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HAPPY
DAYS
that was the one by means of which Frank
had entered, and not a window broke the
four wooden walls,
He thought there might be a trap-door
in the floor, but the most diligent search
failed to reveal one to the boy, nor wa:
there a seuttle in the sloping roof through
which he have made his escape,
‘Great setts what has become of him?”
he muttered. “He ‘could not melt away
into thin air, and I ara sure he didn’t go
through the wall, for they seem to be made
of preity | solid boards.
tood in the middie of the room,
puzzled, angry and bewildered, he sud-
denly heard the distant ringing of the
fire-bell. .
Dong! dong! dong!-
Frank started and_rushed to the door.
“A fire!” he muttered. “I must get back
to_the “engine-house!
He seized the knob and tried to pull the
. door open, but it resisted all his efforts.
Then spe recalled to mind that he had
heard the key turn ae the lock after he
entered the boathor
I been removed from the lock, and
the ‘unpleasant truth now dawned upon his
. mind that he was a prisoner in the hut.
“Thunder!” he gasped. on™ locked in!
What was this done for?”
He attacked the door, frying to kick it
open, but it was a massive affair, and
- stoutly resisted all his efforts fo break it.
long! ~ Ding-dor
The’ same warning bel, was ‘pealing out
wildly upon the still night air, and it sent
the blood coursing through Frank’s veins
furiously.
“I must get out!
muttered, desperately.
Panting and glaring around, his. glance
fell upon a sledge-hammer standing ina
corner among some, other tools.
“Just the thing!” He exclaimed, as he
‘seized it. “I’ll make short work of this
door now. That lunatic must have locked
me up in this hut so I would starve to
death. He is seeking revenge for the way
I baffled his altack upon the Governor.”
He rushed at the door as he spoke and,
swinging the sledge, he slammed 3 it t against
the door with a report like
Crash! bang! Crash! bang! Pent the
Shower of heavy blows he rained against
the door, and it began to creak and groan,
and then there came a crackling and splin-
tering soun
p went t! the sledge, again and again,
and finally he hit the door.a whack that
smashed the fastenings and it flew open
on a broken hinge.
Out ran the boy, upen the foot-path, and |"
as he bent his excited gaze upon the town,
he suddenly caught sight of a distant
ruddy blaze and a thick mass of smoke
curling skyward,
Frank started off on a run, passing up
the tree-shaded street, with the dull sound
of, the fire-bells booming in his
the distance he heard people rchout-
ne Pire! Fire! Fire!”
Ahead he dashed at the top of his speed,
and pretty soon he saw men, boys and
-women running through the. ‘streets, fl
heading for the direction in whieh he
seen the distant flames and smo
Clang! clang! clang! clang! lane! rang
out the alaym, an he running boy
éounted the metallie strokes, he muttered:
“Fourth district. That must be on the
corner of Linden Road and Elm street, in
the neighborhood of the Governor’s man-
sion.
bine chill of apprehension shot through
im.
I will get out!” he
It was a big blaze, and the Governor
lived in the biggest house in that neigh-
borhood. Could i t be his beautiful home
that was afire
The idea Feiely made Frank sick, for the
safety of Ruth was a matter that con-
cerned him a great deal just then.
oy tere ’s the fire?” he asked a running
oe Don't know exactly,” was the reply, | °
“but some one told me i was the Stanton
mansion up on Linden R
This answer made Frank, eel more nery-
ous than
He tamed into Main street jast in time
to see the.Salamander boys come rushing
out of the engine-house with the engine,
some of the fellows putting on hats, coats
and other things as they sped along.
Tramp! tramp! tramp! pattered the
feet of the “Jouble column, and as they
came abreast of Frank he ran out and
Joined them.
rah! Tere comes Frank!” cried one
of the
boy:
“Fall in Store!” Denny shouted to the
young fireman.
‘All right, “captain,” cheerily answered
the boy, as he grasped the vacant place on
the rope where he belonge:
“Your toge ate oe the engine, Frank,”
said one of the
“Tl fall back and. get them!” he panted.
