Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1901-11-27
to he landed safety on the grounl.
AS he spoke he emphasized his words

AS he spoke he emphasized his words
By shaking Proctor's arm almost
roughly. staring into his face with n
fierce, desperate expression. I glanced
at Tom, for the instant forgetting our
perilous situation, and noted that, un-
mindful of oslethorpe. he was gazing
intently to one side. Then suddenly
his face lighted UP with CLEAN of
hope. Turning quickly to the million
airc, he exclaimed. DO you make that
rs n bona ilde OFFER Mr.. Oglethorpe?'
Certainly do"
"All right. accept the contract. No
time now for any business formalities.
Shake hands ON it. You witness this,
Mr.. Burrows" said he, nodding his
head in my direction. at the same time
extending his hand to Oglethorpe.
They hastily grasped each others
hand, and bore witness of the stran-
gest business transaction on record
THAT'S as binding as il drawn up by
regiment of lawyers" exclaimed
Oglethorpe when the simple ceremony
was completed. Then he added. MY
word is good for that amount, never
fear, If get out of this place alive"
A wave of hope and courage took
possession of me, and watched eager
ly for the next move in that exciting
drama which moment before looked
more like tragedy.
Pushing the millionaire aside rough
ly, Proctor ran to case of drawers
under the counter few feet away. On
the upper drawer was tackled white
card which bore the simple legend,
.'Fish Lines" 1t was only the work of
n second to pull the drawer out and
select heavy, strong line about the
size used in codfishing. The drawer
underneath was labeled "Sinkers," and
from this he grabbed lead sinker,
which he deftly fastened to the end
of the line. From the wall he tore
down sign which read mo Smoking
Allowed" On the back of this card he
wrote in plain letters, "Hitch on rope,
quick!'
Making the card fast to the line near
the lead, he rushed TO the window, fol.
lowed by Oglethorpe and myself
When the crowd in the street spied
us, they yelled cxcitedly, waved their
arms, shouted and groaned until they
saw that we were about to make a
move of some kind. Then all was quiet,
and the only sound we heard was the
whir of the engines and the occasional
call of fireman.
We watched the descent of that
white messenger with breathless inter
est, for our lives were in the balance.
and time was precious. Think of 1t
three souls hanging to cod line and q
piece of common everyday cardboard!
A man on the ladder seized the card
and read its message. Waving his hand
upward to signify that he understood.
he ran nimbly down the ladder. dart
ed across the street to Il ladder truck
and with the help of comrade seized
a coil of rope, which they flung on
the ground directly under our 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.
To prevent the line from chatting on
the stone trimming under the window
sill Proctor leaned far outward and
carefully obeyel the command to haul.
He was in happy mood, probably
from the fact that he was earning q
million dollars and also that he was
working for his own dear life and ours
too.
"This is kind of fish worth fishing
for" cried he with enthusiasm-''s sort
of goldfish, hey, Mr.. Oglethorpe? All,
my beauty, now I've got you fast!'' he
exclaimed as the end of the rope slip
ped into his hands.
believe that Tom had been to sea a
couple Of voyages when a youngster,
and evidently the old sailor instinct re.
turned the moment he got hold of that
lope.
He yanked 1t In over the window sill
hand over hand till 1t fairly hummed.
Sailorlike he couldn't refrain from