Evening star., 1922-05-19
He must have seen something"

HE must have seen something"
Just then the lights winked up.
"Oh, that was before the fellow
explained Kennedy He had to make
sure of his work of destruction first.
And. Judging by the charreds papers
about. he did it well. See. he tore
leaves from the ledgers and lighted
Ject in all that. What was 1t? Hello!
Look at this mass Of charred paper In
the corner"
He bent down and examined it
carefully.
Memoranda of some kind. 1 guess.
over later. Don't disturb It. I'll take
1t away myself"
: Search as we might we could find
no other trace of the firebug, and at
last We left. Kennedy carried the
charred paper carefully in large hat
box.
''ThereIl be no more fires tonight,
Mccormick" he said. But I'll watch
with you every night until We get
this incendiary. Meanwhile. I'll see
what l can decipher, II anything. in
/ this burnt paper"
Next Day Mccormick dropped in to
see US again. This time he had an
other note. a disguised scrawl, which
read:
/ "Chief-Im not through. Watch me
] get another store yet. l won't fall
down this time. A. SPARK"
! Craig scowled as he read the note
and handed II to me.
THE mans writing this time-like
| the second note" was all he said.
mccormick, since we know where the
lightning is going to strike, don't you
think it would be wiser to make our
| headquarters in one Of the engine
] houses in that districtw
| The fire marshal agreed and that
night saw us watching at the fire.
house nearest the department store
| region.
Kennedy and 1 were assigned to
places on the hosecart and engine, re-
spectively, Kennedy being in the hose
| cart SO that he could be with McCor-
mick. We were taught to descend one
, Of the four brass poles hand under
elbow from the dormitory on the Sec
! ond floor. They showed US how to
| trousers opened out over the high tor
boots. We were given helmets. which
we placed in regulation fashion or
our rubber coats. turned inside out
, with the right armnole up. Thus II
came about that Craig and 1 Joined
the fire department temporarily. 1,
was a novel experience for us both
| Now Walter" said Kennedy. 'as
long as we have gone SO far. well
/ TOLL to every fire, just like the regu.
! idTS we won take any CnanC6S Ol
missing the firebug at any time OF
night or day"
| 1t proved to be a remarkably quiet
evening, with only one little blaze in
a candy shop on Nth avenue
I Most of the time we sat around try.
| ing to draw the men out about theil
thrilling experiences at fires. But II
there is one thing the fireman doesn',
| know 1t Is the English language when
talking about herself. 1t was quite
late when We turned into the neat
! white cots upstairs.
| We had scarcely fallen into a hall
doze in our strange surroundings
when the gong downstairs sounded
1t was our signal
3, We could hear the rapid clatter OF
! the horses hoofs as they were auto
matically released from their stalls
and the collars and harness mechan
icaily locked about them. All was
: stir and motion and shouts. Craig
| and had bounded awkwardly into
our paraphernalia at the first sound
and were pushed and showed into our
places. for scientific management in a
New York firehouse has reached l0O
| per cent efficiency. and we were not to
/ be allowed to delay the game.
,ba ne ane, on loren mad a, heen applied to
Ing flames. 1 was hanging on tor
dear life, now and then catching sight
of the driver urging his plungins
horses onward like charioteer In a
, modern Ben-Hur race. The tender
with Craig and Mccormick was lost in
| the clouds of smoke and sparks that
trailed behind us. On we dashed un-
til We turned into 9Th avenue. The
glare of the sky told us that this time
the irebug had made good
TIL be hanged IL it isn't the Stacey
store again." shouted the man next
me on the engine as the horses lunged
up the avenue and stopped at the
allotted hydrant. 1t was like a war
game. Every move had been planned
out by the fire strateGists. even Down
to the hydrants that the engines
should take at given fire
Already several floors were afame
the, windows glowing like open-hearth
furnaces, the glass bulging and crack
ing and the flames licking upward and
,, shooting out in long streamers The
hose was coupled up in an instant. the
! water turned onS and the limp rubber
and canvas became as rigid as a post
with the high pressure Of the water
being forced through it, Company
after company dashed into the bIaZ-
ing "freproof' building, urged by the
hoarse profanity of the chief.
Twenty or thirty men must have
disappeared into the stifie from which
the police retreated. There was no