The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1910-05-31

from the great city, which could ~
even sleep quietly.
The bodiless whispering had ceased
at last. but at about three o'clock h
the morning dull, persistent roar
began to hammer her ear drums He1
half-dazed brain became gripped BY
spasm Of terror. Was she going mad!
She abandoned the switchboard an
moved across to one of the Window
glazing palely with the reflection q
the street lamps. She looked down
on the sidewalk far below-noted the
stagnation, saw solitary pedestrian
and heard the tramp of his feet a
the pavement Still the roar surEed
against her ears. 1t was sinister.
She swung away from the front win
dow and turned her attention to thoss
commanding the freight yard. Down
somewhere in that intricate mass d
men and machinery was the yard f0ro
man, Carl Meurer. There he Wa
king. Her heart swelled with pride,
but as abruptly contracted with jeal
GUS pain.
She suppressed the outcry of agony
that pressed against her clinche1
teeth and forced herself to sit once
more at the switchboard. For fun
half-hour she settled down to routi1a
work, but at last the nerve-ending roar
that seemed to permeate every corner
of the room became intolerable. With
desperate gesture she sprang erect
and began to pace the floor.
: This could be no mere hallucinAb
| ton. She halted in the center Of tAe
} Office. then suddenly shrieked aloud
as the reason for this dreadful Tn
MOL swept across her faculties clear
ing them instantly.
The freight house was on fire.
A panther-like spring across TIE
floor and one glance through TIE
doors revealed sinuous coils Of with
ing smoke ascending the air currenta.
How long had the fire been ~
I work? Had she time to escape by tAa
stairs? Her foot was on the landing
3 when it occurred to Milly that all q
: the workers in the yard were in tAa
greatest jeopardy-trapped literally
by the towering walls of the freight
e house And Carl was there-Carl!
She dashed across to the switch
board and began notifying the men =
the yard Of the fire. She called ~
I Meurer as calmly as the othess-
heard his slow, deep voice mergfno
I into a shout of excitement Suddenly
| her blanched face went whittier than
ever.
Call up Miss Donnelly; you en-
i get her before any of the rest Of -
II Hur-"
II But Milly flung the receiver from
her with a maniacal laugh and leaped
toward the door once again.
II So the little senseless chit was IN
peril-extreme peril, perhaps. So Be
it! The ground floor might be .
mass of flames before she had N
inkling. No one could reach her.
either, at this hour except over the
switchboard in the main ONCE, and
Milly controlled that
| She hung for a moment above the
| well-like stairs, then skinned down
the broad steps One flight was &c
complished-another was begun-nov
she was at the third landing. Here
q The smoke was more dense.
y She could hear the rending snari Of
the flames; catch sickening wh1n
from the cellars where the stored mer
chandise was burning. A burst Of
fresh, outside air dispersed the
smoke-clouds an instant. Milly gulped
greedily, was refreshed and, with re
turning vigor, a full appreciation d
\ through her heart like the thrust Of Z
y sword.
I Had she time left in which to wan
the girl?
l| She wheeled and took the Stair
4 with frantic speed The ascending
flights seemed endless. To breathe
meant acute pain-her muscles refuset
J to obey, her limbs to bear her up Mid
49, way on the last flight she sank t.
70 her knees A hot gust swept up from
70 the inferno beneath but it stirred he
heavy limbs so that she could craw
:, the remainder of the distance
Somehow she reached the switch
ID board and stirred, schooling hersel
&c to be rational. laying fast hold of he
reeling brain. she called up the super
Of intendent's office. Would the opera
e tor never answer-perhaps she-Mal
garet-was already past human aid
he Finally Margarets voice, barel'
is recognizable. so hoarse and terrified
ad reached Milly.
ig That isn't you, surely. Yes. Yes
We are safe here. but don't you know
on you are cut of by fire, they say
as Poor, poor Milly-
or The receiver fell from Milly's nerve
To less fingers. She had finished he
m. work. She had fought the good fight
a She
on Red fire danced before her recedinI
or vision, something snapped in ne
-,v overtaxed brain and she lurched fol
Is ward insensible, as volume of smok
M poured into the room.
The fire was thing OF the pas
no when Milly, in the gray dawn, strue
no gled back to consciousness.
Sbo xraS on the lounge in the super