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Show Kn adventure of i jflfHE FIRE PATROL I j -J- ' BY BAY STANNARD BAKER J K ' t g, s. McCluro Company.) ' . tdl yet In tho flre houses of the in?? ! of Skrine p-nd his men. '"as a stubby Pennsylvanlan, ? Lnely broad shoulders, long iaowJ nd a good-humored H? "blotched In places with blue rS 2Sf':aw. He taIked wIth a k 5rCn,o the result of a deep slit rMiTr ilo where he had been cut , surr ,'c For upward of ten Jgg s a lieutenant of the lire 3 ic this difference between the ?S f.Jfment and the lire patrol. One fZ? Arc the other saves from f2r f 'tS fire department is a branch feL f,.- hilc service; Mie lire patrol is a inany of Picked men supported ' fwlSIrance underwriters as a Z adjunct in the saving of prop-members prop-members of both organiza-1 organiza-1 trained to the same grim ' their uniforms and equipments tiiu- 60 that in the- rush of a 'm ffti It la difficult to tell them ? J Jfrd both deal calmly Jn the busi- i00 of the 151,1 ?f Ma"hr a Liiarm called tho engines 01 Mc- Q2T district to Washington avenue 1 l Trils court A big black hulk of a ' J, c tlx stories high, ytood near the r?; t n was occupied as a carriage US with a display room on the i foor Before the firemen came 4 iLrs were in darkness, and if It t (ire it kept the secret, grimly. Lj,ey slid down from his red I SVaron and found a bare-headed J isin hopping up and down on the i iid shouting. l Ure needed only a draft of fresh i ZrA nhen tho door was opened Ivt"-; IMC lower half of the building, VVsL i Ii5 oil soaked iloors and walls ' j suddenly Into flame. Before the ttarn stiffened against the cornice FCESj roared liko a smelter chimney ht' ift windows In the top story. Sl' rzt, coming late with hia men, saw ! iKjnickeye that the carriage fac- TO 'tis doomed. Next to it on the kz.' hetood a sturdy brick-faced bulld- V joflories high The first floor was Trj cl y a plnno merchant: the eec- 5 j if a dealer In wall paper and --li; itries. Already the streams from Jlsyj nifty's engines were sozzllng in IKK tij oa the roof. Serine's wagon t eddoje to tho curbing and Noonan Hall tossed out the bundles of yel- U lUrpaulln. Skrine led the way n,, jjj al!: drencher sidewalk and with a ton- of his axe drovo In the icak doors of the piano store. The i ws thick and choking with tr, the gas jet which Nelson EjgUamed through it like a misty It'Djii.miis jx)nd floor the wall paper was '..'jjjos Ions' tables and shelves, thou- TTTjp of dollars worth of 1L One man M'.tM&i tbe tarpaulins with a certain 4 jiatflncss; two others, one at each I I I T T I I I I T fT end, lifted them and stretched them over the wall paper, pulling th. edges down until they reached well under the tables. Great blisters formed on the papered ceiling, to burst a moment later and let down a sudden douche of water If it had struck a tarpaulin top so much money was saved to the Insurance company. com-pany. If It struck an uncovered pile of paper, fo much was loat. Working thus with orderlv haste Skrine s men came at length to "the alley end of the building, where the smoke was creeping in around the windows. As they prepared to go down the back stairs, Skrine heard a shrill shout of warning from the street, and then he was conscious of the horror-pause the pause when shouting m-en draw in their breath and wait for something to happen. hap-pen. He leaped down the stairs, four steps at a time, the other men following. follow-ing. Once more they heard the warning shout, andiac they reached the first floor they saw the far-away flicker of a lantern. Then from above there came a terrillc crash of rending timbers. The celling crumpled like a collapsed tent ana ion with a deafening roar. The tlrst floor went with it Into the basement. Skrine was half atunned. When be tried to turn there was a stinging pain in his back and leg. It was pitch dark and cold and smoky. As he listened he heard indistinctly the clamor of people In the street; and he knew that the wall of the carriage factory must have fallen and driven In the building above like a crush hat Overhead the timbers were crackling and settling, and