Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1903-01-14

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Hope House entrance. There was no
need Of words. No other place was
possible. AS yet the fire had not
touched it. The crowd that surged
through Bowen street had suddenly
left everything else unsaved to protect
Hope House. Miss Andrews was out
by that tangled heap Of torture and
death, digging with her hands at the
monstrous pile, working with mans
energy and shaming more than one
man by her calm but determined cour-
age.
But Hope House had suddenly come
to rlean more in few seconds than 1t
had meant in dozen years to the peo-
pie. That silent. pale, resolute, awfully
patient woman who had been loving
them resistlessly all these years, who
was now over there digging at the liv-
ing graves Of the people, what Of the
place called her home, the center of
her benignant influence? 1t should not
perish. The people Of Bowen street
surrounded the place and fought death
for q grim hour, aided by REINFORCE
ments of the department. In almost
q dream of action Barton and Gordon
had participated in this wild fury of
defense They first carried the body
Of Mrs. Caylor into the hall. AS they
laid it down both knew that what they
laid down was a lifeless, shapeless
heap Of bones and flesh. She was with
Louie now
On the other side Of Jordan,
In the sweet fields Of Eden
Where the tree Of life Is blooming.
The men rushed out to the defense,
and in that next hour Waterside dis
trict witnessed as heroic struggle as
any age Of chivalry ever boasted. 1t
was not al occasion for the depart
ment to dictate any rules or methods
Of procedure. The people made rules.
They tore down buildings. flung them
selves upon flaming fragments,
stamped under foot and literally beat
back the fury Of the encircling fire.
And Hope House was saved. When 1t
was all over, the building stood black
ened, defaced, scorched, but intact,
and into its archway came streaming
a dark procession Of forms bearing
dreadful burdens. which were laid in
straight rows through the hall and on
the library floor. Before the gray
dawn broke through the pail Of smoke,
dripping with a drlzzling air that pen
etrated even the warmly dressed early
risers on the boulevards, there were
forty-seven forms lying side by side on
the floor of Hope House, and under the
CHASTITY mound how many more no
man dared to guess.
John Gordon found Miss Andrews
still at work out by the ruins.
"You must stop and eat something" /"
he said gently, but firmly. And as he
spoke he laid his hand on her arm.
She was bearing on her face and per-
son the marks of her desperate energy.
But she had never ceased to be Grace
Andrews, calm, self poised, patient, in
domitabIe, but never hysterical or
nervous.
A faint color appeared in her face,
and she let Gordon bring her some
thing to eat. She tasted it sitting on a
beam near the ruins. The firemen, who
knew her, never thought Of refusing
her a place with the workers. Through
the dawn up into the increasing light
of the awful day that revealed new
horrors she worked on, and Gordon
and Barton silently worked beside her.
The great excitement had kept Bar
ton nerved up to the occasion. AS the
dawn broke, however, the strain was
too severe for the frail tenement he
felt something snap somewhere, and
his eyes blinded as he staggered over
the ruins. He brushed back the hair
that hung matted and dripping over
his forehead and tried to steady him
self. There was a child's arm protrud-
ing from q mass Of plaster and bricks
at which he had been working as in a
nightmare, sobbing and coughing, and
alternately cursing and praying. Cor
don was several feet away. lifting a
beam with Miss Andrews.
He Strengthened up and saw 1t all In
q mist that darkened swiftly. Again
he brushed his hand over his forehead
and tried by all the exercise Of his will
to keep from falling, but the next mo-
ment he reeled, stumbled against a
projecting timber and fell face down.
ward. The fingers Of the child, which
had been moving slightly, touched his
warm cheek. When John Gordon came
over to lift Barton up, the child's arm
encircled Barton's neck.
Gordon gently unclasped the arm
and, lifting up his friend, carried him
into Hope House. AS he laid him down
Barton opened his eyes and whis-
pered, "Never mind me, save the 9th
ers."
Gordon kneeled and kissed Barton's
forehead, and, leaving him In charge
of one Of the residents, he went out to
the work. When he and Miss Andrews
had dug out the child, it had breathed
Its last. Miss Andrews kissed the dis
figured face, and the first tear that
Gordon had ever seen her shed fell on
the body.
"One Of our children In the kinder
garten. Oh, my God! For this slaugh-
ter Of the innocents who shall be
counted guiltS?"
She carried the child into the house,
and when she came back there was an
added divinity Of righteous indignation
in her blue eyes. added sadness In the
lines Of her patient face.