All round the house it was as light as day.

Long tongues of flame were flying far away over the fields, shedding their glare here and there on the front of a whitewashed house, while up above on the level ground it was still dark, under the shadow of the vessel.

And now a glitter was seen, and a rumble was heard in the direction of the town.

The fire brigade was on its way.
And from the farmhouses which lay near, down over the fields, but chiefly in the avenue leading from the town, people were to be seen running, first singly, then two or three, then several together, until the crowd in the avenue appeared like a close black mass, dotted here and there with red-and-white specks.

When Gabriel got down again to the house he was at his wits' ends, and, leaning against the garden wall, he sobbed aloud.
Some one came skirting along the wall; it was the schoolmaster, Aalbom.
He recognized Gabriel, and stopped.