The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1900-04-28

if 1 was dropping into a bottomless
pit in the Internal regions. Before I
knew it I was standing or mother
earth once more with Oglethorpe
shaking my arm of.
We loked upward, expecting to see
Proctor climb down the rope. To the
surprise of every one he pulled ii up
a third time. whats the fool Co
ing?' exclaimed the fire chief stand
ing near by. why don't he slide
down that rope? Guess he's lost his
head"
"He knows what he's about" said the
millionaire. Look"
To our amazenent the rope dropped
from the window with knots in 1t abort
six feet apart.
"By Jove." exclaimed the chief,
that's a trick worth knowing. Won
der how he did it in such a short time"
We saw Toms fet come through the
window. where he had to maneuver
a moment to wind his legs around the
rope; then he slid down from n knot
to the next easily and gracefully. dis
daining to use the ladder. and finally
landed within our midst with The
CHEEKY s%alutation: "All present or ac-
counted for"
1 heard Oglethorpe whisper to the
chief a contribution to the firemen's
relief fund of $1,000 for the possession
of hat rope which was duly accepted,
and it was afterward generously di-
vided with Tom and me.
Tom called to see me the next day,
smiling and happy.
1--WE got the million all right. Mr..
Burrows" said he. land have been
walking on air eve since. Have to
pinch myself to make sure I'm not
dreaming. The papers laid it on 50
thick that 1 had to sneak through the
back streets to get here, people stare
so at me-"
In the quiet of my private Office he
explained to me some of the details OF
the escape from the burning building,
which show that brains count in an
emergency.
1T was this way" said he. "When
our position seemed hopeless and it
looked as if we were doomed to a hOrri-
BILE death, O%glethorpe lost his head and
acted half crazy. and you. Mr.. Burrows,
were in a trance, daZed like.
twice before in my life / had looked
death square in the eye, and learned by
experience that n stands the best
chance for his life by keeping cool,
with his wits on the qui vive to take
advantage of any favorable method or
means of escape.
Unless the fire was gotten under
| control within a short time. a rope was
our only hope. Then L remembered a
story. You may think it a queer time
to think of such a thing as a story,
nevertheless it did its part toward our
salvation. 1t was the tale of a pris.
oner confined in a high tower. A
friend outside shot an arrow through
the window; attached to the arrow was
a silk thread. to the thread a cord,
and to the cord a rope. All these the
prisoner pulled up successfully, and
when he secured the rope his escape
was easy.
About the instant hat story was
running through my brain Oglethorpe
offered the million dollars and | caught
sight of the sign Fish Lines That
solved the problem. You know the
rest.
But right here | would like to JUST.
fly myself concerning that million. ]
don't wan you to think l took advan'
tage of Oglethorpe because his life was
in danger; l merely profted by his
generous offer. 1t was Il matter OF
business. pure and simple. and the fact
that he paid up like Il man is proof that
he considered it a square deal
"How about that string of knots in
the rope?" l asked. I'm very curious
to know how you did it, and so are
some of the firemen."
"Oh. that's a simple trick i learned
at sea-" he replied. "You make a coil
of half bitches. pass the end of the
rope through the center of the coil,
and it comes out with knots about a
fathom or so apart"
by the way. Mr.. Burrows. hat was
the turning of the tide, after ALL"
And / answered: We'll. l should
say so."-Boston Globe.