The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-08-22

Couldn't We do anything with that?' ''
 Your head. pardner.' said Sam' getting up and going toward the ten- der, ''ain't so far from being level. Let's see how much water we've got
 With that he opened the water tank and looked ill. We're all right says he. You come along here and get into the tank with me. We'll put the cover on when the fire reaches us, and l ex- pect We can stand it for five minutes or so. It's a scheme that lays way over that fellows horsehide game, and I shouldn't wonder if it turned out satis- factory for all.'"
 The manhOle was big enough to let man through and when Sam and got into the tank and crouched down in d sort of sitting position the water came just up to our chins, and we had about ten inches of head room. Sam pulled the iron cover part way over the hole and sald: Now we're pretty cer- tain not to be roasted, which that fire is aiming at. It'll be some satisfaction to get the better of it."
 " I don't see,' said I, that we're bet tering things very much by putting ourselves in the way of being boiled in stead of roasted
 CT don't suppose said Sam, that there is any great things to choose be- tween being roasted or boiled, or fried, or, you might say, baked, but that fire has set its mind on roasting us, and if we're billed it'll be disappointing. Be- sides ain't So sure about the billing. It'll take some time to heat up this water, and we may pull through after all.'"
 Just then the noise of the fire showed that it was getting close to us, and Whiff of smoke came into the tank. Sam pulled the cover on and says to me: Just sit and take 1t easy. There's air enough here to last us for some time if we don't use it up talk ing"
 T kept quiet and said my prayers to l myself. The fire came down on us with swoop like ten tribes of Injuns, and i the top of the tank was hot in less than l no time. The roaring of the fire seemed to pass on and away from us, but there was tremendous lot of cracking going on in our neighborhood, which showed us that the fire was still all around us. l We waited and waited, hoping every minute that the fire would die out and l let us open the tank. The water kept 1 getting warmer and warmer, and then touched the top of the tank, where | the water didn't reach it. It burned my ringers. The air, too, kept getting more and more choky, until was very near my last gasp, and Sam was about the same. When he couldn't stand it any longer, he threw off the cover and put his head out. Then he broke into a big laugh that was a little hoarse by reason of the choking he had under | gone, and he climbed out of the tank calling to me to follow him, which nat urally I did without wasting time"
 The prairie fire was miles away, and the cracking which he heard was made by the woodwork of the tender and the wreck of the engine cab, which was all in a blaze. There wasn't anything tc hurt us when we were once outside the tank, but if we had staid in it. long enough We should have been boiled without the least doubt. We jumped down on the ground, and stood there tc see the wreck burn, and with the ex-
 ception of my burned fingers and lit tie hair that was singed off the top ot San1s head we were as cool and com. fortable as man could want tobe." I We walked back to Bucephalus. and I had considerable difficulty in getting
 my chief to believe that Sam and I had
 saved ourselves by hiding in tank. ]
 was so well pleased by my escape tha it made very little odds to me what ht thought about it, but Sam was tha tdiscontented at having his engine bea by a coyote that nobody could get { civil word out of him for the next week Pail Mall Magazine