The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1891-06-17
A MODERN ELIJAH.

inferior race. There was nothing in his
appearance to suggest the hero, and IL
you had told him that he was hero be
would scarcely have known what you
meant. An unschooled, illiterate, ugly,
bullet headed negro, he had neverthe
less been baptized by the same spirit
which had caused the face of st. Stephen
TO shine as the face of an angel
One winter day-almost year before
the event which gave him chance to
show the stuff that was in hiln--he
came into the hotel looking for job.
The office was brilliantly lighted and
filled with crowd of handsomely
dressed men. There were politicians,
club men, men about town, reporters,
many members of the sporting frater-
nifty, the usual loungers and hangers.
on, an occasional hayseed-all forming
very startling background for the
rags and filth Of the poor, shivering,
half starved little darkey. 1t was no
easy matter for him to steer his course
to the desk. and when he got there the
splendor of the man behind it dazed him
30 that his voice almost failed him. He
had, however, even at his early age,
reached the point where he had to WORK
or starve. So his necessities made him
eloquent. His eloquence prevailed. He
was on the next day placed on the pay
roll OF the great hotel.
: Asa bell boy he was not a success. ]
fear must confess that he was lazy.
People liked him-I do not know why
and for some reason or other he was a
favorite with his employers. If he had
not been they would have dismissed him
before his first week was out. Instead
of doing that, they concluded to find
more congenial work for him, so they
put him in charge of one of the eleva,
tors.
Among the passengers who used to
ride up and down with the boy was q
little five-year-old girl, the daughter of
family living in the hotel. She was as
perfect a typeof her race as he was of
his With her fair, white skin, golden
hair, deep blue eyes and pretty womanly
ways, the child was general favorite.
Every ono knew her; every enc loved
her. IL
Between her and the boy great
friendship had sprung up. He was de.
votion itself, and his attentions to the
little Caucasian were SO grotesquely
chivalrous as to be almost pathetic. She
accepted them all with dignity and
grace that We're charming. Her family
lived on the top floor OF the house, and
rs she always rode in his elevator when
she could manage to do 80, the boy and
girl saw much of each other. Once she
was i'll. The medicine that helped her
most was wretched little bouquet sent
her by her dusky friend.
1t was winter again. The evening of
which write was very cold and clear.
The stars were diamondlike In their
brilliancy. Everything was frozen up
the wheels crealed on the snow.
The hotel was crowded with guests.
Not more than two or three of the hun
dreds of rooms were unoccupied. A be-
lated traveller, who had been on wealth.
or bound train, came in at / o'clock,
tired and cold. He ordered fire in his
room and then went to the bar for q
drink. A few minutes later he stepped
Into the boys elevator and was carried
to the top floor.
The great house was quiet Most OF
the lights in the Office had been extin.
guished. Two night owls were talking
IN low tones on one of the settees which
lined the walls Of the lobby. The bell
boys were most of them asleep. The
clerk was browsing.
Two o'clockl The night owls got up
and walked out into the cold air. A
drunken man poked his nose in the door.
The sleeping porter seemed to scent him,
for he hustled the poor fellow out.
The quiet deepened till it became al.
most oppressive. The air was heavy
with it.
Suddenly, without note Of warning,
the cry Of "Firew rang through the
house. There was life enough now.
Scantily clad people were scurrying
wildly through the smoke filed CORR.
doris. They came plunging down the
stairs to the office, and 80 out into the
freezing night. Shrieks and curses and
groans and prayers--it was Babel broken
loose. All the bells in the house were
ringing. The smoke grew denser. II
seemed to come from everywhere
and below. Great black volumes rolled
through the long halls. Outside, the
Streets were jammed with people. The
engines, with their changing gongs, hur-
ried TO the scene. Ladders were raised,
and the work of rescue began.
II was time, for there was white fig
ure at almost every one Of the muItitu-
dinous windows. The awful wall loom
ed mp In the darkness, story on story,
dimly seen as to its upper half, for that
part Of it was wreathed in the binding
smoke. The smoke turned to flame
fame bursting through scores of win
d0ws. The terror stricken creatures be-
gan to jump. The people In the street
below were frantic.
'Backi backr they shrieked. "Waiti
wen save you'll don't jumpl"
Which is the pieasanter, to be roasted
alive or to be mashed out of shape on
the stone pavement If there Is to be
any saving done, 1t must be done quick
ly. Many people were busy saving
themselves. The sleeping clerk and
porter and bell boys had gotten out.
But what of the little black fellow in
the elevator? He, too, had been asleep.
He had been awakened as the others had
been by the first cry of fire. Unlike
them he had that '.two-o'clock-in-ths
morning courage" which Napoleon said
was the rarest sort. In an instant he de-
cided that 1t was his duty to stick to his
post. And stick be did.
Up and down he went, and every time
his car touched the office floor it was
loaded with people. The journey was q
frightful one, but he did not shrink.
How long he could continue to make the
trip he could not tell. The elevator
might drop any minute. Very well, lei
1t drop. Some Of the people in it might
survive the shock. It was sure to catch
fire sooner or later. Even then he wonld
be on the way to safety with his pas
sengers. And at any rate he knew that
he could bring some people out Of the
fire burning above.