GEORGE'S STRANGE BATTLE
That evening some city friends called at the hotel to see the Parkes and
Davises, and wishing the children to get a good night's sleep, the
parents decided to receive the callers in a parlor downstairs, and turn
down the lights in their own parlor.
After they had gone down, George felt so restless he could not keep
quiet, so he slipped out of bed and went out to the parlor to amuse
himself. The lights were turned up again, and a souvenir book of the
Woolworth building was found on the table. This book had been purchased
when they were up in the tower, but so much had been crowded in the few
days in the city, that no one had taken time to look at the pictures.
Now, however, George found the pictures and text very entertaining for
want of company or something better to do. He pored over the
illustration of the tower, wondering at the great height of the
structure, and the manner in which it was built.
He sat in a corner of the comfortable couch, his bare feet sticking out
from his new pajamas purchased that very day. As he read the book, his
eyelids drooped several times, but George always fought off sleep to the
very last moment, so he bravely refused to give in to it now.
Suddenly, as he turned a page of the book, he heard a stealthy step
behind him, coming from the open window. He turned just in time to see a
masked face lean over the couch, and then a great bony hand reached out
and grabbed him under the arms and lifted him up.
George immediately essayed to scream for help, but a hand was placed
over his mouth, while the man growled: "You help me gag him, then we'll
tie this towel tight about his wrists and ankles."
This was done, while poor George was helpless to defend himself. He
wondered if George Washington ever had such a cowardly game played on
him.
"Now we'll sneak downstairs with him and watch our chance to get away,"
whispered the man to his accomplice.
George felt himself carried to the door, but in a sudden twist of his
body he managed to slip out of the villain's grasp, and in rolling upon
the floor, he upset a stand with a jardiniere of flowers on it. This
crashed down and woke up the other children, which was just what George
wanted.
The two rascals quickly caught up their victim again, and rushed out,
leaving the door wide open. The three other children were heard running
out and calling "George! George!" but he could not reply.
Just as the two men reached the head of the stairs, the three pajamaed
children ran out in the hall and saw them carrying George away. He saw
them follow and heard them scream for help, but he himself was helpless
to move or utter a sound.
Down the many flights of stairs the two men now rushed with their
burden, the three night-dressed children running after. On the main
floor, they fled down the wide marble ornamental stairs and through the
lobby, throwing people right and left as they rushed madly for the door.
The three white-robed friends of George followed close at the heels of
the villains.
A hue and cry then started, and as the men reached the curb to jump into
a waiting taxicab, the people of the hotel and the crowds on the street
joined in the chase. The Parkes and Davises, and the children as well,
all ran screaming to the sidewalk, yelling to every one to stop the
runaways. George could hear this until the cab turned the corner and
tore down Broadway.
As the reckless driver flew downtown, George held his breath in
constant fear of being smashed to atoms by colliding with a trolley or
automobile crossing one of the many streets.
Down the densely-thronged thoroughfare flew the cab, the police
whistling signals for it to stop, and shooting revolvers at the tires to
cause a puncture, but, strange to say, the cab escaped without a single
damage to windows or tires.
By the time the runaways reached Union Square, a long mob of people were
tearing after them, all in hot pursuit of the villains. In the foremost
ranks ran the parents and the bare-footed, night-robed children. George
heard the men say so, as they watched from the window in the back.
Down Fifth Avenue went the cab until it reached Washington Square. Under
the famous Washington Arch it flew, one wheel striking the base and
causing the cab to swerve. As it righted itself again, one of the wheels
came loose, and so on down, down they tore in constant danger of
throwing the wheel and being flung into a stone building or a passing
trolley.
That fearful shaking and fear almost made George sick, but he remembered
how Washington must have felt when everything seemed against him and his
country. "Did he give up and let Howe get away with him and his army?
No, siree! He did not. Neither will I!" thought George.
Finally the cab reached City Hall Park, and around the park it flew,
while the two men wondered where they could go with their captive.
"Can't cross the bridge without being arrested, you know. They have
guards there," said one.
"Can't go across to Liberty Island at this time of night. Can't go
anywhere except to the Woolworth Tower!" said the other.
"Just the place! If any one follows we will drop him off!" threatened
the first man.
So the cab pulled up by the side entrance to the Woolworth building, and
the two men hustled George on an elevator inside, and made the man send
the elevator to the top where the room was that visitors had to pass
through to reach the tower. Here they found the man asleep, as no
visitors were expected that night.
They bundled George on the tiny elevator that ran to the very tip-top of
the tower, and one of the rascals ran it up. Then they went out on the
narrow balcony that circled the tower. As they walked around here,
dragging George by the belt of his pajamas, they watched the mob tearing
across City Hall Park in pursuit.
George could look over the parapet, and he was sure he saw his mother in
front, calling to him, 'way up in that tower. He wanted to assure her
that he was brave and would be all right, but one of the men thought he
was signalling to his friends.
"What shall we do if some of them follow us up here and try to catch
us?" wondered one of the men.
"We'll warn them--we'll throw him over if they try to come up!" said
the other, shaking a fist at the crowds in the park.
Meantime, as many as could get on the elevators, did come up to the
room, but the small elevator that ran to the tower would only hold five
or six at a time, and there was no one to run it. The man who slept in
the chair could not be roused, so Mr. Parke said he would run the lift
to the top.
The two villains threatened in vain--George's father started for the
balcony to save his son. Then the men lifted George upon the stone
guard, and he could look down into the dizzy depths, where the people
ran about like ants on the earth.
"If you step another inch, down he goes!" roared one of the men.
"What shall we do?" wailed Mrs. Parke, wringing her hands.
While one of the men stood guard at the door that opened on the balcony,
the other carried George around to the other side of the balcony. The
moment George found but one man to hold him, he squirmed and wriggled so
that he soon got out of the fellow's hold, and then he managed in some
way to free his two hands.
