arms--over yonder in the right-hand corner! The ladders, there! A hundred pounds

to the man who makes the rescue!"

 

A dozen start. One man more supple than the others, and reckless in his bravery,

clambers to the top rung of the ladder.

 

"Too short!" he cries. "Hoist another!"

 

Up it goes. He mounts to the window, fastens the rope, lashes mother and babe,

swings them off into ugly emptiness, and lets them down to be rescued by his

comrades.

 

"Bravo, fireman!" shouts the crowd.

 

A crash breaks through the uproar of crackling timbers.

 

"Look alive, up there! Great God! The roof has fallen!"

 

The walls sway, rock, and tumble in with a deafening roar. The spectators cease

to breathe. The cold truth reveals itself. The fireman has been carried into the

seething furnace. An old woman, bent with the weight of age, rushes through the

fire line, shrieking, raving, and wringing her hands and opening her heart of

grief.

 

"Poor John! He was all I had! And a brave lad he was, too! But he's gone now. He