It was the first dangerous fire that Bruce had ever witnessed, and,
having tied the horses to a convenient tree, he climbed up on the tender
in order to get a good view of what was going on.
A slight blaze had started in some cotton waste in a five-story brick
building used for manufacturing purposes, and by the time the firemen
arrived the smoke was pouring out of the upper windows in dense clouds,
while the workmen and women were escaping, bareheaded, to the street,
many of them coming through the big door on the ground floor, while
others, in their anxiety to save themselves, came crashing through the
lower windows and jumped to the sidewalk, heedless of the flying
splinters of glass. The fire-escape, a series of iron balconies
connected by ladders, was by this time crowded with frightened women
making the best of their way to the ground, and it seemed to Bruce’s
excited mind that the whole building must be full of human beings and
that many of them would inevitably perish before aid could reach them.
By this time half a dozen policemen, who had been summoned by the alarm,
had driven back the rapidly gathering crowd and established “fire lines”
about the burning building. Chief Trask had assumed command of all the
operations, and the men were working rapidly and effectively under his
orders. Familiar as he was with the quick methods of the department,
Bruce was surprised to see what progress had been made while he was
tying his horses and climbing up into the driver’s seat of the tender.
The engine company had already connected their hose, stretched a
suitable length of line and attached a brass pipe to the end of it,
while the men from the truck had placed a tall ladder against the
building and were preparing to ascend it. The other engine had also made
connection with a hydrant around the corner, and the noise that the two
machines made was audible over everything else. And now Captain Murphy
gave the word of command to his men and, with the pipe in his hand,
entered the building, the others following, carrying the hose in their
arms, each man about twenty-five feet—half the distance between the
joints—from the one behind him. Bruce saw that Tom Brophy was half way
up the tall ladder and was shouting to a woman who clung, nearly crazed
with fright, to a window on the fourth floor.
“Stay where you are!” yelled the fireman, and the woman had just sense
and strength enough left to obey. Bruce watched him as he moved up the
ladder. It seemed to him fully five minutes before he reached her,
although in reality it was not more than five seconds. There was another
delay then which seemed interminable to the excited boy, for the fireman
before lifting the woman from her perilous position stopped to attach a
snap hook which hung from a band about his waist to the rung of the
ladder. This done, and having both arms free, he reached forward and
lifted her in his strong arms. Bruce heard what sounded like a loud sigh
of relief, and glancing up he found that it came from the lips of the
people who were hanging out of every window that commanded a sight of
the fire; they had watched the unfortunate working woman as she clung to
the window, and it was with heartfelt relief that they saw her safe in
Brophy’s arms. Bruce, too, felt a strange choking in his throat, and
knew that the tears were beginning to trickle down his cheek. He was
glad that neither Chief Trask nor Captain Murphy could see him then, for
he felt ashamed of his weakness.
Meantime, there arose before him what looked like the Eiffel Tower on a
small scale; it was surmounted by a pipe with a curved end, and as he
looked a stream of water burst from the pipe and fell against the wall
of the building. Then the pipe moved slowly until it discharged its
stream directly into an open window, and Bruce saw that it was worked by
means of a lever at its base, and that one of the men from the quarters
was moving it. Not until that moment did he realize that what he saw was
the water-tower which had been swiftly and silently erected and put in
operation. Then other engines with their hose tenders came thundering
down the street, for Mr. Trask had already rung a second alarm in view
of the fact that the fire was likely to prove a dangerous one and
difficult to handle. There was another battalion chief on the ground
also, but although Bruce knew that he was Mr. Trask’s senior in rank and
years of service, he did not assume the command and for two reasons: the
fire lay within the junior chief’s district, and besides the latter had
been the first on the scene of action.
And while all this had been going on about him, Bruce noted everything
that he saw from his seat on the tender, and wished that he, too, might
do his share in the work of fighting the flames. So much had been
accomplished before his eyes that he could hardly believe it possible
that but a very few minutes had elapsed since his arrival on the ground.
A familiar voice greeted him, and looking down he saw Mr. Peter Dewsnap
standing on the sidewalk beside the tender, and wiping the perspiration
from his flushed face.
“So they are going to make a regular fireman of you,” remarked the old
gentleman, pleasantly.
“I hope so,” replied the boy, as he descended from his perch. “This is
the first big blaze I’ve seen since I came to New York. I noticed you
standing beside that ash barrel when I came along.”
“Yes,” replied Mr. Dewsnap, “that’s an old trick of the Volunteer
Department. You see Captain Murphy’s a particular friend of mine, and
when I saw the smoke I knew he would have hard work to get his stream on
first, for the other house is nearer by half a block, so I just grabbed
an ash barrel, dumped the ashes into the street, and clapped it over the
hydrant; that’s the reason that other company passed it, and Murphy’s
men got their connection made first. But I’m afraid this is going to be
a very hot blaze, my boy, and they tell me they haven’t got all the
people out of the building yet.”
