Evening journal., 1891-02-12

| botOoh. ~ was sure death to try 1t. But
to be capturedl Disgrace and ruinl Ter
ribie alternatiye Was there no other
chance Of escape9
Looking upward saw that the part of
the building in which we were was a sort
OF connecting link--though it had no open
ing-between the building facing Fifth
street and that facing the alley between
| Fourth and Fifth. 1t was not quite so
high as either, and the window reached
nearly up to the roof Here az last was a
chance. To climb out of the window on to
| the roof. No sure thing, to be sure. There
was nothing to get hold Of on tile roof to
pull myself up with. It was not a steep
| roof, but it was not a fiat one: and the
| slope was toward me. There was actually
no way to hang on except by the friction
OF hands, arms and body on the slopiug
root. 1t was taking long chances on slip
ping, dropping down into the court below
ana belng picked up a shapeless and man
gled corpse. Bat then if wanted to eet
out l must take some chances. Ii I wait
Ell much longer the police would he there.
80 pulled down the top part of the win.
dow and worked myself out until | sat on
the sash with my legs dangling inside
Sitting this way Icould just get hold of the
edge Of the roof with my hands. 1t felt like
adreadfully insecure hold. With the aid Of
those inside pushing up on my feet Cthey
had endeavored to dissuade me from the
rash attempt), | managed to wriggle my
hands and arms along on the roof until
was standing on the sash with not onite
half Of my body on the roof. Oh! how /
did squeeze myself to that roof sung out
to them down below to push up on he sash
a little.
They were all interested now, and had
evidently almost forgotten about the
police.
TO see a man killed is not such an every
day occurrence They pushed up the sash
little, ana that showed me a little farther
up on the roof. A little more and could
get one of my knees on it, But that little
morei The sash was getting so high up
that it was too far directly under the caves
to do me any good. So | took my feet off
and kicked out in mid air like one swim
ming, That kick sent me little farther
along on the roof, and was able to hold
my own by the adhesion OF my body and
clothing to the roof Another kick Mt the
risk OF slipping off, and little more body
on roof. Finallya knee; then both knees.
and safety. My late fellow sufferers
whom | could no longer see-gave me a
cheer when | told them was all right.
was in position then where / could
help any ono else to get out with compare
lively little danger by giving them a banG
and pulling them up. ! told them SO. and
IN the exuberance OF my spirits invited
them collectively to freedom. But only
one, young man about eighteen and licl,
weight, was venturesome enough to accent
the invitation. Ipulled him up quite oasi.
". Then together we scampered up oDtbe
roof of the front building, and cautiously
looked over the coping down on the crowd
which had gathered on Fourth street nj
the word that the gambling house was be
ing pulled" Such is the buoyancy OF
youthful spirits that, from being a few min
utes before abiectly downcast, we were
actually having quite jolly time; regtl-
lar lark mp on the roof. out Of harms way.
watching detachments of citizens, who had
been caught in gambling house march
ing toward the Hammond street station
under police escort. It was SO funny.
However, when they had all gone we
thought ourselves that we could 90 too.
Besides, it was getting late. So we started |
70 go. The building we were on stood on |
the corner, and those to the south and west |
Of it were great deal lower They were |
old buildings, and this was a new one. |
N. W
were both active, and all we had to do to /
get on one of the lower buildings and |
thence to the ground was to slide down a /
water conductor. Then we skirmishel !
around for a water conductor. We found /
three, but unfortunately all were Of tin, |
partly disjOinted and evidently entirely in |
capable of sustaining either Of our weights. /
1t began to dawn on us that we might |
have to stay where we were all night. This |
would be awkward again, especially as we !
might be arrested in the morning for not !
being able to give an account Of ourselves. I
We tried several scuttles, but all We're 1
closed, and we dared not make noise for I
fear Of being mistaken for burglars and /
shot by any one who might be underneath |
them. We were pretty nearly "up |
stump" when we found a ventilating SKY /
light with side windows, to which was at |
tached a small rope, like dag halliards, for |
raising the sides of the skylight from be- |
low. We pulled up this rope-or.as much !
of it as we could-from both sides, cut it |
of and tied the pieces together. This we
to tie around a chimney and 20 |
down on it to the next roof But it was 1
old and had been exposed to the weather |
evidently a long time, and it was question |
able whether or not it would sustain our |
weights.
We did the best we could to test it, brac.
ing our feet against each others and pull
ing rs hard as we could on the rope, a /
small portion at time, until we had gone /
over its entire length As it didn't break, |
we concluded it would stand the strain; SO
we made one end of it fast to the iron brace I
of a chimney and threw the other over the I
coping. 1t did not quite reach the next |
roof, but it would be short drop from the 7
end Of the rope TO the roof. Then the ques- :
tion waswho should start first. We agreed !
that as / was the heavier, IL started to 20
down and the rope broke, 1 might break
my leg, but he would be left on the roof;
as he was the lighter If he went 4
down in safety and tie rope broke while .
was going down | might break my leg, but I
he would be in shape to call an ambulance |
So he started to 20 down the rope, and he
made the descent successfully.
Then came my turn. / climbed over the 4
coping, but kept one hand held on it, while |
with the other held on to the small, worn /
and rotten rope | hated awfully to let go |
that coping. 1t was twenty-five or thirty |
feet down TO that other roof, and it seemed |
a good deal farther. But there is no use |
hesitating. Well, here goes. Plunki Oh, |
myl | am down on that roof, but / can't |
get any wind into my body. Ughl Ughi |
/ can only grunt. My friend comes to my |
assistance, rolls me around and feels OF my |
arms and legs. lie pronounces me sound |
as a dollar. Meantime / begin to get a /
few short breaths Then my companion |
tells me that l had my legs "scrouched |