Page:St. Nicholas (serial) (IA stnicholasserial402dodg).pdf/231

base of the tower were helpless. Some of the firemen tried to drag the hose up the long stairways to the top of the tower, but when they finally did reach the top, and gave the signal for the water to be turned on, the hose burst, and all their labor went for naught. A second hose line was made of better stuff, but only a weak, sickly stream trickled out of the nozle, because the engines were scarcely powerful enough to pump water so high, even when a number of them were coupled up in tandem. A few of the firemen had hand-extinguishers with them, which held the blaze in check for several minutes; but that ammunition gave out soon, and it was evident that we would have to abandon everything and run.

“MR. BLANCHARD DIDN’T STOP FOR ARGUMENT, BUT RAN ACROSS THE BRIDGE.”

That retreat was an exciting one. The fire had spread to the northern side of the Lower, and as we ran down the stairway, blazing brands kept dropping on us. To add to our peril, there were several barrels of bolts at the top of the tower, and these were heated to redness in the fire, and, as the barrels and flooring burned away, they began to drop down upon us. I did n’t know at what moment a heavy bolt might strike me on the head and lay me out. A man in front of me had his clothing set afire by an incandescent bolt, which fell on the edge of his coat-pocket and hung there a moment. We were not half-way down the tower when there was a crash, and the north foot-bridge fell; but we were so busy dodg-