The new enterprise., 1905-08-17
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GORG0RAN' By.
Richlri
EXPIAFI0N.. si'''''. 5''ii'

warehouse a steel maui IN one
hand and in The other spuucrlng
lantern, which seemed dim spark IN
the binding smoke. sudden deafep.
ing roar sounded through the cavern
Gus halls, accompanied by the crash Of
timber and the tinklc Of broken glass.
And then his first thought was 10 ret
TO the street as quickly as possible.
Indeed so great was his anxiety 10
leave the building that in his mad
flight down the stairs he crashed into
Lieutenant McGill. Of 80, who was as
cendlng Just behind him.
Corcoran weighed lg0 pounds. and
McGill was a wiry little man. The
pair crashed into five Of 33's hosemen.
who were dragging up line of hose IN
the lieutenants wake, and all seven
went down the flight in a heap
When they lad untanglod them
selves, and the lieutenant was angriN
inquirlng what had happened some Of
Ladder GS's men, who had seen the
whole affair, came down ana grabbed
the habby hose which 33s men were
picking up.
And as they tugged ana grunted they
scorniully explained the matter,
All might have been forgiven him
had the explosion been near enough 10
blow him off his feet but It had been
on the seventh floor, while Corcoran
was ascending TO The third. 1t had
been, moreover, Of no real consequence
merely couple Of doors blown Off
the elevator shaft and a few windows
broken.
From that moment the persecution
OF Laddcrman Corcoran began. lie dld
not realize that he was not the first
man 10 finch from hot air explosion. /.
he did not know that countless green
men before him, who had been guilty
OF a similar mistake, had become in
time exemplary members OF the de-
partment, In the Jokes ut his expense.
and in the coarse laughter they inva-
riably provoked, Corcoran saw only the
richly merited scorn Of objectionable
cowarlicc,
II Corcoran came up stairs in the af-
ternoon while the men were loafng or
playing cards, the wittcisms at his
expense We're particularly biting.
Take care there, Larryw Mccarthy
would call to Began keep away
from the stairs, lad. Hell he coastin'
down on yc, same's he did on McGill"
Or Began would call out to old Fin.
neran, with unnecessary emphasis:
"Cut out them sneezes, Tim! Yen
be stampedm' Corcoranw
And Corcoran would turn red to the
roots Of his hair and bite his lips as lc
turned angrlly on his heel
Foremost Of his tormentors was his
own cousin, Dan Kennedy, an older
man, Dan had quick wit and bit
ing tongue, and the fact that one Of
lis kin should prove unequal to an
emergency lent more scathing scorn
to bis words There had been nothing
TOO harsh for him TO say to Corcoran
since the warehouse fire.
Day by day Corcoran grew silent,
moody and morose, lie ceased to flush
at the taunts Of the men, and when he
looked at them his eyes took on a
strange, sullen glitter Of hatred.
The Taper over the desk in GS's
EOuse sounded the alarm from SO.
Now SO is 4 box that generally means
business, and when 1t is sounded every
man in the department knows that
trouble is imminent, for So is in the
heart Of the lumber yard district, and
n lumber yard fire is generally a blaz-
ing furnace before the first piece Of ap-
paratus on the scene has time to un-
timber.
Began, whose trick at the desk it
was, shouted to the men up stairs,
'S3, boys" as he mechanically re-
corded the number on the sheet.
Corcoran, sitting by the window, list
ened TO the grumblmg from the men
that a dangerous box always brought
forth. He heard Lieutenant Reilly
and Began, arguing good naturedly as
to the probability Of second alarm.
Kennedy came to the window with a
blank in one hand and pen in the
other.
"S3's in" he said, leerlng at Cor
coran. 1--WE thought, perhaps, ye'd be
wlshin' to resign"
Corcoran felt the hot blood rush to
his face, but he bit his lip and looked
steadily out Of the window.
Kennedy turned deprecatlngly to the
others in the room.
HE says he'd be glad to- boys but
he needs the money, and maybe there