He had to swing himself on the engine
and put on his rubber coat, boots and hel-
met, but a minute later he was at his
place on the line again, and was doing his
directions, and it ‘looked as if everybody
in Redbank was in the stre
Now the boys could see the Fire glowing
with a dull, smoky hue ahead, and with
one accord they realized that it was the
Stanton mansion,
A chill of horror darted through Frank.
itis worst fear was realized,
People who arrived upon the scene be-
fore the firemen scattered right and left
to let the Salamander boys pass on to the
barning house.
here was a fire-plug close by, and as
the engine paused before it, the well-
dvilled boys sprang to their various posts
and in a very short space of time had the |
engine coupled to the hydrant.
While this was goimg on, the hose-car-
riage came speeding up to the spot, and
its crew began letting down the’ lon:
lengths of hose as it went along straight
toward the burning buildin;
Length after length was paid out, some
of the boys making the couplings as fast
as each section was reeled off and dropped,
They all worked with the precision of
well-drilled soldi
enny left the “Getails to his foreman
and, yelling at Frank to ollow him, he ran
toward the burn rning hous’
servants were seattered around
the grounds, frightened and too panic-
omer to do anything but shout useless
orders.
2
juad of policemen had come runni ng
alone vith the crowd, and they now pro-
ceeded to establish a fire- line, keeping the
crowd back from the danger zone, for they
were all pressing / forward to get as near to
the blaze as possil
In the meantime Denny had reached
a spot'pretty x the main entrance to
the bui Ieing, Y ith "prank at his side, and
was gazing up at the mansion to_see what
the chances were of saving t ° ho Se.
“Help! Help!” came a show the:
in the voice o: and as Feat shot
a glance at the building he caught sigh
of Mr. Stanton standing in the main hall
behind a sheet of fire that was cutting. off
his path to the outer a
In a cloud of smoke “and whirling: flames
man was driven back out of sight the
next moment.
CHAPTER VIII.
TRYING TO SAVE HIS SWEETHEART.
Frank had 2 pike; in his hand as he ran
pon the broad piazza, and he pulled his
rubber coat up around his head as he faced
the raging torrent of spark-laden smoke
that poured out in his face.
e heat was terrible, and was. puffing
in Ried gusts into his lungs, giving him
an awful sensation.
He turned his back to it, gulped in a
few deep breaths and, having prepared
himself, he made 2 ae at the fiery door-
way and went
“MY, Stanton!” “shouted the boy
The old man had seen him suddenly leap
right through that sheet of fire from the
outer wi orld, and he was gazing at the boy
in the wildest astonishment as Fra
spoke,
SPWhy did you come in here?” he asked,
hoarst ely.
“To et y you out, of course!” replied the
boy, as he tore off his rubber coat and
hurried fe the side of the ‘pale and suffer-
ing mi:
fou "have risked your life for me!” .°
“That’s Part of my business as a fire-
man. Here! Wrap this coat around your
head and plunge right through that sheet
of fire. It won’t hurt you. It is your
only salvation, sir.”
“No! I can’t go!”
“You must! If you refuse again Pil
knock you senseless and drag you out!”
exclaimed the boy, resolutely. “V
should you.remain? Are you lacking the
ourage to do what I did to get in?”
“No, it isn’t that,” answered the Gov-
ernor, ’slowly. “Tt is because my daughter
's lying senseless upstairs somewhere, in
danger of her life. I want to ge in search
of her and try to get her out.
“Your daughter is here yet?” gasped
Frank; in horror
“Yes, She is * upstairs. I—I-—_”
But that was as far as he got, for the
heat and smoke he breathed, and the awful
nervous strain he was under caused him to
collapse, and he hegan to totter and fell to
the floor senscless.