by the sign of the icy water that dripped in his face he knew that the -firemen were "cooling" the ruins. "Nelson!" he called; "Noonan1" "Hello, lieutenant." came Noonnn's voice, not an arm's length away. Noonan Noo-nan was a joking Iltle Irishman. "I can't get up," he said, "a piano's playln' on me back." They hear some one groan. "It's nail," said Skrine. At that Nelson and Bergulst, who were further away, began to shout. They all jolnedi in, but their voices were lost In the roar of the flre. Nelson reached out and touched Hall's face. "I guess we're done for," he yald, but Hall did not answer. They la.y at the foot of an inclined plane; the first floor had been wrenched loose along one side and driven to tho bottom of the basement. At its lower edge a little pocket formed by the stair-posts stair-posts protected them from the weight of a thousand 'tons of brick, rent timbers tim-bers ahd broken pianos. Through the ruins they saw a bright glimmer of flre. At first it was a mere hazy yellow whlsp. blurred) with smoke, but it leaped swiftly Into a red glare, kindling the tangled heaps of wall paper, pa-per, one after another. They Joined again in a wild shout for help. There was no response but the sharp musketry of the flames in the ruins and the shrill screeching of the on- Sines In the street outside. Skrine, groping with his hand In the darkness, touched his lantern. After several futile attempts, he succeeded In lighting it. Through the dense fog of smoke he saw Hall lying face down ward, under a great weight of ruins. He viia groaning and begging for help. Noonan was part way under a piano; Nelson and Berquist were free, although a good deal bruised. Skrine himrclf found that his foot was pinned fast un- der a fallen timber. They notched a lath, and poked the lantern up through the ruins, shouting at the same time, but they were burled too deep to attract attention. A bundle of blazing papers came down upon "SKRINE. CROUCHtD ON ,' HIS KN AND BE.&AN WITH Xm'-Ml-yMX V I SWIFT, POWE-rtFUU STROKE.S TO """f jMMZy t liLimiimnaaag uuuamt-iuiiii. ...... . ,, . .. . . , them. Nelson took it deliberate In his bare hands, threw it to one side, and beat it into smoking fragments. Hall, who was farthest down on thc slanting floor, stopped groaning suddenly sud-denly and shrieked out: "What's this?" On the cement bottom of thc base- r ment along the wall, lay a dark, narrow pool pf water. They watched it for a moment with fascinated eyes. Little rivers ran down the flood to feed It. The ruins above them dripped icy cataracts. cat-aracts. Nelson's hand, laid on the ( margin of the pool, was soon covered. . "Tho basement Is filling up," observed ob-served Skrine. Again they swung thc lantern and I shouted, this time with a kind of fran-I fran-I tic energy. Their chink ln the ruins, j was. hardly more than three feet highi : At the rale the water was rising they I knew they could not hope to survive many minutes, even if they escaped the flre and smoke. But no one heard their shouts. .McCaffrey and his men had given them up for lost. Hall waa now crying pitifully for help, The Icy water of the pool was creeping up around him. Berquist and Nelson crawled over to help hlin, but his body was burled1 under tons of rub-blah. rub-blah. They chopped and pulled and lifted until Hall's face wa3 ashy gray with yain. "It's no use," he said presently. Nelson held up Hull's chin. The water creeping up the incline of the floor was licking his throat. By this time Noonan had managed to wrench himself free from the ruin?, and he and Berquist now turned their attention atten-tion to Skrine. They slltted his boot planted his uninjured foot on a timber so tho he could push and gave and arm to each of them. They braced themselves, them-selves, and Skrine came from under the joist with tho sharp snap of a lo.os-ened lo.os-ened ankle. Skrine dragged himself painfully around the confines of their niche In ther ulns. The fallen tlmpers formed an immovable arch above them, with no opening avenue of escape Below them the water was creeping up, and j other them the flre was creeping down. Already the