The Coolidge examiner., 1936-05-29

close to the rear wall of the house,
their trunks almost touched the
low caves. Hand over hand, he
went up the saplings and hitched
himself to the wet shingles, stretch
ing out on his belly.
Now he could see West plainly.
The man was sitting in a chair,
the whisky bottle in his hands
The pistol, Kerry saw, was hung
in it's holster over the back of
chair.
West drank once more, and whis-
ky trickled over his chin. His move
ments, replacing the bottle on the
small table, were uncertain. He
rose and groped for the hanging
light-bulb.
Night shut down suddenly and
bedsprings creaked as a heavy body
fell upon them. =. .
Kerry was within feet of that
weapon. And he had a plan to get
hold of it.
He rose from his position on
the shingles and began making his
way along the roof, cautiously. He
gained the ridge and stood erect.
The chimney belched great vol
umes of smoke. Off came Young's
jacket, now; over the flue opening
it went, and he crouched against
the masonry, waiting.
Down in the nav of the fireplace,
feeble flames died from orange to
blue and then expired, in the roll
ing smoke, which cut off from es-
cape above, flowed out and filled
the living room. 1t drifted up the
stairway and into the upper hall,
growing thicker and thicker as the
punky birch smoldered. Along the
hallway it rolled, and into the room
where man lay, breathing heavily,
still muttering to himself.
Tod West was in a stupor. He
rolled over and cursed thickly. He
coughed and strangled and strug-
gled up to one elbow, staring about
in the darkness. He cOughed again;
then the instructive alarm in human
beings for natural elements out of
control shocked him into a state
bordering full consciousness.
His feet hit the floor. He flung
the door wide open and made for
the stairway. He could not breathe,
could not see. He turned about
and ran for his room again, chok-
ing and gasping. He fumbled at
the catch of his window, threw up
the sash and his great voice roared
into the black night.
"Fire!" he yelled. "Fire" And
again: Fire! Help! Fire"
He threw foot to the wet roof
and scrambled out, slipped, rolled
over, threw his arms wide and
brought himself to sliding stop al
most at the caves.
"Fire!" he yelled again. eli, you
Turn out! Fire!"
Kerry Young shrank close against
the chimney.
A voice came out of the night:
Where? What's afre?"
A light showed in the next house.
A door slammed.
The town was turning out, while
Tod West was making his way
down the birches that had given
Kerry easy access to the roof.
Footsteps sounded below Young;
voices were raised. Leaning over
the edge of the roof, cupping
hand over his mouth to make his
location more difficult to determine
should any be curious, he yelled:
"Get the furniture, boys! Get
Tod's stuff out !"
He whipped his coat from the
fue, and put it on, running along
the ridge toward the break of the
dormer.
"Get Tod's goods out !" he heard
someone yell. Feet drummed on
the wide porch, he heard a heavy
object drawn across the floor be-
low.
In a second he was inside the
window from which West had made
his exit. He found the chair, found
the holster with its burden. He
slipped pistol and holster into his
pocket, threw the chair through the
window to the roof, followed it
with the small table, and scram-
bled out himself.
The gathering crowd was in front.
Smokes so damn thick can't
locate it" someone complained
loudly.
Careful of that clock!" another
cried. "Take it into my house,"
Kerry slid down the birches,
slipped into the timber which grew
close to the rear of the house. Then
he watched.
Furniture was already scattered
about the doorway. Two men were
on the roof, shouted puzzled ques-
tions to one another.
Hell" someone said. There
amt no fire, boys! It's that damn
chimney"
Smoke was clearing from the in
terror. Tod West, garbed in his
underwear, stood confused and