 Wherever they are, they drop what they're doing, check with the phone operator to learn the location of the fire, and at their best speed, the volunteers close in, on foot, in cars, and some even on horseback. Already the engine driver has arrived. Tim's cousin Ellery, chief of the volunteer brigade, has climbed up beside the driver, reaches for the bell cord, and as Tim Collins leaps to a post on the rear step of the engine, it pulls out into the village street to begin the run of Pangover Hills and the burning schoolhouse.