Frank was in a panic in an instant, but
he rapidly y recovered his coolness and, seiz-
ng the man, he wrapped the coat around
his head.
re was an expensive imported rug
on the floor, and pe. em atched it up and
enveloped himself in
Then he boldly im ea up the senseless
figure from the floor and, staggering un-
der the man’s weight, he headed for the
/
Tle went through the curtain of fire with
his burden, and reached the piazza in plain
view of the multitude, who set up a wild
cheer for the boy hero of the flames who
share at puiling the engine alon;
. There were people swarming trom all
had risked his Jife to save that of the man.
Several of the firemen rushed forward
and relieved the boy of his burden, and
he ie got rid of the burning rug and put on
his coat again,
m going back for his daughter. She
is “stil in the house!” replied Frank.
Spat! went a stream of water from the
hose which had just got into play, and it
suruieke the open doorway and steam began
0 hiss,
toward the entrance, and he was deter-
mined to do all he was able,to make the
boy’s progress safer.
To see inthe hall was now almost ini-
possible, but he.groped his way alon
and, following the wall, he presently
reached the staircase,
It wds on fire at the. side, put he ran
up to the hall above and, coughing and
choking, he fgund a window and opened it.
_ Gulping in the fresh ‘air, he revived a
“Tg I only knew, where she was?” he
muttered, 25 he ran down the smoky hall
with his hands on the wall.
Help! Help!” came a faint ery just
the’
On a few steps further he felt a door,
The sound seemed to come from behin
it, and he pushed it open and stepped into
a smoke- filled bedroom.
Ruth!” he shouted, wildly,
But he received no reply.
Just then, however, a tremendous sheet
of fire darted up outside of the front win-
dows and threw a crimson glare into the
roora,
By its light he saw the figure of the
girl lying stretched upon. the floor near
one of the windows.
“Great heavens!” burst from his lips.
“Is she dead?”
Over to her side he rushed and, falling
down ‘upon his knees, he lifted her head
and glared down into her, aiid
She was breathing gasping’
“Fainted!” he commented, and his heart
gave a great throb o
He dashed open one fe the windows and,
lifting her up to the opening, he held her
there until she got some of the heat and
smoke out of her lungs and showed signs
of recuperating.
When she came to realize her surround-
ings, she gazed at him in the gravest
amazement, and, flinging her arms around
his neck, burst into
He snatched a Tlenket “from the bed and
flung it over her.
“Come!” he muttered. “We have no
time to lose. We must try to get down
the stairs before the fire cuts off our es-
2.”
°
>
33
They hastened\to the door, but when
they reached the hall a cry of intense hor-
ror escaped the girl and she recoiled, shud-
eri
The stairs are all in flames!”,
gasped, tremblingly.,
awful gust of “fire and sparks now
shot up Calmost in their faces from the
stair-well and drove them baci into the
she
room.
“Get back near the open window, Ruth!”
ordered the young fireman, as he closed
the hall door 0 shut off the draught. “W:
have got to go by-the front way. Look
out for the little jets of fire springing up
through the floor. By thunder, we can’t
stay here long with that “raging furnace
beneath this room.”
She sped across the room and he yelled
out the window,
“Hey, Ned! "itey, Ned!”
The nozzleman who was playing’ the
hose into the entrance leoked up at him
and barely discerned the boy through the
dense smoke whigh was encompassing the
front of the burning se,
, “That you, Frank?” he roared back.
“Smother the fire under one of these
windows if you can. I can’t get out again
b stairs,” he retorted,
“All right, Frank!” ‘and the hose was
turned upon the fast- crumbling piazza, the
roof of which had gone down some, time
before.
Toot! toot! toot! came the sound ofa
distant engine whistle, followed by shouts
o
of tere come the Vigilants!”
Just then Frank saw the Governer.
_He stood on the lawn and, holding out
his arms, he shouted, hoarsely: ,
”
speaking-trumpets, and the boy could hear
the crashing of axes.
Ie ran over to the bed and hastily began
knotting the covering together to form a
life-line, and then he tied one end of it
to the massive pareau which Stood next
to the window.
The girl was choking and gasping all
this while near another window, trying to
sce what he was doing.
“Frank, can’t stand this heat and
smoke much longer!” she wailed.
