The fire was raging through the area so quickly that people in the neighborhood were being herded onto buses and trucks to move them out of the path of the wildfire. The smoke could be seen in the distance.

The town of Pleasent was situated in a valley with only one road leading out. And there was a fire approaching that road.

Egen watched from a distance. He was a drifter in town and decided to be the last to board.

One of the women was hysterical, crying "where's my baby, where's my baby? Has anyone seen my baby." Her little girl was 5 or 6.

"Mam, the children were taken out hours ago."

"Are you sure? Did you see her there?"

"No Mam, we counted heads. We have 57 children here and 57 were delivered to the relief station."

They did not give her time for more discussion. The deputy and a woman helped her on the bus.

Egen thought to himself that he had seen a little girl of about the age of the woman's girl heading towards the woods an hour ago, after the children had been taken away. They must have overlooked the girl and counted wrong.

"Hey! Where're you going?" The sheriff yelled at him.

"Somebody might have been left."

"Nobody has been left! We must leave now before the fire cuts off the only way out of this valley."

But Egen did not listen. He knew the risk and it did not matter.

He ran along the route he saw the little girl walking. He hoped she was somewhere the fire had not yet reached.

He found a barn. He could hear a very faint cry. It was hard to hear anything over the roar of the fire. He could not tell whether the cry was coming from an animal or a child.

The fire had already reached the back of the barn. Straw in the back was contributing to the spread of the flames as well as the smoke. That was where he found the little girl. She was coughing.

He started towards her when a part of the building fell in his path. He kicked the burning wood out of his way.

When he reached her she was unconscious.

He just pulled her out and rushed out of the building.

He ran about fifty yards out into a field before stopping. He laid the girl down and checked her over for a pulse, breathing and any injuries. Her breathing was shallow and she had some abrasions on her head and arm.

He left her in the field to grab some burning wood. He used it to start a backfire downwind from the girl. This fire burned rapidly with the approach of the main fire.

He picked her up again and carried her over tot he burned out area. As soon as he felt that he had enough space around them he kicked at the ground to clear enough space for them to lie down without being burned by the ashes.

He laid her down and covered her body as much as he could to protect her from the flames. He used his shirt to cover her face to filter the smoke as much as possible.

He could feel the sting of the fire as it passed around them. The smoke stung his lungs.

At last the blaze passed by.

He again checked the girl. She appeared fine. So he picked her up and headed for town hoping to find some shelter that had not burned down.

The town was still on fire. But he found a water faucet from which he was able to obtain water. He washed out a metal bucket he found nearby and filled it.

He washed off her face and applied water to her mouth. She woke up screaming. He hugged her until she stopped, trying to assure her with words and the tone of his voice.

She calmed to sobbing on his shoulder.

When she stopped crying they went looking for shelter from the night that was coming on. They found a house that escaped the flames. There was little vegetation around it to bring the fire close. They made themselves comfortable on the porch for the night.

The girl slept fitfully through the night. There were a couple of times that she woke up screaming. Egen would take her in his arms and assure her that she was safe and that they would find her mother in the morning.

Morning light revealed how much of the town had burned down. He was surprised that there were still places standing as with the place they found to take shelter. Fires were still burning in the homes that were not spared.

The girl clung tightly to him as they walked through town to the side from which the town folk would return. There was no sight of anyone yet.

They found a place in the shade to wait until someone arrived.

Both were asleep when the truck pulled into town. Some of the male residents had returned to check on the town. Egen heard them and as he woke the little girl she started screaming from fright.

The men hearing this came running. They immediately jumped Egen and started beating and kicking him. They beat him to unconsciousness.

When he came to more of the town's residents had arrived, including the mother of the little girl. She was thanking the men that had beaten Egen up for saving her little girl.

They noticed him and called for his arrest. The deputy slapped handcuffs on him. But there was no longer a jail to place him in. So he was cuffed with his arms around the flagpole in middle of town.

He was left out there all night without food or water. Some of the men visited him again in the night to tell him not to touch any of their children and to shove him into the pole.

The next day the sheriff showed up. After talking with the men that beat Egen, the mother and the little girl he ordered his deputy to release him.

"I am not going to keep you because the girl said that you did not hurt her. But I want you out of my county and I had better never see you again. Do you hear me boy?"

With his mouth so dry he could not talk, but only nodded.

The deputy took him, shoved him in the back of the county truck and drove off for the county line. A couple of the men that beat him joined him for the ride.

They made a point to kick him a few more times before throwing him out of the truck without it even stopping.