The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1907-05-29

1ne AsAt moment ne heard foot
steps on the stairs. Fire. screamed
Clara, rushing through the hall. "Oh.
Brad. get up quick! The Diving Bellies
all on firev'
lie was cool, surprisingly cool as it
seemed to him, when he thought Of it
afterward. His first move was to run
20 tne window, open it and lean out.
Al nrst he saw nothing but the black
nlght the stars and the lights on the
norlzon He noticed, too, how salty
sweet the wind smelled as it blew
from the flats at the foot of the hill.
linen ne saw the puff of flame on the
schooner in the harbor.
Barefooted, bareheaded, dressed only
In his trousers and shirt, but struggling
INTO MS jacket as he ran. he sprang
down the stairs. The sisters caught at
ms arm and cried something or other.
but he did not heed them. Clara called
AFTER him that Captain Titcomb had
gone TO the schooner. He stopped for
an instant to ask her to rouse some of
the neighbors and send them to the
wharf. As he came out into the yard
ne noticed vaguely that there was a
light in one of the rooms of the Baker
cottage
lie took the same route that his part
ner had taken. but made better time
1t was evident that the fire had been
seen by others, for as he crossed the.
bridge the schoolhouse bell began to
ring. 1t came to him like flash, but
! too late, that he might have saved half
the distance by taking one of the
skiffs in the inlet and rowing straight
out past the point
There was shouting crowd on the
hill above the bridge, but he could see
no boats about the Diving Belle and
wondered why. Part of the crowd on
the hill came running to meet him.
who's that?' shouted some one
Ira Sparrow, he thought
! Bradley did not answer "Who is
it?'' cried Ira again. stop"
The Junior partner did not stop.
"Squealer'' Wixon got in his way and
caught at his jacket. Bradley tripped
him up. jumped the rail fence by the
roadside and ran across the fields. He
heard "Squealer'' shouting his name
| The wharf was empty. Not a man
was there. He reached the stringpiece.
caught at the painter of one of the do
ries alongside, and, pulling the boat to-
ward him, jumped in. Luckily the
oars were lying on the thwarts. He
picked them up and, with his knife, cut
the painter.
And then he heard the captains voice
calling to him from the hill: Brad
Brad! Don't go nigh her for your life!
The dynamites aboardw
Like his partner, Bradley had for
gotten the dynamite. Mechanically he
put the oars in the rowlocks and sat
motionless. The captain had stopped
shouting. 1t was very still. He heard
the bell ringing in the distance and
the gurgle of the tide among the piles
under the wharf. A Whit Of smoke
from the Diving Belle blew across his
face, and he turned and looked at the
schooner
He remembered reading in the Bos-
ton Herald a month or so before Of
wrecking vessel that had caught on
fire off Long Island somewhere. She.
too, had dynamite on board and her
skipper and the mate had saved her by
throwing the explosive overheard. But
they were on deck when the fire start
ed. He looked at his own vessel, the
schooner that he and the captain had
longed for and worked for and petted
like baby. Then he set his teeth and
began rowing
The crackle of burning timber was
plain as he scrambled over the Diving
up from under the covering Of the
main hatch and the smoke was roll
ing thick from the cabin companion.
He would have given anything for an
ak, but the only one on board was by
the wood box in the galley below He
caught up the boat hook that was in its
rack by the bulwark and ran to the
hatch
He put the point of the hook under
the heavy cover and began prying the
latter loose 1t gave little, slipped
back and then pulled over the cleats.
With the hook he got firm grip upon
it's edge and turned it over with
clatter. The smoke belched up in
cloud, but as it cleared he fell upon his
knees and peered below.
The fire was almost amidships,
among some loose planks and an emp
ty tar BARREL These were burning
fercely, and the beams of the deck
were blazing above them. But the
dynamite chest was farther forward.
beyond the bulkhead, which was only
beginning to burn, and he could see
there was just chance of reaching
it if he was quick. With the dyna-
mite once out Of the way help from
the shore might save the schooner. He
drew long breath and put his hands
on the edges of the hatch.
Then he heard faint voice calling
for help.