The San Francisco call., 1904-02-07


II oistely. that. OF q gentleman,
bsrehesoed and in evening
a dress, with a brass trumpet
swinging from a cord about his shouI-
GERS; the noise grew less; the shouting
oled away. and the crowd became al
most SILENT as the figure, climbing
5ioNly' drew I'D above their heads
Two or three rungs beneath. carna q
ma man In helmet and uniform
Inc clothes Of both men, drenched bv
tne pucketeers. clung to them. steam
ing. As the second figure mounted q
thlro appeared; but this was the last
1of me ladder was fraf, and saesed to
MaIo the smoking wall with the weight
Of the three -''
ne chleI Jhree-fOurths Of the Uav "a
lhe top' shouted down. q sti7ed corr
mana and a short graphing ladder
ll1ed al one end with a pair OF sn,l,a5
lron hooks, was passed to him Tbe- h..
Toned upward until his feet rested =,
the third rung from the ton: here he
turned, setting his back 10 the wall
nIteo the grappling-ladder high over
MS mead so that il rested against +ba
caves above him, and brought it dov-n
Sharply, fastening the spiked hooks A.,
1he roof As the caves protected f,,1I1-
three feet, this left the grapplinT-lad-
Ger hanging that distance out from, tba
Wal, Its lowest rung a little above tbs
IeNel OF the chiefs shoulders.
MSS 5etty drew in her breath with
ilIue cnoked cry. There was q small
1erraced hill OF piled-up packing boxes
near her, possession Of which had been
taheh oy a company OF raggamufHnisb
poys' and she found herself standing
on the highest box and sharing the
summit with these questionable vortI,s.
almost without noting her action in
mounting thither. so strained was the
concentration Of her attention unon tba
nsure nigh up in the rose glow against
the warehouse wall. The man. surely
surrey. was not going to trust himself
10 that bit Of wooden web banein1
tfom the roof Where w, Miss Pa-
reaud that she permitted IT? An n
Betty had been Fanchon. and naadwo-
man enough 10 have accepted this mad
man. she would have compelled him 10
come down at once, and thereafter
would lock him I'D in the house when
ever the bells rangt
But the roof was to be mounted or
Robert Carewe's property lost. AL
ready little flames were dancing I'm
IRON the shingles, where frebrands
hao fallen, their number Increasing
with each second So VanreveI raised
MS arms. took a hard grip upon the
lowest rung Of the grappIing-ladder
and tried il with his weight: the iron
hooks bit deeper into the roof: thew
held he swung himself out into the
air with nothing beneath him, caught
the rung under his knee, and for a mo-
meut hung there, while the crowd with
held from breathing; then a cloud of
smoke, swirling that way, made him
the mere ghostly nucleus Of itself
blotted him out altogether. and. as if
rose slowly upward, showed the ladder
free and empty. so that at first there
was an instant when they thought that
he had fallen. But, as the smoke
cleared, there was the tall figure on the
roof
II was an agile and a daring thing to
DO, and the man who did il was might
fly apDlauded- The cheering bothered
him, however. for he was trying to
make them understand, below. what
would happen 10 The engine company
IN case the water was not sent through
the lines directly: and what he said
should be done 10 the engineers in
cluded things that would have .blanched
the cheek Of the most inventive Span
ish inquisitOr that ever lived.
Miss Betty made gesture as IL TO a
person within whispering distance.
Your coat is on fire" she said in an
ordinary, conversational tone. without
knowing she had spoken aloud, and Mr..
NanreveL more than one hundred feet
away, seemed particularly conscious of
the pertinence Of her remark He re-
moved the garment with alacrity, and,
for the lack Of the tardy water, began
10 use II as a fail upon the firebrsnds
and little flames about him; the sheer
desperate best Of a man in a rage, do
ing what he could when others failed
him Showers Of sparks fell upon him;
the smoke was rising everywhere from
the roof and the walls below; and.
growing denser and denser, shrouded
him IN heavy wells, so that, as he ran
b her and thither, now visible now un-
seen. stamping and beating and sweep
ing away the brands that fell, he
seemed but the red and ghostly carica-
tuTe of a Xerxes. Intellectually lashing
the sea. They were calling to him i'm
plorinely TO come down, IN heavens
name 10 come downi
The second man had followed to the