Some neighbours were walking together in the cool of the day, watching the fall of the twilight, and talking of this and that; and as they walked, they saw at a little distance a light, as it were a house on fire.

“From the direction, that must be our neighbour William’s house,” said one. “Ought we not to warn him of the danger?”

“I see only a little flame,” said another; “perchance it may go out of itself, and no harm done.”

“I should be loth to carry ill news,” said a third; “it is always a painful thing to do.”

“William is not a man who welcomes interference,” said a fourth. “I should not like to be the one to intrude upon his privacy; probably he knows about the fire, and is managing it in his own way.”

While they were talking, the house burned up.