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 147many 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 148that 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 149neither 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.
150And 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; 151that’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 h............