smoke was so dense and suffocating that they gasped and choked, with their faces held close to tho floor. And yet Skrine saw a single desperate chance of escape. He crept as high up on the slanting floor as the ruins would permit, and Noonan passed him an ax. Skrine crouched on his kneea and began with swift, poworful strokes to chop a hole through the floor ln the forlorn hope that some outlet of refuge might be found In the other part of the basement. The water continued to pour Into the basement from a dozen hose leads. By otralnlng hard Hall lifted his head the width of a finger higher. but tho creeping water lapped his chin. Again Nelson wrenched desperately at the timbers above him. "It's no use. boys," Hall said, calmly. A moment later Skrine heard a sudden sud-den sharp gasp When he turned to look he saw Nelson holding the lantern significantly over the pool. Hall had disappeared. Berquist, who had been crouching on the floor, shook from head to foot as with a chill. Suddenly he leaped to j his knees and began to tear frantically I ; at thc ruins with his bare hands. Skrine j H shouted at him, fearing that he might ', IH dislodge tho rubbish and bring it down i upon them. Berquist was one of On I pluckiest men on the force, but he could H not stand the awful irtraln of waiting jH for the inexorable, creeping death ! which had come to Hall. It was thc un- H governable terror of a man penned. IH Skrine seized Berqulst's shoulders with , IH a grip of iron and bore him back to tho k H t H "Thlth won't do, Berqullh." he i H drawled, lisping, and he choked him A H until his eyes bulged. I H Then he let Berquist up and gave I H him the ax. With something to do H Berquist became a fireman again con), j , IH determined and brave and the chips IH flew from the tough floor. H It secmd hours lo Ihcin that they lay lH on thc slippery slant of tjie floor. They H were drenched and numbed, the smoke H ate their eyes and burned and griped I H In their throats, and yet each pecked H away until he was too dizzy and weal: H to sec, and then he passed the ax to H his neighbor. And the water crept H higher and higher. Before the hole was H well through Noonan, weak with pain H and half suffocated, fell limp and un- H conscious. Skrine pushed him to one H side without a word and went on fu- H riouely with thc chopping. Noonan jH went down next and Nelson succumbed H Just as he was ready to crawl through H the hole, which was now completed. H Skrlnc's head was splitting with pain, H his burning eyes could hardly see tli- JH dim glimmer of thc lantern, and his : I IH legs were numb with cold and pain, ,H 1m Un. tint Is I." tA.itl, n.wl I ..n.l V I r.1 ' W H self through thc hole. In the other part H of the basement thc water was over jH wo feet deep, but thc air was better. iH Skrine turned and dragged Nelson's ' IH limb body out through the hole and I B proppod it on a pile of boxes. Then he B returned for Noonan and Berquist. Hi HBSJ knew that thc basement was filling HBSJ rapidly and that unless they escaped at H once all their work would go for noth- H ing H Skrine reeled like a drunken man and Jl at every step his crushed foot pained lll him 'terribly. But he seized Noonan IH and Nelson and hobbled with them to- 1 ward thc front of thc building. He held thc lantern in his teeth. At last he saw the faint glimmer from a basement , , window. He shouted again and again, but in the pandemonium of roaring fire and rushing water no one heard him. , He held up his lantern and waved It around his head. ; H A lieutenant and two men, running to see what caused the light in the win-dow, win-dow, heard some one call faintly. They scrambled Into the basement and rolled ,t IH Nelson and Noonan out like logs. Skrine : held back, mumbling and pointing, and 1 they went for Berquist. " McCaffrey, bending over Skrine. ' heard him say: "Blarmed thmoky in that hole." ' A board of control passed resolutions and had them engrossed, suitable for jH framing and hanging on the wall 1 Skrine, not being accustomed to sucli things, stowed them away in the depths JH of a tarpaulin locker, which wr. like IH Skdne. IH |