15. I found four fire-engines there. They were throwing four streams of water on another house which had caught fire from the other two.

16. What do you think! A woman went back into one of the houses to get something she had forgotten, and she was burned to death.

17. The firemen brought out another woman who looked as though she were dead.

18. The people said she was almost suffocated by the smoke.

19. I saw a fireman go up a long ladder, and get a little boy out of a window.

20. How glad the little fellow was to get out!

21. The sparks flew everywhere. I was afraid all the houses would take fire.

22. The flames went up high into the air. I could feel the heat a great way off.

23. The heat scorched the sides of the houses across the street.

24. The people crowded so, I was afraid they would crush me to death.

25. I shall not dare to go again till I am larger.

26. One engine did not reach the fire.

27. It got stuck in the mud in a street that was not paved.

1. One night a little boy named Oliver Johnson went out on the river near his house to skate.

2. As the weather was cold and the ice thick and strong, his mother was glad to let him go.

3. Mr. Johnson and his family lived in a new country, and they had very few neighbors.

4. Except when Oliver went to school, three miles from home, he had no one to play with.

5. So this night, which was a very bright moonlight night, Oliver went out to skate alone.

6. A little narrow stream flowed past the house to the river, a quarter of a mile beyond. 7. Oliver put on his skates near the house,

and skated down this narrow stream to the river.

8. Then he skated up the river to a place where the banks were steep and high.

9. At this place the forest began, and extended up the river many miles.

10. While Oliver was skating slowly along the left bank* of the river, he heard a strange noise on the bank above him.

11. He looked up, and saw a pack of hungry wolves coming down the bank.

12. He turned round and skated downstream with all his might.

13. The wolves jumped down upon the ice and gave chase.

14. Oliver was 'an unusually fast skater, but now he skated faster than he ever skated before.

15. The wolves could run faster than Oliver could skate.

16. They slowly gained on him. Soon the swiftest ones were almost near enough to touch his feet with their paws.

* The teacher should explain what is meant by the right bank and the left bank of a river.

17. He imagined he could feel their breath. Soon, he thought, they would catch him and tear him into pieces and devour him.

18. Just then a crack in the ice caught one of his skates. It threw him off to one side, but he did not fall down.

19. The wolves tried to stop, but they were going so fast they could not do so. They all slid right by and tumbled down in a heap on the ice.

20. The little boy skated up the river slowly. When the wolves overtook him again he cut over to one side.

21. The wolves slid by as before. Oliver would have thought this a funny sight if he had not been in danger.

22. Then he skated down the river again as fast as he could. He slackened his speed a little as he neared the mouth of the little stream.

23. He let the wolves overtake him just at the right time, and then he cut-over into the little stream.

24. The wolves slid by down the river before they could stop. Then they turned round to chase Oliver again.

25. When they reached the mouth of the little stream they were going too fast to turn in, and they all tumbled together in a heap.

26. When they got on their feet again they ran up the little brook after Oliver as fast as they could go.

27. Oliver skated toward home with all his might, but before he reached it the wolves overtook him again.

28. The brook was too narrow for him to cut-over as before. It was so narrow that but three wolves could run abreast.

29. What do you think became of Oliver? Do you think the wolves caught him, tore him into pieces, and devoured him?

30. No.

Old Bruno, the big watch-dog heard him coming. He began to bark, and ran to meet him.

31. When the wolves heard Bruno bark, they turned back and ran away.

32. They were afraid the hunters were after them with dogs and

guns.

33. So Oliver was saved by good old Bruno. After that, when Oliver went skating, Bruno went along to keep the wolves away. Adapted.