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yard. Bird was barking furiously. My father, with his arm around Mother, rushed for the back door shouting, "Get out of the house, everybody. Get out on the lawn." I pulled Tid out of bed and grabbed Julia, My doll. Julia was only a piece of stove wood with a round knot that looked like a human face. I no longer played very much with her but now, without thinking, I took her in one one hand and grabbed my sister with the other. We ran for the door, stumbling across the shaking floors, just as my father came in to get us. Fred and Billy already were outside. Then he ran next door to the house of my grandparents, the Calderwoods, to make sure they were safe. The sound of buildings collapsing in the business district, a sound like distant thunder, came from downtown. The first pale glow of dawn rose about Mount St. Helena. The first red glow of burning buildings and showers of sparks rose over the center of town.
Having seen to it that we were all on the lawn, far enough from any houses to be safe for the moment at least, Father said, "I'm going down to the Courthouse. Everybody