Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-05-25
A FIREMAN'S WIFE.

being a handsome widow, twenty years
his junior.
During the reception which followed
the ceremony. the happy groom got a
short spell off, and adjourned upstairs
with the boys for a smoke and q talk.
DO you know" he said. slapDing the
reporter on the back in a highly hilarious
manner, that l saved my wife from a
fire."
"There hasn't been any fire tonight.
has there?'' inquired the reporter.
mo, but there have been fires on other
nights
but you haven't been married man
on any other nights contended the re-
porter
That's all right. but you give me a
chance. will you, and I'll explain, said
the fireman.
The opportunity was given to him on
salver on which there was also several
glasses and decanter.
Zone night, fifteen years ago." he said,
there was fire in q row of three-Story
brick houses in my district, and our en-
CINE broke for it at forty miles a second,
but when we got there the whole first
floor Of the house in the end of the row
was blazing. Some of the people had
got out. but up at the third story a
young girl was leaning out yelling for
the men with the ladder to be in a
hurry There wasn't any need of her
we knew how, but you know women are
kind of funny about some things. Well,
it was my business to do the ladder act,
and as soon as we naO 1T placed went
up it like monkey, the girl watching
me with much interest. When l was at
the window and about to reach for her,
she darted into the room, and | thought
she had gone crazy with fright or some
thing, and l made break into the room
after her and / caught her ten feet from
the window. Then | noticed that she
was only slip Of girl, about. 10 years
old, and as pretty as picture.
Hold on said I, grabbing her; you
come with me, and I'll take you down
the ladder all right
:" Don't you worry about me, said she,
as pert as you please. You get grand
ma; she's sick over in that bed and can't
help herself
II was dumsquizzled by the nerve of
the kid, and couldn't do thing except
to follow her directions. She bundled
a blanket around the old lady, ordered
me to pick her up and then trotted along
behind me as | hustled for the window
with granny in my arms. BY this time
the room was full of smoke, and the
smoke was covering the whole front of
the house from the windows below. |
took an extra hold on my burden and
started down the ladder through the
smoke
Wait right here close to the Win
dow said / to the kid as | started, and
somebody will be after you in a minute,
and | was going to be that somebody,
for / was stuck on the kid. she was so
cool and commanding.
"And do you know what she said to
me? Not a word; just laughed.
what wife for fireman you'd
make said /, as / went down the lad
der, and she laughed again.
''At the bottom | dropped the old lady
into the hands of the men there and
turned to go back after the little girl.
but the first step up | made | bumped
into something soft. and by the tapers
of mud fit WASH t the kid.
Look out below, says she, I'm COM
"'Seems to me you've done come says
/. grabbing her UP and carrying her out
of the way, and the boys gave her Il
cheer that walked up all the neighbour
hood that hadn't come out to the fire.
'She wasn't scared bit, either, though
all the rest of her people We're hysterical
and mighty near having fits.
AFTER that / couldn't help thinking
about the youngster, and when it was
time for the house to be fixed up, or
rather rebuilt for the entire inside of it
afternoon to see how the folks were get
ting along. 1t wasn't any of my bust
ness, and / really didn't care CONT
mental, but | wanted to see the little girl
and hear her laugh. The neighbors told
me the family had moved over to Brook
lyn, but couldn't give me any address,
and of course | couldn't write any let
ters or do anything like that when it was
only a 1O-year-old girl, SO | had to let
up on it. But whenever | had a chance
| kind of made inquiries, and once I
found her mighty near but she moved
before | got there and lost her again.
This run the time up to six or seven
years and twas getting to be kind of
a Charley Ross case with the girl getting
older every day, and me too. for that
matter, but / never would forget her.
$50 it went along and along until two
years ago. when four or five of us went
down to Philadelphia to a ireman's ball.
| was spry on my legs, as fireman has
to be, and when the music got going l
was ready for a dance. Every body was
nice to the visitors from the metropolis,
and all we had to do to meet a lady
was simply to say so and the thing was
done. After / had been whirling the
giddy for two hours, | got hold of q
young lady that [ rather liked better
than any | had met, and we went into
the supper room and talked. She told
me that her folks lived in Brooklyn, but
since her husband died. four years ago,
she had been living in Philadelphia and
cause Of an early experience of hers
which she told me Of, and, by crackey,
I got right up and shook hands with her
in such way that she thought | had
gone crazy and was about to shake the
life out of her. Then / told her what /
knew Of the same story, and the way the
two yarns tailed was something beauti-
full. She was little girl, and hadn't
been thinking of me like / had been
thinking Of her, and she had married,
and if it hadn't been for Providence COM
ing to my help and taking her husband
away, l wouldn't be telling you this
story and whole lot more of that kind,
but just the same didn't care, for there
wasn't anybody ahead of me now, and
in I sailed. Well, to make long story
short, | got an extension of time on
my visit, and every minute Of it that l
could I devoted to her. and you see the
result tonight. boys.
''Why did I wait two years?" said the
fireman, in response to an inquiry. Sim
ply because / had to. She was the
grand mogul, or something like that, in
the cloak department of big store un-
der fve-year contract, with a little over
piphfpQn months fO and ha yyyO1T1d1l' 4