The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1936-06-25
CHAPTER III-Continued

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When man swung far and fell
feet forward so there seemed to be
some chance for him. cheers screamed
from the crowd; when he fell. tums
bling over and over, great groan
went up from the throat of thirty
thousand.
Winnie O'Mara did not faint. Her
man was still on the tower, among
the last of them Now Fitzpatrick
was speaking to him.
No bit of doubt which was him
when. before he went down the shred
OF the rope, he flung far the hat of him.
1t was like him. that There he was
On the line. bareheaded.
gray-halred priest stood In the
swarm at the fire-Iines. lifting his
arms as each man came down, and
repeating the prayer for them In ex-
tremis. Loud and clear In the still
ness. as each man swung. and before
the shout or the groan roared from
eh@ shoasaidS VI lhioaAS 40 liz AhHh
let 20, arose the voice of the priest at
his praying
Winnie O'Mara had worked her way
close to him so that at last she was
almost beside him, and so she did
all that was left her to do for her
man.
"Cathal Martin O'Mara. he is. Fa-
ther," she whispered to the priest.
"pray for him."
"Yours?- said the priest, agape at
her.
Milne. Father"
So the priest faced again to the
fire; and once more he raised his arms
In his petition. .Cathal Martin
OMara." he called him by name. the
tears streaming down his face as he
prayed. Then the great cheer from
the crowd cut him short. for Martin
OMara had swung we'll. and we'll he
let go. But no good 1t did him.
minute or SO more. and the tower fell
and was down on top OF him
Such was the heritage of Cathal
Martin O'Mara, his grandson OF the
twenty trapped on the tower. seven
teen were gone and three were terri
bly, Injured.
ION such events, by such men. pre-
pared to face death and torment
men, generation after generation. soon
forgotten and obllterated--gove
was built up" wrote a historian OF SOL
diers who persisted long ago on a field
for Rome. 1.-THE fact has mean
Ing; and perhaps, many generations
hence. wiser men than we or they will
explain 1t with a clearness that still
eludes u.s."
Cathal's father and his fathers
brother John became flremen. Head
strong, needless men, the both Of them.
Martin, the son. died OF pneumonia
after fighting a lumber yard fire
through one long below-zero night.
John died of another cause; but the
O'Maras had done their duty through
the Fire Department
Winnie. a tiremans widow and
proud forever Of him. would have no
more Of 1t. Besides, this boy was
from birth beyond" his father; and
yes, beyond his grandfather. He was
strong, as had been all the men OF his
family, but he was OF sllghter build
and was smaller-boned Needless OF
himself he was. like them all; but his
was sensitiveness strange to them
And beyond them all. he took Il
schooling. He went through high
school, running errands and deliver
Ing goods for local stores after hours
since his home depended then on q
hreman's widows award
He worked his way through the IN
iyersity OF Illinois at Urbana. and he
ended his long schooling In Chicago
at Northwestern University Law
school, which he attended for three
years. clerking at odd hours and Ii
the evenings.
From all this, he emerged an attor
ney committed, by the undownabl.
forces dominant In his nature, to th,
defense OF criminal cases 1t was tn
appeal OF the desperate, the desplse4
cause that was irresistible to tn
grandson OF the Martin O'Mara VIII
had followed James Fitzpatrick to tn
tower with the building ablaze beloy