He could see shadowy
figures of men running swiftly in and out and disappearing, and he
could hear the voices of women and children, and from beyond the
edge of the forest to the west came the howling of many dogs. One
voice rose above the others. It was Black Roger's, and at its
commands little groups of figures shot out into the gray smoke-
gloom and did not appear again.
North and east the sky was flaming sullen red, and a breath of air
blowing gently in David's face told him the direction of the wind.
The chateau lay almost in the center of the growing line of
conflagration.
He dressed himself and went again to the window. Quite distinctly
now, he could make out Joe Clamart under his window, running
toward the edge of the forest at the head of half a dozen men and
boys who carried axes and cross-cut saws over their shoulders. It
was the last of Black Roger's people that he saw for some time in
the open meadow, but from the front of the chateau he could hear
many voices, chiefly of women and children, and guessed it was
from there that the final operations against the fire were being
directed. The wind was blowing stronger in his face.
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