Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1900-08-03

They hastily grasped each others
hand, and bore witness of the
strangest transaction on record.
Pushing the millionaire aside rough
ly, Proctor ran to a case of drawers
under the counter a few feet away.
On the upper drawer was tackled n
white card which bore the simple
legend, "Fish lines" 1t was only the
work of a second to pull the drawer
out and select a heavy, strong line,
about the size used in cod fishing.
The drawer underneath was labeled
"Sinkers." and from this he grabbed
a lead sinker, which he deftly fas-
tened TO the end OF the line. From
the wall he tore down a sign which
read mo smoking allowed. and on
,e hack OF this he wrote in plain let
-, Glitch on a rope, quickr'
b king the card fast to the line
( 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
Rnce and the time was precious
Three souls hanging to a cod line and
piece of common. everyday card
boardl
A 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 a lad
der truck, and with the help of a com
rade seized a 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 a happy mood,
probably from the fact he was earn
ing $1,000,000, and also that he was
working for his own dear life and
ours too.
"This kind of a fish is worth fishing
for" he cried, with enthusiasm; "sort
of a gold fish, hey, Mr.. Oglethorpe"
l believe that Tom had been at sea
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 a quick
turn of the hands tied 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
death grip. Don't be 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 losew
Even then the millionaire hesitated
The prospect of dangling from a 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
a fireman.
Tom hauled up the rope again, and
in an instant 1 was ready to descend
His instructions to me were the same
as to Oglethorpe, only he added, "If
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
made a protestant meant 1t, too
that it was only right that he should
go 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 jffy."
My descent to the ground is still like
hideOus dream. / have a dim recol-
lection of twisting and turning, at the
same time falling down, down, till 1t
seemed as If l was dropping into a
bottomless pit in the internal regions.
There was more shouting by the
throng of people, and before / knew it
l 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 1t up
a third time. whats he dOingY' ex-
claimed the fire chief "Why, don't
he slide down the roper
HE knows what he's about" said
the millionaire. Look"
To our amazement the rope dropped
from the window with knots in II
about six feet apart.
"By Jovew exclaimed the chief.
that's a 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 a moment to wind his legs around
the rope; then he slid down from one