Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1902-03-06

the fierce light Of public notice, while
a conscienceless gentleman with whis-
kers listened affeetionately on the
other side of the hedge. at was this
way,''said Beujamin. 1.-THE man who
bought the old Icboolhouse fixed IL UP
into tenements instead Of tearin' it
down and chopin 1t up for kindlin', as
he should have done. One night the old
thing got afire, and come pretty near
burnin' up a lot of people. The fire
caught in the second story. and IL was
burning regularly hot before anyone
discovered il. guess was one Of the
first to see g. The schoolhouse was
only little way from our place, you
know, and my windows on that side.
wasn't sleepin' very sound for some
reason or other, and the light woke me
up. / saw what was the matter In q
minute, and / hustled into my trousers
and skipped out.
"All of a sudden heard one Of the
women give screecb, and thought TO
myself: 'Therel she's come away and
forget TO bring the baby That's the
way il happens in stories, you know;
and ! felt kind Of Gravity feelin' in my
hair, and there was lump in my
throat, and my heart thumped like o
bass drum. But it wasn't the baby
this time. IL was Tommy Tirrel. Tom.
my's an orphan, you know; that is. his
mothers dead and his fathers a drunk.
ard, nobody KNOWN where he is; and
these people had took him to board,
the town payin' for IL. IL was a sort Of
new thing. He'd only been boardin'
with 'em a day or two, and il wasn't
very strange that they didn't think of
him when they got out. He was sleep
in in the closet where the ianitor used
TO keep the brooms and thiBgs-re.
member? The only outside window
in il was a little hole for ventilation. 1t
looked a good deal as il Tommy was a
goner. SThe room into which the door
OF the closet opened was roarin' with
fire. IL wouldn't be many minutes be.
fore the partition would be gone.
..The golden rule kept runnin'
through my head like II race horses
j remembered the time when we
climbed TO the roof and took the clap.
per out Of the bell. / remembered
that II wasn't very hard thing to do.
Any fellow in our grade could do IL.
1--WE just put a plank up on the step
aud climbed to the little shelf that runs
round the buildin' above the windows,
and then used some holes that had been
cut through the sidin'. The boys had
cut those holes on purpose and nobody
but the boys knew they were there.
They didn't show. II was just as easy
TO climb up that way as IL was with q
ladder. The ventilator was only about
three feet to one side Of the line of
holes, and ] figured could work over
on the eaye-spout. and let Tommy hang
on TO my legs while he was geftin'
through the hole. Then he could walk
along on the shelf that runs above the
upper Windows same as Il runs above
the lower ones, holdin' 20 me til we got
to the place where we could 90 down.
ut struck me I'd try it. anyway. A
Teller ought 20 be wiIlin' 10 do as much
TO save another Teller from bein' roast
ed TO death as he'd do 10 steal the clap
per of bell for fun. I'd have felt real
guilty If hadn't tried It. So I chased
round TO the lumber yard. just as We
did when we hooked the clapper, and
dragged out a long plank. and Billy
Stivers and Dick Kerne. who happened
TO come along just then. helped to carry
1t over and stand il up on the steps.
TSe fire bell rang just as ] began to
climb. and I heard a breaking Of glass
over me. IL was Tommy. He'd woke