And as he spoke the flames burst out from every window on the fourth
floor and the heat became so intense that the people in the windows
across the street drew back, while the firemen pulled their hats down
over their faces and one or two of them deliberately soaked themselves
with water from the hose. All this time streams of water from the
water-tower and the different lines of hose had fallen upon the flames
without making any apparent effect; Bruce knew that Captain Murphy was
somewhere inside the burning building with his men and he wondered
fearfully if they would ever come out alive. They were paying out more
hose near him, and he saw what he recognized as a siamese connection
brought from one of the tenders and attached to a rubber hose of more
than ordinary thickness. Bruce knew what the connection was used for,
and in company with Mr. Dewsnap, who knew almost as much about it as the
men themselves, he crossed the street and watched the men as they
attached to the joint two separate lines of hose, each one of which was
connected with an engine. Then the signal was given and two streams of
water were forced, each by its own engine, through the brass connection,
or siamese joint, and into the big hose, forming one stream of
tremendous power. When this stream was turned on the building its effect
on the flames was apparent at once.
And now there were other people besides the firemen and Mr. Dewsnap
walking about inside the fire lines and stepping over the lengths of
black hose, which were curling and writhing about the street like so
many big serpents. Standing near the corner, Bruce noticed half a dozen
well dressed young men, who were watching the scene carefully and from
time to time making notes in books which they took from their pockets.
They were the reporters of the daily newspapers who had been sent to the
scene of action as soon as the alarm came in. Each one wore on his
breast a silver plated fire-badge, issued by the department, which gave
him the right to cross the line. Another man who wore a similar badge
and stood in earnest conversation with the chief, was, so Mr. Dewsnap
said, an employee of one of the great electric companies.
“And very useful those electric men are at a fire sometimes,” explained
the old gentleman. “You see these electric wires were unknown in my
time, but now it is a very important matter to keep track of them at a
fire because it is a dangerous thing to have them break loose and swing
about while the men are at work. It’s death to put your finger on one of
them; and there’s no one but a regular employee of one of the electric
companies that can handle them with any safety. Then there’s that chap
from the gas works; he has a badge because he’s a useful man, too.
Sometimes a stream of water thrown into a room will break a chandelier
short off and then the gas escapes and there is liable to be an
explosion when the flames reach it.”
“You’re wanted, Bruce!” cried a grimy fireman, as he rushed up to where
the boy was standing.
The boy’s eyes flashed, and then he said reluctantly; “But Captain
Murphy told me to watch the horses.”
“You go along!” exclaimed Mr. Dewsnap, peremptorily, “I’ll stay by the
tender until you come back,” and the boy darted off without waiting to
thank him.
Captain Murphy’s company was short-handed and Bruce was wanted to take a
length of the hose. The captain was just entering the building by means
of a ladder which reached to the third floor, and Bruce, taking his
place on the hose, followed upwards the last of the line of men. The
window at which the captain was making his entrance had received but
five minutes before the thick stream of water directed by two
fire-engines through the siamese joint and when they stepped over the
charred and smoking window-sill they found the room black with smoke,
and fully six inches of water on the floor. It was a hard pull to get
the heavy hose up the ladder but Bruce did his best with the men and
followed them as they climbed through the window. As the water surged
about his feet he looked at the darkness before him and admitted to
himself that he would not have dared to enter that building unless the
others had gone before him. But no thought of turning back entered the
boy’s mind. Not for any reward on earth would he have dropped his hose
and sneaked back down the ladder. The smoke closed around him and made
his eyes smart so that he could not keep them open; but still he kept
on, unable to see the man who was twenty-five feet in front of him, but
knowing by the drag on the hose that he was there. Where the captain was
leading him or for what purpose he did not know. He was simply a soldier
obeying orders. And the feeling that he was at last doing something as a
fireman came upon him with a keen sense of exhilaration.
On they went through smoke and water. Every moment Bruce stumbled over
some box or piece of furniture and once he fell full length on the
floor; but he picked himself up, seized the hose, and blindly followed
as it drew him across the room. He stumbled again, but this time it was
not a box or a piece of furniture that his foot encountered but
something that yielded as he touched it, and suggested somehow the
horrible idea that it was a dead human body. Stooping down and groping
with his hands he touched a warm human face; and then, still groping and
feeling with his hands, he found that it was the body of a boy who had
evidently been smothered in smoke. For a moment Bruce stood undecided as
to what course he should pursue. The hose was still traveling across the
floor, at a rapid rate, and although he shouted to his companions he
could hear nothing in reply. Should he follow them as had been ordered
or should he turn back with the boy’s body in his arms? All at once he
remembered that Mr. Trask had once told him that a fireman’s first duty
was to save human life—and saying to himself “I’ll be on the safe side
anyhow,” he lifted the inanimate form in his arms and slowly made his
way back to the window by which he had entered.
So quiet was his burden that he felt sure there was no more life in the
frail body, but no sooner had he gained the fresh air, than the lips
began to move, and a feeble movement of the arms told him that his
efforts had not been in vain. Fortunately his burden was but a light
one, and wrapping one arm tightly about it he managed to climb out on
the ladder and carry it down to the street. Then without an instant’s
hesitation he climbed up the ladder again and began to follow the line
of hose, which was still moving as swiftly as before. But he had not
gone far before a great flash of light lit up the room in which he was,
and then it seemed to him as if the building shook beneath his feet.
Looking behind him he saw a great wall of solid flame rise up from the
floor. The hose was still moving through his hand, and with one look
behind, he plunged bravely into the dark smoke that lay before him.
[Illustration: “He managed to climb out on the ladder and carry it down
to the street.”—_Page 156._]