The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1918-05-24

sent Bin up 10 get Clnn's ~.vGa.ng
while | unloaded tho supplies aud hid
them under the dock. | expected u
telephone Jim In the morning and tell
him where they were so that he could
cook breakfast for the castaways
When Bill returned | helped him put
out TO sea again. This required consid'
erable persuasion and $3 in money
also had to promise to make 1t all
right with the newspaper man whom
he had brought over
Now the next adventure In this
Arabian nightmare occurred. At first
l thought 1t was the reflection Of the
rising sun in the windows of the cot
tage which caused the red light, but
when looked to the east saw that
the sun was not up.
Then the house must be on fire!
Clearly / had no time to lose. Proba-
bly, every one was sleeping. | ran up
the path from the beach to the house,
my temples bursting with the exertion.
By the time got to the front door the
flames were beginning to lick out of
one Of the upstairs windows.
threw myself against the front
door and broke the lock without cere-
mony. The stairway was still clear.
1 dashed up, yelling, Fire"
The people began to come out in
various stages of undress, carrying
clothing and valuables. Vida's stage
experience stood her in good stead.
she emerged from her room complete
ly dressed and went downstairs as II
she were answering a rehearsal call.
All were accounted for but Lucille.
pounded on her door again and
again.
"Hurryw l commanded at frequent
intervals
I'm hurrying," she always am
Swered.
At last the smoke began to be un-
bearable in the hallway, and the
cracking of the flames warned me
that In an instant the stairs would be
impossible. / stood on ceremony no
longer. l threw open Lucile's door.
EouG was lOOhlbS uAhllCoSlg dDOul hGlb
with a stocking in one hand.
81 can't find my other stocking" she
announced calmly.
Don't be excited :" | shouted. "The
house is on fire, and we've got to get
Outr'
I'm not excited. But how can 1 es-
cape with only one stocking"
There was no time for argument. l
grabbed a blanket that was flung over
the foot of her bed, wrapped her in it
and swept her off her feet and into
my arms.
The rescue was very simple. There
was n little smoke on the stairway,
and in a minute it would have been
hard TO get down, but as it was only
had to hold my breath for a few sec
onds and we were safe on the first
floor, which had not caught yet.
However, l carried Lucille clear out
in the front yard and deposited her in
the little group of scantily clad sur
vivors.
"Where's the fire department."
asked Vida.
There isn't any fire department"
Kent volunteered gently.
Cant anything be done"
Not much now" shrugged my
shoulders. "When a fire gets that
much headway in a country house
built of wood there is nothing much
to do but save the nearby buildings"
GLOW could it have caught? asked
Bopp, trying to put his left shoe on his
right foot. He had carried them both
out in his hands.
"No one was up," said Jim, the fire.
man.
How did you come to be around,
Monty" Bopp Strengthened up with
a quick glance at me. Mrs. Green
telephoned that you were going to the
mainland"
It hardly seemed possible, but l knew
that for a moment they all suspected
me Of having set fire to Lucile's house
in revenge for our quarrel of the eve
ming before.
Il came back to the island for some
thing, and I noticed the fire." l ex-
planned weakly "The flames were
coming out of the window of the north
east ROOM"
"Who slept there?" Captain Perkins
asked practically.
No one answered.
"That's funny" Captain Perkins
was sarcastic. Didn't anybody sleep
in the northeast room, or don't you
know where you slept?"
"YOu slept there yourself" Jim ex-
planned, rather hesltant about calling
his superior officers attention to such
damning fact.
"Ohw The captain collapsed. "I
guess l did"
"Where did you empty the ashes of
your pipe before you went to get that
drink of water?" 1 interrogated.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
RAISE MISCHIEF WITH WIRES