The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1885-10-22

Just when l was about to mount alone.
the ragged stranger-fellow, whom I had
before observed working so vigorously,
came running up. He had been too busy
In another place to know what was going
forward sooner. That was scarcely a
time for taking any particular notice of
peoples looks, yet 1 had In impression
that he was not altogether a stranger to
me.
He looked up to the roof. The DELAY of
those few minutes had given a fearful ad-
vantage to the fire. ''There is death up
there,n he said; sis saving this mill SO
"It it is burned I am a beggar. Every
EOpecE I am worth is in it. A hundred
roubles if you will help me save It'll"
"We can talk of the reward afterward,"
he said, as he sprang past me and up the
ladder like a cat.
be careful, and I am a heavy man. A
round broke, and down came, with a knee
SO much twisted that I could scarcely
stand. 1t was no longer in my power to
climb to the roof.
But from where I propped myself against
a wall, / could see that ragged fellow, who
was up and doing enough for three or four
| ordinary men. You should have seen how
he sent the shingles rafting down. Seen
from below, he seemed at times to be work
on without minding it. never saw ar
Englishman-let alone a R~ussian-go to it
with a better will. 1 heard the people
round me say that he worked more like a
fend than a mortal man-and so he did.
He handled the burning wood as though
his fingers had been iron instead of flesh
and bone, and scarcely seemed to shrink
from the flames that blazed up round his
face. He never appeared to rest or stay
for breath until he had succeeded in cut.
fire and the mill.
Imade the men below set the ladder 10
handily as they could for him to get down.
and he did his best to reach it. But he
being pretty much blinded and suffocated
with the smoke. Anyway, he lost his
footing. and down he went through the
r~afters, and crashed among the burning
rubbish below. 1t was an ugly fall:
We got him out as well as we could; and
snch a scorched, smoke-blackened,
smashed-up copy of Gods image I should
never wish to see again. But he was still
alive, and to the proposal to carry him
straight to the hospital, I said, "No; take
After we had got the fire quite under,
and made all safe about the mill, l limped
to the side of the bed where they had laid
the poor fellow. He had come round a bit
by that time: He tried to open his eyes,
but it seemed to me that the fire and smoke
had not left him much power of seeing
with them. He spoke, however, more
distinctly than might have been expected,
and his first question was whether the mil
was safe.
1 told him that owing to his pluck it was
l was surprised to find that he recognized
my voice, and still more when he named
my name. "You do not know me-" hs
said-and, indeed, it was not likely tha
any one should know such a crushed and
shapeless mass of cinder as he was-"Yor
do not know me-Feodor ~Stepanovitch
They caught me and took me back.
knew you when you spoke to me in the
street, but dared not answer, lest they
should suspect you of having befriended
me. have escaped from them again, ant
am going home to Ivanova I must SCI
my wife and that villain Makaroff."
He lay a little, and then added: 81 an
glad 1 was here to help you tonight. I an
glad they did not take me again before
got here. do not think the p~olitzia viii
take me again. 50
And they did not: for he was lead within
an hour of that time.
That, sir, is the end of my story of a 81
beriak. Do you happen to have a ligh
handy; for, somehow, I have let my pip
out? And, bless me, my pipe bowl is quit
wet. l believe Pm crying. What an oil
ass / am!-LondOn Society.