The Opelousas courier., 1901-09-14
PIPEMAN PAT EGAN
Or WILLIAM PRESCOTT CORNELL.

cold weather. The temperature hov
cred between three and five degree
below zero. The hour was 6 o'clock
j, and thousands Of clerks and business
and professional men and women wer'
; hurrying through the chilling blasts
J to the warmth of their firesides
Those who happened in the vicinit,
of Washington and Dearborn streets
were suddenly startled by the cry O.
fire" The three upper floors of thu
Mason block were in a blaze, and be
fore the alarm was turned in thu
flames were fast mounting to the
root, while burning brands dropping
down the elevator shafts in the real
were kindling new fires on the lower
floors.
Three blocks to the south was en-.
CINE 3s house. The men were scat.
tered around their quarters, some
playing checkers around the warm
stove, while others were preparing
for an early bedtime.
Ding, ding, ding-ding, ding, sound
ed the Joker" bell for box 80. Mar.
shall Koran, whose headquarters were
in the same house, took the location
from the running card. washington
and Dearborn" he yelled as the horses,
released automatically from their fas-
tening. came running to their places.
Pipeman Pat Egan was one of those
preparing to retire for the night. He
came down the brass pole with a rush,
did his share of the hitching and
tipped the tail end of the hose cart as
it rolled swiftly out in the freezing air.
The flames could be seen mounting
high above the roofs of the surround
ing blocks. Egan hadn't time even to
don his helmet when the corner was
reached.
From the west there came with a
noisy rattle and changing gong the
%ponderous apparatus Of Truck 6, stop
ping abruptly, with brakes hard set,
directly in front of the burning build
ing.
A cry Of horror from the crowd al
ready assembled caused Pipeman Pat
Hgan, among others, to look upward.
A window on the fifth floor was raised
and a a stepped out on the sill. He
felt his way cautiously over the mar
row, t~reacherous footing to the next
window on the west, and SO on until
he reached the adjoining building.
Then he broke a window and disap-
peared through it to safety.
Scarcely had he performed this feat
when a young girl appeared at the
raised window. The knowledge that
her only safety lay in the same method
Of escape and the fact that the FIRE
was raging fiercely behind her, I'M
nerved her. She sat down on the mar
row stone sill, while the rudy glare
Of the flames above, o. bursting from
every window, revealed a white,
frightened face glancing appeaIingly
from the dizzy height for help.
Already Truck 6's men were raising
their aerial ladder as fast as the wind
lass would turn. It was Pipeman
EgSD's duty to lead out the hose with
the men Of his company. But he saw
another duty before him, and the ex-
tension had not been run out to it's
height when he was half way up the
ladder, mounting the slippery rungs
with the agility of a squirrel. Close
behind him was Marshal Koran.
Pipeman Egan reached the top
rung. To his dismay he found that
the imperilled girl was sever feet
above him. A hoarse groan Of an
guish rising to his ears, above the
roa of flames overhead and the din of
battle below, conveyed to him the
fact that the crowd below had dis.
covered the new peril of both.
"Stay where you are, little girl"
he gasped through the thick smoke
which almost enVeloped him. Don't
jump till | tell you. I'll save you
somehow"
He made q sweeping motion with
his right hand. Truck SIS men under
stood the signal. A couple Of turns
of the windlass and the frail top of
the ladder swung out two feet from
the wall. Then Egan stepped to the
topmost rung and placed his hands
against the hot brick wall for support.
The smoke nearly choked him.
Small fakes Of stone Clipped off the
stills by the intense heat above him,
fell in showers upon his barred head,
inf1icting tiny cuts from which the
blood trickled slowly. One piece
larger than the rest cut a deep cash In
his head and the blood almost blinded
him. He brushed it away with one
hand and steadied himself again.
Flames now appeared in the window
behind the half conscious girl. Her
dress had begun to blaze.
"Jump toward me" he said hoarse-
1y, and with a wild, agonfzing scream,
the girl launched herself from the
window. She fell squarely in those
arms and sineWs of oak braced against
the hot wall, which was blistering
Egan's hands.
The impact was something fearful.
Pipeman Egan staggered for q mo-
ment. The slender ladder top swayed
like a reed.in a windstorm. He stead
led himself again with his heavy bur-
den, preparatory to a perilous descent.
Flames burst from the window where
the girl had taken refuge and scorched
his face. Her burning dress was
scorching his body through his thick
flannel shirt.
Marshal Koran was close behind
him. Hold on her. Pat" he said.
Pipeman Egan was too choked to
answer. The girl had tainted Id his
aFsass and u took aN Of his asFengsh to