Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1907-08-09

AT tue Top ne paused, looked down in
triumph to the breathless crowd be-
low, and disappeared jauntily
through window. That the board
of lady managers was holding a
meeting just inside rather added to
the dramatic effect of his entrance.
But the Madigan baby kicked her
feet and squealed with joy, and James
William received reprimand and
commission on the fire corps, pro-
vided he avoided any more practical
demonstrations of his ability.
And then he fell down the stairs!
Some one had tripped him, and
deliberately-he knew that. He
looked down the long table to where
the Virgins boy was catching flies
and putting them down his neigh
boris back. 1t was quite likely to
have been the Virgins boy. When
things happened to James William
it usually was the Virgins boy. The
more James William looked the more
he became convinced of the Virgins
boys guilt-he bore an almost I'M
looked up the table.
James William drew a breath and
looked at Miss Adams. Somehow she,
too, seemed to avoid his eye. The
boy listened rebelliously to the little
prayer after the supper, without
joining. He half wished the whole
place would burn down that night;
maybe they would be sorry when
there was nobody to save the Madi-
gan kid. He had heard it whispered
that the Virgins boy had been as
signed to the Madigan baby. He
knew that the Virgins boy was
coward. He knew that in case of
real fire the Virgins boy would
think only of saving himself.
All these things ranked in his
mind as James William went to bed
that night. He could not get to
sleep; he lay wondering if the Wig
gins boy had really taken his place
on the life-saving corps; who it was
had tripped him the might before;
how Miss Adams could be so cruel
when she seemed so kind. 1t was
very hot in the dormitory; the light
from the street lamps shone on the
high ceiling; few mosquitoes, TAX
ing advantage of an unlocked screen,
hummed about the little cots. The
air seemed thick and sitting; James
William decided to get up and get
a drink. And then he missed his
crutch.
He hoped out on one foot and
looked under the bed, but it wasn't
there. Then he felt around the bed
clothes, but still no crutch. After
a time he gave it up and sat on the
edge of his bed, impotently raging.
At last he dropped off into an I'M
easy sleep.
At the first stroke of the gong he
was on the floor, feeling instinctively
for his crutch; all around small boys
were jumping from their beds, rae
ing for the door, leaping down the
stairs. Then James William remem-
bered. 1t might be against the rules,
but what was the use of following
the drill if he could not do it prop
erly-if he had no baby to carry
out? He got sheepishly back into
bed again and drew the sheet over
his face.
After a minute or so James Will
liam pushed the sheet down and
coughed. 1t was close under there.
Then he sat up and looked around.
The night looked queer. 1t seemed
red. for one thing, and around it
were little luminous circles that
seemed to waver and shift Then he
noticed that everything in the room
wavered curiously; the big gong
was dim, the gong which John pol
ished so religiously every Friday.
And then even as he looked at it
the gong began to ring again-not
slowly this time, but madly, in
strokes which seemed to fall over
each other and merged in one de-
moniac clamor.
Then James William knew what it
was. This was no practice alarm. 1t
was fire, real fire this time-and oh,
the pain of it. He was no longer
on the life-saving corps. He was
fumbling again for his crutch, with
the same result. From away down
stairs came the faint tramp, tramp.
of barefooted children marching out
to safety. James William began to
cough again; there was queer full
feeling in his head, and 1t was very
warm. Then, holding to the bed, he
hoped on his one foot toward the
door.
AS he opened it choking blast
of black smoke drove him back.
There was a Pickering light from
some place that cleaned for a min
ute and was smothered, only to
burst up again. James William
closed the door into the dormitory
behind him, and holding by the wall,
blinked into the smoke. Then-per-
haps it was heredity, perhaps it was
breath from the long-ago past
he dropped down and crawled to the
stairs, his mouth close to the floor.
His progress was slow and pain
full; the woodwork felt hot under his
hands, as though the fire might
burst through any moment. The air
was worse, too, as he crept down
the stairs. At the landing below he
stopped. There was a weight on his
chest, and his heart was humping
in his ears. And then at that mo-
ment he remembered Baby Madigan.
James William was only a boy, but
he had fire-fighting blood in him. He
was breathing hard now, and he re-
membered suddenly that he had no
crutch-that if the Madigan baby
was still in the dormitory he could
not carry her out But even as he
remembered he was crawling on his
blistered knees toward the infant
night nursery.
The air was a little better in there,
and from the far end James William
could hear choking, gasping cry.
He could hop now, holding to the
beds. Through the smoke he saw
the Madigan baby sitting up and
blinking. If the Virgins boy had
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