The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1900-06-01

The drawer underneath was labeled
"Sinkers," and from this he grabbed
lead sinker, which he deity fas-
tened to the end of the line. From
the wall he tore down a sign which
read mo smoking allowed, and on
the back of this he wrote in plain let
tiers, Hitch on rope, quickw
Making the card fast to the line
near the lead he rushed to the win
dow, followed by Oglethorpe and my
self.
We watched the descent of that
white messenger with breathless in
terest, for our lives were in the bal
ance and the time was precious
Three souls hanging to cod line and
a piece of common, everyday card
board!
man on the ladder seized the card
and read its message. Waving his
hand upright to signify that he under
stood, he ran nimbly down the lad
der, darted across the street, to lad.
der truck, and with the help of COM
rade seized coil of rope, which they
flung on the ground directly under the
window. Fastening the end of the
rope to his belt, the hoseman climbed
to where the end of our precious cod
line was swinging to and fro
Proctor leaned far outward and
carefully obeyed the command to
"haul' He was in happy mood,
probably from the fact he was earn.
ing S1,000,000, and also that he was
working for his own dear life and
ours too.
"This kind of fish is worth fishing
for" he cried, with enthusiasm; sort
of gold fish, hey. Mr.. Oglethorpe?"
l believe that Tom had been at sea
a couple of years when youngster,
and evidently the old sailor instinct
returned the moment he got hold OF
that rope.
When the last fathom fell at our
feet Tom grabbed it, and with quick
turn of the hands tied a loop, which
think sailors call bow line" Slip
ping this bow line over Mr.. Ogle-
thorpe's head and down to his hips,
he said to him, tersely, "Now, then,
Mr.. Oglethorpe, you're to sit in this
bow line; hold on to the rope with
a death grip. Don't he afraid: you
can't fall out if you try. Mr. Burrows
and l will lower you down, and all
you have to do is to keep yourself
away from the building with your
feet. You may bark your shins, but
that's nothing. Lively, now! There's
not a moment to losC.'
Even then the millionaire hesitated
The prospect of dangling from sew.
en- story window on the end of a rope
appalled, him Proctor almost dragged
him to the window and after a few
more instructions and no little urging,
the man of money laboriously crawled
over the sill; we Stacked away on the
rope and his head disappeared from
view. We had a turn of the rope
around a steam pipe and had no diff
Guilty in holding his weight.
Presently we heard a tremendous
cheer from the crowd below. which
told us that Oglethorpe was safe.
Running to the window we saw him
descending the ladder with the aid Of
fireman.
Tom hauled up the rope again, and
in an instant l was ready to descend.
His instructions to me were the same
as to Oglethorpe, only he added III
| don't get out of here alive, Mr. Bur-
rows, you see that Bessie and the ba.
bies get that million" He glanced
over his shoulder to the rear of the
room, where the flames were just be,
ginning to break through.
l made protestant meant it, too
that it was only right that he should
60 next. The rope was his idea, and
he ought to reap the benefit and save
himself before it was too late.
He replied almost angrily: "Stop
your nonsense, Mr.. Burrows, and get
out of that window! I'll take two
turns around the steam pipe, so as
to hold you all right, and you'll be on
the ladder in jilfy.'
My descent to the ground is still like
hideous dream. | have dim recol-
lection of twisting and turning, at the
same time falling down, down, till it
seemed as if | was dropping into a
bottomless pit in the Internal regions.
There was more shouting by the
throng of people, and before | knew it
| was standing on Mother Earth once
more, with Oglethorpe shaking my
arm off.
We looked upward expecting to see
Proctor climb down the rope. To the
| surprise of every one he pulled it up
a third time. Whats he doing?" ex-
claimed the fire chief "Why, don't
he slide down the rope?"
"He knows what he's about" said
the millionaire. Look"
To our amazement the rope dropped
from the window with knots in it
about six feet apart
"By Jover' exclaimed the chief,
that's trick worth knowing. Won
der how he did 1t in such a short
time"
We saw Toms feet come through
the window, where he had to maneu-
yer moment to wind his legs around
the rope; then he slid down from one
knot to the next easily and gracefully.
disdaining to use the ladder, and fin
ally landed safely on the ground.
Tom called to see me the next day,
smiling and happy.
"I've got the million all right, Mr..
Burrows" said he. land have been
walking ON air ever since. Have to