The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1900-06-16

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earth once more with Oglethorpt
shaking my arm off.
We loked upward, expecting to SCI
Proctor climb down the rope. TO til,
surprise Of every he pulled it ii
a third time. What's the fool do
ing2" exclaimed the fire chief stand,
ing near by. why don't he slide
down that roper Guess he's lost his
head"
4He knows what he's about said the
millionaire. "Look!"
To our amazement the rope dropped
from the window with knotsi in it about
six feet apart.
by Jovel" exclaimed the chief
that's a trick worth knowing. Won
der how he did it in such a short t1me.'
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 one knot
to the next easily and gracefully, dis
daining to use the ladder, and fnaIlv
landed within our midst with thu
CHEEKY salutatioD: Gan present or ac-
counted fori"
l heard oglethorpe whisper to the
chief a contribution to the fremen's
relief fund of $1,000 for the possession
of that rope, which was duly accepted,
and it vas afterward generously di.
vided with Tom and me.
Tom called to see me the next day,
smiling and happy.
ETW
i've got the million all right, Mr..
Burrows said he, 'and have been
walking on air ever since. Have to
pinch myself to make sure I'm not
dreaming. The papers laid it on SO
thick that I 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.
st vas this way" said he. "When
our position seemed hopeless and it
looked as if we were doomed to a horri-
BILE death, Oglethorpe lost his head and
acted half crazy, and you, Mr.. Burrows,
were in a trance, dazed like.
"Twice before in my life Ihad looked
death square in the eye, and learned by
experience that one 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
of escape.
Unless the fire was gotten under
control within a short time, a rope was
u only hope, Then I remembered a
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 that story was
running through my brain Oglethorpe
offered the million dollars and caught
of the sign Fish Lines That
solved the problem. You know the
rest.
"But right here I would like to justi-
fly myself concerning that million. I
don't want you to think took advan.
tage of Oglethorpe because his life was
danger; I merely profted by his
generous offer, 1t was a matter of
business, pure and simple, and the fact
that he paid up like a man is proof that
considered it a square deal"
"How about that string of knots in
roper" I asked. I'm very curious
know how you did it, and SO are
some of the firemen."
"Oh, that's a simple trick I learned
sea-" he replied. "You make a coil
If half bitches, pass the end of the
through the center of the coil,
md it comes out with knots about a
or so apart"
by the way, Mr.. Burrows, that was
he turning of the tide, after all"
And | answered: "Well, 1 should
so!"-Boston Globe.