Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1889-12-12
CLEAR CASE OF CONSPIRACY.
Showing Mans Goodness and a woman's
Weakness at n Fire,

Weakness at Fire.
Mrs. Bowser, it is possible that this
house may take fire some time" OBJ
served Mr.. Bowser, as he laid aside his
paper the other evening
yes"
"If it takes fire while am home all
L expect of you is to take the child and
get outdoors. l shall peril my life to
subdue the confagration, and if find
it cannot be done shall save all the
valuables."
Perhaps l could help you"
And perhaps you couldn't. You'd
do more damage than good if you tried
to. l want you to remember and get
right out and stay out"
81 have been told that l had great
presence of mind, Mr.. Bowser."
"Yes, and you may have been told
that you were the Empress of Russia.
Presence of mind! There isn't a
woman on earth who'd have presence
of mind enough in case of fire to save
her own shoes! All l want of you is to
follow my directions.
1t was singular that the test should
come so soon. In lighting the gas in
the hall upstairs Mr.. Bowser must
have dropped the match upon a rug
living near. We were hardly in he'd
before | smelled smoke. but when T
mentioned the fact Mr.. Bowser
growled:
Nonsense! The cook probably
threw some eggshells into the ranoe
when she was CLEARING IN her snnner
dishes. Your nose is always smelling
fire, or.burglars, or sewer-gas, and it Is
always wrong"
He went to sleep and | continued to
sniff that odor. Ten minutes after
Mr.. Bowser had uttered his first snore
thick cloud of smoke poured into our
bedroom all of a sudden, and at the
same moment the darkness was lighted
up by flickering flame The house
was certainly on fire, and / shook Mr.
Bowser and informed him of the fact
"W-what is itP" he gasped as he
sat up in bed.
THE house is on fire! Can't YOU
see the smoke and the blazep"
| was out on the floor and dressing
me when he rolled out of bed, sprang
to the door, and shouted at the top Of
| his voice:
Murder! Police! Fire We are all
on fire up here!"
"Well, slip on your clothes and see
if you can't put it out. 1t must be in
the back hall"
"Fire Fire! Fire!" he yelled as he
sought to pull on his pants. "Our
house is on firel We shall be burned
aliye!"
In spite of the peril of the situation
| had to laugh at Mr.. Bowser's antics.
He first got the left leg in the right leg
of the pants. Then he fell over in
getting out of them. got up and drew
them on hind side before. and he was
sprawled out on the bed and kicking
them off when | was all dressed and
ready to leave the room. was deter
mined to see where the fire was before
| took the baby and went downstairs.
The smoke was thick, but tn. tongue
of flame guided me down the hall, and
l found the rug and Dashboard and a
decreasing ab1aze.
"Fire! Fire! Firer' yelled Mr.. Bowser
at this moment. as he dashed into the
hall.
.Come and help me put it outr [
called to him, but he was already on
his way downstairs to the telephone.
Covering nv mouth and nose as
well as | could felt my way to the
layatory. There was nothing but a
tumbler at hand, but after lad filled
il several times and dashed it's con-
tents along the base saw that I had
the best of the blaze. After opening a
window to let the smoke drive out
brought some more water and extin-
guished the last of the fire. Mean
while could not help but hear Mr..
Bowser. He rushed to the telephone
and rang it continuously for twenty
seconds, and then yelled:
"Hello, central! Hello, central!
Fire! Fire! Fire! My house is on fire!
Send up the police and three engines
right away!"
He couldn't wait for an answer, but
took three or four circuits around the
sitting-room, made a dash into the
parlor and out by the front hall, all
the time yelling 'Fire" at the top of
his voice, and then it occurred to him
to 90 to the fire alarm box down on
the corner. Out he rushed, barefooted
and bareheaded, and after trying to
halt minute to pull the box off the
post he ran to the residence where the