Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1902-08-21

a convenient carriage-stone standing
in front of dwelling house half a
block from the hotel.
Great as was the excitement around
him, it seemed to be doubly intensi-
fed further along the line of march,
especially in front of the hotel.
He saw the procession break at this
point-melt away as it we're.
Men ran toward the hotel in squads,
waving their arms wildly.
Was it an opportunity to quench
the thirst that frequently burns Irish
threats on this glorious holiday?
Charlie knew of yore all about
the battle of the Boyne, and how an
orange flag arouses the hatred of a
st. Patrick's day parader even as the
red flag stirs the maddened bull to
frenzy.
Had some bold and incautious soul
dared to invite immolation by thus
Haunting in their faces the color they
despised?
He supposed this must be the case.
To his surprise, however, the ex-
element spread-the crowd pressed
madly forward, mounted officers came
galloping back, shouting out some
thing that at first he could net catch.
Never to his dying day would Char
lie Stuart forget the intense anxiety
of that moment when he seemed to
feel as though the fate of empires was
at stake-and then he heard distinctly
above the roar the stentorian voice of
leathern-lunged officer:
Turn out! The avenue is impass.
able! The Windsor hotel is on fire!
Turn Quit"
Doubtless that stentorian shout
sent shuddering chill to many a
heart when those who heard it glanc-
ed up at the massive pile and compre-
hended the hundreds of precious lives
that were endangered.
To none could it appeal with more
irresistible force than to Charlie
! Stuart.
All his hopes and ambitions on earth
were centered there-the girl he
loved with heart and soul was far up
in the doomed structure, perhaps
asleep, under the influence of an
opiate, after a wakeful night with an
aching brow.
At first his blood seemed CONCEAL
ed into ice.
Then it leaped through his veins
like boiling lava, fresh from the
throat of Vesuyius.
Charlie did not waste time in re.
Election.
Time was worth more than money
now, worth all the world to him.
He had leaped to the pavement
like a deerhound, and dashed toward
the hotel in great bounds.
Some men would have lost their
wits, but it seemed that the greater
the emergency the keener became his
mind.
Even as he ran and elbowed his
way through the excited crowd with
irresistible force, he was mapping out
| plan of campaign.
Really there seems no limit to the
human mind-its capacity is astonish-
ing-it rises to meet the emergency
regardless of what is needed.
Now, even when thus fighting his
way through the crowd, Charlie saw
the hopelessness of attempting to
reach the main entrance on the ave
nue.,
The space for half. a bISi5 was
densely packed with whooping rnus1
of humanity, partly imbued with the
eager curiosity that always distin-
| guishes crowds the world over, and at
the same time a chivalrous desire to
| be of use somehow.
II he desired to reach that door
he must perforce walk over the heads
of the packed crowd.
A better plan suggested itself.
He remembered a side entrance
which would admit him much more
easily.
Now he was at the corner
He took one look up and around.
The picture was impressed upon
the tablets of his memory forever.
No longer were handkerchiefs and
| green ribbons waving from the
numerous windows of the hotel in
stead, panic-stricken girls threw out
their arms appealingly and shrieked
in terror.
The wand of an evil magician had
| touched the scene, and transformed it
in twinkling.
openings, proving to Charlie that his
hopes of the fire being trifing were
groundless.
1t was most serious.
The holocaust of the Partisan
Charlie Bazaar was about to be repeat.
ed in New York and that St Pat
rick's day would be marked as the
most grewsome Gotham had ever
| known.
Charlie now had a better chance to
push ahead.
Already he feared he had delayed
| too long.
There were many people and much
excitement in the side street, but it
was of course not to be compared
with the avenue where the crowds
had gathered to witness the parade.
Straight to the door Charlie
dashed.
A man stood there endeavoring to
keep out those who had no business
inside, for it is well known that dar-
ing thieves will take advantage of
such occasions to ply their nefarious
trade, even If they do not at times
even create the opportunity.
Ten men could not have kept our
Charlie from pushing in.
He shouted that he was a guest,
and then rushed inside; nor did the
man, after one look at his haggard
face, attempt to say him nay.