Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1902-07-25

I tion that had been weighing hlni
! down-when necessity demanded
prompt movement he would be found
in the van.
| He snatched the door open.
! Some smoke drifted in promptly
at least there was good evidence tc
prove the presence of fire.
All the while pandemonium was in.
creasing, shrieks and shrill French
EXPLANATIONS joining with gruffeI
male voices in mad chorus.
Come" said Merrick. this looks
serious. shall have to take hand in
the game"
He was very cool, perhaps because
he was brave and sensible, and had
fought for his very life with the fire
demon ere now.
The holocaust of a previous year
when scores of Partisan society lead
err persisted in the awful Charity Ba-
zaar conflagration, was fresh in the
minds of these frightened people, and
added to their terror.
| Merrick calmly locked Jones apart
ment and put the key in his pocket.
The smoke was becoming thicker
and figure after figure went lurching
and plunging toward the stairs, where
possible safety lay.
Merrick could easily have made his
escape. but somehow this thought did
not seem to have presented itself tC
| him while there were still others IN
danger.
Some heroic souls at such times al
ways think for those whom fright
has rendered incapable of using their
own bairns-a fact that does human
nature credit.
animation of each room, and managed
to start several upon the road to
safety.
1t was a work that just suited his
nature-he delighted in cheating the
fire demon out Of his contemplated
victims, for he and the monster were
old enemies.
| Rapidly, then, he made the tour of
the floor, and left not room IN
searched.
This had taken time. and the smoke
had gathered in almost suffocating
clouds. SO that Merrick on his way to
the stairs, ran zigzag across the hall
back and forth, in order that he might
not miss any unfortunate one who
should have sunk down overpowered
by the choking fumes.
That was a happy thought an in
| spiration born of genius, and all his
life Mark Merrick found cause to
bless the moment in which he had
| conceived such master stroke.
| For he had not covered more than
half the distance when he came upon
one such unfortunate lying in heap
and almost helpless.
It was impossible to see, but Mer-
rick put down his hands and immedi-
ately felt the face and long hair of
a woman.
She Immediately caught hold of
! him and endeavored to gain her feet,
| but was too weak.
Can you walk" he shouted in
French.
"Alas. l have sprained my ankle. I
fear" came the reply close to his
ear.
Merrick did not hesitate.
He knew there was only one way
to get her to a place of safety, and
that was by carrying her.
So without a word of apology he
suddenly swept her up in his arms,
and was thankful to discover that she
turned out to be rather diminutive in
size-a woman of perhaps a hundred
pounds.
"Put your arms around my neck"
he said.
The noise below was still fearful,
but she heard him evidently, for she
obeyed without hesitation.
Thus he proceeded toward the stair
way.
Apparently they were the last ones
on that floor, all the others having
made good their escape.
An unpleasant surprise awaited
Merrick, for, upon reaching the stair
way, he found that the fire was there
ahead of him.
Some men would have been demora-
LIKED, but with him opposition only
served to arouse new thoughts and
plans.
! He remembered there was a second
stairway, used by the domestics per
haps-this might offer him the safety
the first refused.
So lie turned and made for it as
only desperate man could do.
Save yourself, monsieur" cried the
one whom he clasped in his arms, no
rescue her he would be lost; but Mer-
rick never dreamed of so base an ac-
tion-since fortune had thus thrown
them together, one would not escape
without the other.
So down the narrow stairway they
went hope gaining new ground in his
soul, though the smoke was just as
dense here as elsewhere.
He could hear the firemen now. and
with their coming chance arose that
the building might yet be saved.
| Without warning he found further
progress cut off by a sudden burst of
| flames below.
To retreat was to invite disaster,
| and Merrick was a man who knew
! what it was to take heroic measures
when surrounded by peril.
Releasing his burden for moment
| he tied a handkerchief over his mouth,
then slipped off his coat and fastened
| it as we'll about her head as he could
| ,,olor tho CT nooc uvhoro ho n6c