Show 4 GAN THE all baie R 1 0 i 4 HAROLD GARTER CARTER blog bilogan had squealed albere there could not be any greater afe laid in tile the emans decalogue t alrid d nobody had thought it possible of gall only six mouth months on the police acl he be had already begun to attract oti as aa a clean sprucely dressed baart art patrolman ile he wro just tho the nd ad of roan who would occupy a sor desk some day and now he feasts ants ant s larf d squealed alt it was as at the inquiry y about pat braar it Bra rady dr vio alo lad had been given the third agree in the station house the oth 10 rr policemen had denied till all knowledge febie it but had corroborated testimony word for word bradys 1 bough lough the man was a miserable sneak q iclef lef without a friend in the world what did you do it for hogan II ogan N hey asked him afterward and hogan 11 that lie he had bad never told a lla ito fw and ad vas not going to begin I 1 i that was the beginning of the boycott 4 ott nut but there were worse things 0 han that hogan could never be I 1 ure sure when he went to his 1118 cot in the tation station house that he would not wake the floor with the t to 0 find himself on oil bed legs sawed through or that its hla locker would not have been broken into or that his uniform would not lie be a mass mas s of tattered rags or his white helmet painted green or his gloves fingerless or something worse wa arse lie he meant to stick it out for noras sake fake nora was to arrive from ireland the he following month and they were to be ie married at once it if hogale be gave u up P he ie did not know what sort of job joa ho he would be able to get it would nie mean an not only the postponement ot of their marriage but a career spoiled spelled hogan was thinking all that avei over as aa he be went on duty james who I 1 patrolled to his corner on the avenue ap J G C another bullet spun past his shoulder had been a good friend to him in the first days of his duty when ho he was a ereen creen patrolman but there were werd no more friendly chats chata on the street corner when the mn met on their patrol james passed him as though he did riot not see him who was wads going to speak to bilogan except on matters of duty who would be seen talking to a squealer clogan resumed his hia solitary beat lie he was walking with squared shoulders r I 1 and trying to look his future in the face he knew that it would tako mm bim years to live down his deputat reputation lork if lie he ever did if it were not for nora lie be would get off the force tap tap tap tap it was the sound of james jame night stick upon the sidewalk there Is no Ini mistaking staking that sound and the signal la Is never given except in desperate emergency hogan spun round and began running nin along the avenue toward his fellow patrolman at the further end was as a gathering mob of men bilogan reached the outskirts of the crowd and began to force his way through gli what Is it he hollowed bellowed man murdered hla his wifel wife crazed with dope he heard somebody say eay find and pushed to the open door of tile the house upon the bottom step james jamea lay there was wasa a bullitt wound somewhere in his body andee was drenched with blood and at the top stood the drug crazed madman brandishing his revolver and shouting defiance to all who dared try to take him hogan an did not pause just an instant he did not pause at all that la Is not the way of the police up the stairs dairy he ran three at a time and as he broached the middle of tho the flight he wt it an odd twinge in his leg and heard the crack of the revolver another bullet spun past his shoulder A third struck the wall and a n hogan felt that sudden twinge I 1 right arm this time he be nights night nightstick tick stick dropped from his hand and ho caught it to in his bis left another hound and he W was upon the madman mad maii who was fighting liko like a fury are H 0 swung the empty revolver down upon hogana II head with a thud that felled the patrolman to the floor then wih a yell the bantao bad darted up the stairs hogan looked down clown he tu tilt mi frightened mob around tho the door ile he tried to rise but blit his limbs failed him and lie he lay there then wondering whether he was paralyzed and why ho he cou ant got on his feet A yell broke from a thousand throats below iles hes fired the bonsol hoi iee A thin wisp of smoke crept down the stairs then a fiery tongue began to lick the wall above him and hogan could hear the madman yell ing as lie he watched the conflagration below him he saw james huddled up at the foot of the stairs tile the eight of him seemed scorned to give hogan new vigor lie ile got on hla his feet and began ascending the stairs ata rs As aa lie he went up lie he found that he had unconsciously picked up hla his night stick ile he never knew how he reached the upper floor dut but when ho he got there the madman was waa too busy to notice him tor for lie he was standing hg over a worn wom ans body and chile chuckling liling as ho he watched the spreading lames flames with his last reserve of strength hogan leaped at the man and brought the night stick down upon his heal head ile he tell fell like a stricken ox hogan picked up the body of the woman and staggered down tho the stairs with her ile he saw that she was still living the bullet had only pierced her arm but she was as unconscious as though tho the blow which hogan dealt had fallen on an her awil own head bead A roar of cheering greeted him as he carried the woman out into tho the street men locked flocked are around und him and tried to grasp his hand hut but hogan turned and made lila his way slowly back into the burning building they tried to stop him ile he pushed them away up up lie he went through drifting clouds of smoke and acor scorching ching fire now lie he was on the upper floor again and had picked up the body of tho the drug crazed man he swung him in his arms but the weight was too heavy and hogan pulled him down the stairs after him wrapped in lits his own tunic the smoke filled his nostrils and hogan dared not breathe because as aa all firefighters fire fighters know an inhalation of flames consumes the body within and kills more swiftly than a bullet in the brain ile he held his breath and lie he pulled the madman through that of fire down dowd and the breath came from hla big lungs and hogan drew in one gasp of fresh life giving air lie he laid the body on the sidewalk just as an ambulance camo came hurrying up A surgeon leaped from the vehicle will he be live asked hogan iles hea dead the surgeon answered alv giving ing the body a cursory survey hogan almost swore only ho he remembered that he was a policeman not him he said eald and pointed to the body of his friend oh I 1 beg pardon said the surgeon yes its only a flesh wound iles hes coming to now why this on your coat never mind me gasped hogan and fell into the surgeons arms and it was odd but the first thought that came into his mind after that was tho the fear that somebody had sawed through the legs of hla his bed the man at his bedside must have understood for ho be stretched out his hand and took hogans in his glory be my lad youre coming to he said eald no there wont be any more bed sawing hogan say lad youve got to te get well as quick as you can because the boys are waiting to give you another sort of reception cefi tion at the station house copyright 1914 by W G chapman |