The man tried to hold him again, but with his hands free George also
managed to free his feet. Then he jumped up and defied the rascal. As
the man turned to call his partner, George saw that the mayor had
ordered an aeroplane from Governor's Island to rise and save him.
Determined to hold off the two villains long enough to give the aviators
time to reach the tower, George ran around and around the tower--the
door leading to the balcony having been bolted on the outside by the
villain on guard to keep help and friends from reaching George. Then, as
the aeroplane almost flew over George's head, the men saw it and
realized that they would soon lose their prize unless they could catch
him again. So one of them planned to go one way, and the other the other
way, and so catch George before he could be carried off.
Fortunately for George, an experienced aviator flew the machine, and as
he swooped down in a graceful loop, he dropped a tackle out and caught
George in the back of his pajamas. Just as the two men met in a swift
run around the balcony and bumped together, they saw their victim lifted
out of their grasp, and they jumped to catch hold of him.
But the plane was swiftly skimming over the city on its way to the
hangars on Governor's Island. George never dared to move or even breathe
for fear that the great hook would rip the madras of his pajama coat and
so let him drop.
The aeroplane reached the water, however, and was speeding over the bay
to the island, when George heard an ominous r-r-rip at his back. He
tried to call to his friend, the aviator, to haul him up, but the madras
kept right on tearing once it started, and just as George could see the
aviation field on the island, and could feel the aeroplane rapidly
descending, the material in the coat gave way entirely and down plunged
the luckless George into the deep water.
The mayor had very thoughtfully ordered the whistles on the bay to blow,
and many scows and other craft tied up for the night, showed lights or
blew whistles. Just as the coat began tearing, a powerful searchlight,
called the Sperry light, shot across the bay, and when George fell, a
great chorus of steam-whistles started their warning signals to
ferryboats and other ships that were still passing back and forth.
George felt himself going down, down into the water, but it was not as
cold as he feared it might be. He soon bobbed up on the surface, and no
sooner had his head appeared in the great flashing pathway of light shed
on the bay, than a submarine shot past and a long arm lifted him out of
the water and dragged him into the hold.
Down went the submarine, and George rubbed the salt water from his eyes
to find himself a prisoner of some fierce-looking German pirates.
They taunted him at first, but when the captain came in from his
private den, they were silenced.
"Who are you?" demanded the captain.
"I am George Washington, commander-in-chief of the American forces!"
proudly replied George.
"Yah! Such a fine prize ve never hoped to get in New York vaters.
Frents, ve sail home mit him to once, and present him to our Kaiser!"
gloated the captain, rubbing his hands together.
Immediately the men in the submarine went to work, and George felt the
undersea craft fairly flying through the water. But they left him alone,
never dreaming that he was a brave and determined fighter. When no one
was looking, George crept over to the opening where the torpedoes were
shoved in and launched. He had a desperate idea.
He managed to swing a torpedo about and slide it in the tube. Then he
managed in some marvelous manner, to close the door of the tube, first
seating himself astride the torpedo. He pulled with all his might on a
cord that hung inside the tube, and simultaneously with the opening of
the steel plate in front of the torpedo, the swift missile shot forth
from the submarine.
George had no idea where it might strike, but he clung like a leech to
the slippery sides, as it flew through the green waters. So swiftly did
it fly that George never had a good look at the shark that swam up eager
to eat him.
Suddenly something deflected the torpedo, and it rose up on the surface
and skimmed over the top of the waves. Straight on for Brooklyn Heights
the awful explosive went, and all George could see was General Howe
giving the sign to hang Nathan Hale to a telegraph pole, when the
torpedo struck and blew all of Long Island into the air. George rose
with it, and while he tried to catch his breath, the great American
eagle flew over his head and stretched out a claw. He was firmly held in
this clutch, and carried dangling over the East River and right up to
the cupola of City Hall, where the eagle had built a nest, all unknown
to the citizens.
George was just about to pat the eagle on the head, when the patriotic
mayor climbed to the cupola and thanked the eagle for his services. Then
he turned to George:
"I knew such a great general as Washington could not be carried a
prisoner to the Kaiser. I have kept our great American eagle roosting in
this cupola for just such emergencies. I knew there were Black Hands and
dangerous spies in the city, but I never dreamed they would dare to make
off with our Washington! All of the loyal and patriotic American
citizens of this city agreed with me, that New York needed the eagle
here to keep trouble away, but who could tell to what lengths these bad
men would go?--even so far as to kidnap our great and true Washington.
Now that we have saved the city from the grasp of the enemy, who would
have destroyed it utterly, I wish you would make a speech to the crowds
waiting below in the park."
George consented, and as he stood on the edge of the cupola, holding the
mayor's hand on one side, and leaning gracefully on the American eagle
as it stood beside him on the other side, the throngs of people cheered
and cheered for the great general who blew up the British army on Long
Island.
Just as George cleared his throat to address his countrymen something
terrible happened, and George found himself rolling on the floor of the
hotel parlor, where he had fallen from the couch.
He sat up and rubbed his eyes and stared around to see if the patriotic
mayor was safe and sound, and what had become of the American eagle,
when the elders came into the room, laughing and talking.
"Why, George! You out of bed?" cried Mrs. Parke.
"Bed! Why, I haven't had a second's time to think of bed! Ever since
those two masked rascals, who were enemies of the mayor, grabbed me,
I've been in so much trouble that the American eagle had to save me!"
exclaimed George, getting up from the floor and limping over to replace
the Woolworth souvenir on the table.
"What _are_ you all laughing at, anyway?" cried George testily, as he
limped into his room, wishing he had had time to speak that fine speech
he had ready.