THE VICTIM
A half dozen men swarmed over the wreck in the wake of the burly boss
and Jeff went along with them. It was rough going over the mass of
débris, and the tangle of iron and wood seemed to grow thicker as they
approached the point where the fire was raging.
So close to the flames that their faces felt scorched, Tim Crowley
stopped and got down on his hands and knees, and with his face to an
opening between some timber that seemed to reach down into the heart of
the mass of wreckage, he shouted:
“Hello, down there!”
Jeff heard a groan, and then a far-off voice call:
“For God’s sake, get me out of here or I’ll be burned alive.”
“How are you caught?”
“I’m lying flat. Just pinned in by wreckage but my legs are both
broken, I think.”
“Legs both broke,” repeated Tim looking up at the rest. “How are we
goin’ t’ get him out o’ here? We got to do it in twenty minutes or the
fire will drive us away and roast him alive. Come on, some o’ you men,
cut this opening larger if you can, but be blamed careful because it’s
like a lot of kindling wood an’ if you get too rough the whole thing
will slide down on top o’ him and crush him. See how that car door
wabbles there an’ that hunk o’ timber is just held in by the end. It
will crush him flat if it all goes down.”
Two men started to cut away at the opening and Jeff watched them for a
moment. Presently one stopped as his ax clanked on metal and sent out
sparks.
“Ain’t no use here, Boss. There’s an iron bumper underneath wedged
in so tight that there ain’t but a foot or so of room between it and
that truck that’s standing on end. And if we try to move the bumper
the truck will fall right down the hole through the wood and smash
everything under it.”
Tim looked at the situation and shook his head.
“That’s right. We don’t dare disturb that or the whole thing will go to
pieces. An’ that hole ain’t large enough for a man t’ git down into
unless――” he paused and looked at Jeff. And Jeff at the same moment got
the same idea. He stepped closer and looked at the hole.
“I’m smaller than the rest of you. Perhaps――perhaps――maybe I could get
down and work my way into where he is if――if the whole thing don’t cave
in on me before I get there.”
“Bully for you. That’s nerve all right,” said Tim, beaming with almost
fatherly pride on Jeff, “on’y you got to make it in a hurry and git out
again before the fire gets much closer.”
Jeff paused a moment to consider.
“Suppose he’s a big man. Then what’ll I do? Can’t get him through that
hole if he’s as big as you fellows are,” he said.
“Well, let’s hope he ain’t. Anyhow if you can get him up near that hole
and climb out yourself, we’ll grab hold of him and try and pry that
truck and bumper apart long enough to yank him through. Then the whole
thing can go to pot after that. It’s a chance all the way ’round but
it’s better than letting t’ poor chap be burned to death down in there,
which he will be in a mighty few minutes.”
That thought moved Jeff to action. He took off his heavy coat and
his lighter one underneath. Thus stripped for action he stepped down
into the narrow opening between the up-ended truck and the heavy steel
bumper, and slowly, cautiously let himself down until presently he
found himself standing on something solid directly underneath the
almost tottering truck. In the semi-darkness of the wreckage he took a
survey of the situation, then shouted:
“Hello, down there! where are you! I’m coming down to get you.”
A groan and a feeble attempt at a call sounded beneath him and to his
right.
Slowly, cautiously, Jeff began to feel his way downward through the
débris, half crawling, half climbing, but always feeling first for a
secure footing for he knew that to step on anything insecure might
cause him to fall and his weight precipitated violently against the
wreckage on either side might cause the pile to collapse and send the
teetering truck and the heavy bumper down on top of him and the poor
victim of the wreck below.
It was almost painful progress, he moved so slowly, and it was a
journey made hideous by the perils that were imminent. Already smoke
curls were being drawn through the wreckage by the draughts down here,
and the semi-darkness now became shadowy with sinister flickering light
that showed between the jagged pieces of timber. Jeff knew that the
fast moving fire was not so very far off. It would be terrible to be
pinned in down there himself and burned to death along with the man he
hoped to rescue. The very thought made cold chills creep down his back
and perspiration stand out on his forehead. And added to this was the
terrible horror of being crushed to death under some piece of timber or
steel work that a slip of his foot might dislodge. Jeff had to exert
all the will power he possessed to keep himself from any hurried action
or any suggestion of panic, for he knew that the slightest error in
judgment on his part might prove fatal to himself and the helpless man
somewhere down there below him.
Foot by foot he climbed downward. Twice he paused to shout and each
time the groan and feeble voice that answered him was nearer. A third
time he paused and called. Then he waited. But no answer came. Again
and again he called, and then with a shock it was borne in upon him
that the man he was after had either become unconscious or had passed
out while he was trying to get to him. Jeff came nearer panic then
than ever before. He looked frantically about him and groped with
outstretched hands hoping to come in contact with the man.
Suddenly from above a flood of light filled the wreckage. Jeff looked
up hastily to discover that the wreckers had brought an electric
battery lamp and were shining the rays down through the hole through
which he had come. Eagerly Jeff looked about him, searching, hoping.
Then with a start he discovered a hand protruding from beneath a board
just below him. Beyond the board he could make out the outlines of a
painfully twisted body, inert and apparently lifeless.
With a shout to the men up above, Jeff began to climb down again and
presently he crouched beside the man. Hastily, eagerly he felt inside a
flannel shirt. He was still alive but breathing heavily. As carefully
as the limited space would permit Jeff picked up the limp form and
gathered it in his arms. Then he started to climb once more.