The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1913-11-10

should nave pulled and not pushed
He dssisted after q while and
leaned YEARLY against the door.
~ was then that his father, stink
Ing shsme-facedly back. found him,
eMe>must 60" said openta quiet
~. They are in there. They have
been in there for a long time. We
are not wanted here. Help me put
ON my clothes"
bud you CANT walk"
"oh, yes, l can walk"
Old man openta helped his son
down one flight Of stairs. Then he
said:
"wait for be. hab forgotten
sumthig."
He was gone long time.
And when he returned he carried
the key of the outer door in his
hand. When they reached the street
he was still carrying 1t. Coming
to a drain opening he dropped the
key into it.
II hab locked theb ID" he said.
''ad emptied the stobe. Lookw
The windows OF the room which
they had quilted glowed in the
night like Goals. Openta fell face
downward in the gutter.
Tier heart must have been weak
and the old mans blow practically
killed her." thought Odeskalki, aft
an hour and a half to bring Olenka
to. "She is certainly dead. I must
tell Openta."
He pushed open the door and
sprang back from a storm OF
flames. The door closed with
bang. Odeskalki ran to the win
dow, threw it open and looked out,
right, left, down and up. There
was nothing for 1t. IL the worst
came to the Worst, but to jump. I'M
less he could make a rope out of
bedding. He began to tear the
bedding into broad strips. He work.
ed with frantic haste, but not so
fast as the fire in the next room.
The intervening door sprang in
ward from it's hinges as IL 1T had
been hit by locomotive. Flame
and smoke poured through the
opening. Cries began to rise from
the street below and the reverber-
atoms of fire-gongs. OdeskalKi
thrust himself half out of the win
dow and screamed for help. In that
moment of agony and fear, he saw,
among the upturned faces In the
street, the face of old man Openta
oh nlprrimpnt
And the old mans shrill voice was
borne up to him, clarion and nor
rible:
II hat purned your bridges be-
hind you, Odeskalki"'
Odeskalki sprang from the VIM
dow. The cries and the reverbera-
lions of the fire-bells seemed to
combine in one awful rushing shud-
der. The crowd fought cruelty to
get back from the place where
odeskalki would land. Old man
.Openta did not move. He did not
seem to realize his danger. He
stood as IL rooted, with upturned,
maIevoulently smiling face.
1t seemed to those who saw the
catastrophe that the old man was
literally driven into the street.
1t happened that the train for
which Orloff Openta was waiting
at the New York Centrars 12bth ST.
station was carrying two young
people to Greenwich on the first
stage of their honeymoon. 1t was
curious that the bridegroom was
the very man whose generosity had
been the cause of Openta's fall ana
of all his subsequent disasters. III
the bridegroom had known this ne
might have been moved to tears
for he was big and gentle and KIND.
But he did not know 1t, and Openta
did not give 1t thought. He was
waiting on the very edge or the
platform for the train. He did not
know where he had passed the
night or the morning or how he had
come to the edge of the PLATFORM.
He considered to have gotten there
as the only piece of good luck that
he had ever had. That was all.
eHeavens! cried the bride.
whats happened?"
.You wait here, dear, and I'll go
and find out"
sThe bridegroom hurried TO the
end of the car and looked out. he
saw the corpse of man lying be-
side the tracks. TfA sight made
him feel sick, but he turned and
went back to the bride, forcing
smile to his face.
"was someone hurt?" said the
bride, her face full of concern.
mo. dear-a man got knocked
down-thats all. They-he picked
himself up and walked away with
a silly smile, and everybody Is
l-l-laughing at him."