CRISTOBAL.
31
out thicker and faster; tongues of flame leap to the sky; the bells clang hoarsely; the Christmas procession is broken into wild disorder; the wheels of the engine roll through the streets, unheard in the din.
Cristobal rushed eagerly toward the flames, but was pulled away by the people.
"We cannot drown the fire!" they cried: "the building must fall! Are the inmates all safe?"
"All, thank Heaven!" cried the count.
"No: Jasper! See, he waves his hand from the third story! Save him! save my boy!"
Jasper had set fire to a curtain with his fatal Christmas-candle. Now he raved and shouted in vain: no one would venture up the ladder.
"O Little Jesus," whispered Cristobal, "give light to my eyes, even as unto my soul! Let me save Jasper!"
