POPULARITY. 163 



they had issued safely from the house, 

 each bearing on his head a cask of gun- 

 powder. These they carried safely to the 

 guard-house, distant about sixty or seventy 

 yards, and there left in charge of the 

 officer on duty ; and then they returned 

 to receive the cheers and congratulations 

 of the crowd on the success of their ha- 

 zardous enterprize. 



The engines now played with redoubled 

 force, the fire was soon subdued, and 

 its ravages confined to that one house. 



This exemplary act of courage, showing a 

 disregard of danger when a great calamity 

 was impending, raised him very much in 

 the estimation of the whole community, 

 and he long held a commanding influence 

 in the town; for he could at all times 

 raise or control the vox populi, whether 

 at a political meeting, or any other pub- 

 lic occasion such as a day set aside for 

 rural sports and rejoicings, in which all 



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