The Red Cloud chief., 1906-03-16
(C)NTiNUED.)

lCF came again ana NanrcVPl lot II fGIt
IN Il grateful cascade upon CrallCy and
hin,olf three manly voices were heard
singing a. three men toiled through
the pillows of rosy gay below the be-
leaguered pair:
"Oh, the noble Duke Of York,
lie had ten thousand men:
He marched them up the side OF a house
And marched them down again.
A head appeared above the caves.
and Marsh, then Eugene, then Cum
mingS, came crawling owe the cornice
In turn to join their comrades. They
were a gallant band, those young gen
tlCmen Of Rouen. and they came with
the ironical song on their lips and, look.
Ing at one another, ragged and scarf
fed. burst into hoarse but indomita-
bic laughter.
Two others made an attempt to fol-
low and would not be restrained. 1t
was noticed that parts of the lower
ladder had been charming, and the lad
der men were preparing to remove it
to a less dangerous point when old
General Trumble and young Jefferson
EIreaud made a rush to mount it ana
We're well upon their upward way bc.
fore the ladder, weakened at the mid.
die, sGggcd. splintered and broke.
Tumble ard Bareaud falling with 1t.
And there was the graphing ladder
dangling forty feet above the ground,
and there were the five upon the roof.
The department had no other ladder
OF more than half the length of the
shattered one. Not only the depart
mcnt, but every sou In Rouen, knew
that. and there rose the thick, low sigh
of a multitude, a sound frightful to
hear. 1t became a groan, then swelled
into a deep cry Of alarm and lamenta-
ton.
And now almost simultaneously the
west wall Of the building and the south
wall and all the southwestern portions
of the oOf covered themselves with
voluminous nantes of fame, which in
creased so hugely and with such saw
age rapidity that the m stream on the
roof was seen to be but a ridiculous
and useless opposition.
Everybody began to shout advice to
his neighbor, and nobody listened even
to himself. The firemen were In as
great a turmoil as was the crowd,
while women covered their eyes. Young
Frank Chenoweth was sobbing curses
upon the bruised and shaking Trumble
and Jefferson Bareaud, who could only
stand remorseful, impotently grooming,
and made no answer.
The walls Of the southernmost ware
house followed the roof, crashing in
one after the other, a sacrifice pyre
with its purpose contaminated, and in
the seeth and flare Of Its passing Tom
Vanrevel again shaded his Eyes with
his hand and looked down across the
upturned faces. The pedestal with the
groteSQue carvings was still there, but
the browning figure had Disappeared
the young goddess was gone. For she,
OF all that throng, had an idea In her
head, and, after screaming 1t to every
man within reach, only to discover the
impossibility of making herself under
stood in that babel, she was struggling
10 make her way toward the second
warehouse, through the swaying Jam
OF people. 1t was a difficult task, as
the farther in she managed to go the
denser became the press and the more
tightly she found the people wedged,
until she received involuntary aid from
the iremen. In turning their second
stream to play Intellectually upon the
lower strata of flame they accidentally
detected 1t toward the crowd, who
separated wildly, leaving a big gap, of
which Miss Betts took instant advan-
tage. She darted across, and the next
moment, unnoticed, had entered the
building through the door which Crailey
Gray had opened.
The five young men on the roof were
well aware that there was little to do
but to wait, and soon they would see
which was to win, they or the fire, so
they shifted their line of hose to the
eastern front Of the building, out of
harms way for a time at least, and
held the muzzle steady, watching its
work. And in truth 1t was not long be-
fore they understood which would con-
quer. h southern and western por-
tons of the building had flung out great
DANES that iuttered and fared on the
breeze like titanic flags, and steadily,
slowly at first, then faster as the sec
onds flew, the five were driven back
ward, up the low slope of the roof to-
ward the gable ridge. Tom Vanrevel
held the first joint of the nozzle, and he
retreated with a sulky face, lifting his
foot g%rudgingly at each step. They
were all silent now, and no one spoke
until VIII Cummings faltered:
Surely they'll get a rope up to US
some wayT"
Will knew as well as did the others