The Press., 1919-02-27
Hero Mine
 ~0 By R. RAY BAKER


 Syndicate.1 verna Pomeroy had mania for he roes
 "l wiI marry the man who goes through fire, water. blood and iron for me-" was the way she expressed it. Many there were who would have been willing to go through water. provided blood. as long as it was not of their own or their shedding; but as to fire and iron--well, the former was lit- tie too much to expect and the latter was difficult.
 If Verna had waited a few years she would have experienced no diff culty in finding a hero for herself. They are plentiful nowadays. but they were scarce when Verna was twenty one and the "pretty stenog'' in Jones & Jones' real estate office on the fourtl. floor of the Ashton building. Somehow Verna figured that Dan Williams was destined to be the man. He was & fireman in the station house three blocks down the street, and he clung rather heroically, she thought. to the red juggernaut that roared and screeched past the Ashton on an aver age of at least four times day. There was a man who would at least go through fire. and certainly through water and probably meet the other re. guirementS. He was strapping blond young man, with strength rip bling through every muscle, and he was very good for hero worshiper to look at.
 'sSome day he'll prove to he my hero," she had decided on the day Dan followed his pet maltese cat in it's wanderings from the station house across the street to the Pomeroy res idence. where Verna happened to be seated on the porch reading "Braye Men 1 Have Met
 That's the way they got acquainted and since then Dan had wooed Verna through the fourth floor window every week day and in the parlor of her home every night when he got time off.
 When the siren Of the ladder truck
 
 Verna always would look up from ha.' typewriter and exchange a wave d' the hand with Dan as the red demon dashed by.
 But Dan was not the only one wie, wooed Verna through the windoW. Ben Vincent rode past the Ashton building twelve times a day. His pace was not as swift as his rivals, how ever. because his vehicle was street car. When he approached Vernas window he always stood on the rcar platform and waved one of his hands while the other rang up fares.
 Verna liked BeR- f,lify as well as Dan. bu, his life was so prosafe it Of fered few heroic possibilities. He had dark hair and eyes and his face was attractive. but he failed to come up to the freman's shoulder and there was no noticeable bulge just abovtss, the elbow. - =
 His acquaintance Id when she si}seeveea. to to esste lidencs mi the suburbs and was obliged to use a trol- ley car twice each day.
 Ben's dark complexion was another handicap. Verna had hair that she liked to hear called ''raven locks" and her eyes were of s;imile- hue !; and she had reed that person should marry an opposite.
 That's the way things stood when the rivals met one night half block from the Pomeroy home. The conduc- tor had heen calling on Verna and the fireman knew it and waited for him. They both happened to be off duty bur Ben had been the first to ak her for an engagement.
 ''rve been waiting for you an l,our," Dan alnounced as he stepped out from the tree aGains, which he had been leaning. You've been in Miss Pom eroS'> paror altogether too long. I can't stand for that"
 Ben had no relish for a f1ght-not with those six feet of muscle-so he kept his temper in leash.
 ''SOrry don't please you" he re- piled with sarcasm-sprinkled coolness. "I didn't know Miss Pomeroy and you were engaged"
 The fireman knitted his brows into a savage scowl and looked disdainful- ly down at the pebble in his highway of love.
 "Well. we aren't" he declaYesi. ''There is no engagement yet. but there is going to be. She wants a man, and Pm it-see? She isn't going to tie up with a shrimp like you. so yoT~het. ter make yourself scarce around ner I'm just warning you, that's all."
 About this time Fate decided to take q hand in the affair. So. janitor went to sleep in the basement of the Ashton building late one afternoon and cigarette dropped from his mouth into barrel of excelsior. The Ashton was frame relic of past arch iteciara grandeur and the flames ate into it as famished lion eats into a chunk of red beefsteak.
 The janitor awoke, choked with smoke, and staggered to safety sI'he occupants; of the building dashed pell- mell to the street by means of the stairway and the meager fire-escape facilities. The elevator boy deserted his post and fled with the rest.
 Verna's bosses were playing g0if and she. was alone in the office clean ing up a pile of work She had her self some of the qualities that heroes and heroines are made of. So she re- mained in the office and puI valuable papers in the safe. while fire crept III, thtNfoutSide and inside of the building and smoke seeped through the floors.
 There's lots of time" she told her. self. and kept rummaging for one very important document she had been un- able to locate. She finally discovered it on file on the junior partners desk. Tossing 1t into the safe. she slammed the iron door, turned the knob and hurried into her coat and hat. s.' s-
 As she opened the office door wave