The nozzleman had seen Frank rushing | /1
“You will need all your courage “and
strength. - Come closer!
He had a bolster-case in his hand, and
he tied her to him and let the rope of
sheets drop out the window
linding clouds of smoke were still
pouring up.
“You must hold your br eath as long as
you can when we start!” he admonished.
am going to slide down those sheets
Avith you.”
: wil they hold us?” she asked, doubt-
‘all
“It's, o risk we must run,” he replied.
ng |“Come!”
He got her up on the window-sill and
the crowd set up a warning shout, while
many of the firemen ran toward the house.
nozzleyian was playing the hose on
the fire behind ther
Holding the girl with one hand, Frank
swung oif, and the descent began when
there came a tearing sound above
sheets parted and they fell.
(To be continued.) .
| OUT. TO-DAY!
“FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY,
- No. 587 - °
. is a good number. The story it
contains is.
A GRIP ON THE MARKET
Or, A Hot Time in Wall Street
’- Price 5 Cents ~~
(This story conimenced in No. 1158.)
The Minute Boys of Concerd
—OR— :
The First Blow for Liberty
By RALPH MORTON
Wagon Boy,” “At the Firing Line,”
“Fighting Fred Fay,” ete., ete.
CHAPTER XXIi
: RAIDING THE PATRIOTS.
“Yes. It would be no fun to kill you
pihile you lay senseless. You would not
have felt it. -So I saved you.till your
senses returned. I want you to be per-
fectly conscious when I begin killing you,
made me undergo,” responded the villain.
“Oh, I see. You have some plan of
fiendish cruelty mapped out for me? Is
that it?” asked Ned, carelessly.
“Ye am gaing to stand out here
and-keep shootin, ou close as
possible without actually \illing you, Of
course, one of the balls will fetch you in a
critical sp pot and that will end it. Here
she goes!” -
He took aim and fired, and Ned felt the
sting of the ball grazing his temple. Then
he suddenly kicked over the light, and the
darkness made his situation all the more
horrible,
In the darkness that now filled the cell
Ned could not see the inhuman fiend in
the corridor, nor could the jailer see him.
But he kept on firing several more shots
into the cell, and Ned ‘flung himself flat on
the; floor, and. the bullets flew over his
it seemed to Ned that any one of those
shots might hit him, and for a few m no-
ments he was in a state of dreadful un-
cer
“Where are @ you? yelled the villain out-
side, in exasperated tones.
ink -you.can escape me by putting out
the light. I am bound to get you sooner or
later, It is only a question’ of time.” s
Nee guite agreed with him, but he did
not
Me mead the man ‘fumbling about at the
bars of the cell, crept softly toward him,
and sud suddenly shot his hand out between
man’s throat, and he tightened his grip
and gave an exultant yell as the fellow
strageled to get away.
@ got you!” - panted the Minute Boy.
“Can you find my daughter? “Don't strugel y
“She is safe!” replied rank, to encour- | pet away. Drop That pistol! Drop ant
age say!” ’
The hook and ladder had arrived, fire- |" % ” 2
men were rushing to and fro under -the strat Yo ee gurgled the wretch, still
orders their chiefs roared ‘through their e aimed a <t 8° ‘at ‘the boy with ‘the
butt of the weapon, but missed Ned, and
the pistol bi hit one of the bars and flew out
©
weapon fall to the stone floor, for he real-
ized at once what had happene: de
“Disarmed, eh?” he exclaimed.
thee et up-on my throat!” gurgled the
o
_“Open the door or 1 will choke ihe life
out of you!” hissed the young patriot. “I
am fesperate, and won’t hesitate ‘to kill
oaths we have got to go eat the win-
¢
ot Anything you say, Frank.”
you!
The jailer was strangling, and it'fright-
ene
Author of “True Yankee Pluck,” “Will, the
so you will suffer some of ‘the misery you .-
“You needn’t ..
“His. "fingers came in’ contact with the ~
LA chuckle escaped Ned as he heard the-
sd Bone Pp Rree re Ra
oc ied
aod
am
teh ht