and mild, but among those who lay under the open sky
were men and women who were delicately reared, accustomed all their
lives to luxurious surroundings, and these must have suffered severely
during that night of terror.
The fire was going on in the district south of them, and at intervals
all night exhausted fire-fighters made their way to the plaza and
dropped, with the breath out of them, among the huddled people and the
bundles of household goods. The soldiers, who were administering affairs
with all the justice of judges and all the devotion of heroes, kept
three or four buckets of water, even from the women, for these men, who
continued to come all the night long. There was a little food, also
kept by the soldiers for these emergencies, and the sergeant had in his
charge one precious bottle of whisky, from which he doled out drinks to
those who were utterly exhausted.
But there was no panic.
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