Then down he flops onto his knees in the snow, prayin' like the--prayin' like _mad_, you understan', and callin' on the blessed Virgin to save little Patsy, who was just gittin' good with his drum-major act and whirlin' a fake musket--and also little Joseph, who was learnin' to do some card-tricks that wasn't so bad.

Well, so everybody begins to scream louder and run this way and that, you understan', callin' the kids and thinkin' Kelly was nutty, because they must 'a got out.

But Kelly keeps right on prayin' to the holy Virgin, the tears runnin' down his make-up--say, he looked awful, on the dead! And then we hears another yell, and here was Prof.at the window with one of the kids, sure enough.
He'd got up them two flights of stairs, though they was all red smoky, like when you see fire through smoke.

Well, he motions to catch the kid, so we snatches a cloak off one of the girls and holds it out between us, you understan', while he leans out and drops the kid into it, all safe and sound.
"Just then we seen the place all light up back of him, and we yelled to him to jump, too--he could 'a saved himself, you understan', but he waves his hand and shook his head--say, lookin' funny, too, with his _mus_-tache half burned off, and we seen him go back out of sight for the other little Kelly--Kelly still promisin' to give up all he had to the Virgin if she saved his boys.
"Well, for a minute the crowd kep' still, kind 'a holdin' its breath, you understan', till the Prof.'d come back with the other kid--and holdin' it and holdin' it till the fire gits brighter and brighter through the window--and--nothin' happens, you understan'-- just the fire keeps on gittin' busy.

Honest, I begun to feel shaky, but then up comes one of these day-after-to-morrow fire-departments, like they have in them towns, with some fine painted ladders and a nice new hose-cart, and there was great doings with these Silases screamin' to each other a foot away through their fire-trumpets, only the stairs had been ablaze ever since the Prof.got up 'em, and before any one does anything the whole inside caves in and the blaze goes way up to the sky.
"Well, of course, that settles it, you understan'-- about the little Kelly and the Prof.We drags the original Kelly away to a drug-store on the corner of the next block, where they was workin' over the kid Prof.
saved--it was Patsy--and Kelly was crazy; but the Doc.