III
BRIDGING THE GAP
"Which window, Perk?" cried the startled Jack, staring upward.
"That one--third from the further end--gee whiz! like I might be in acutout--brain all in a mixup--what c'n we do, Boss--knock that cop overan' skoot upstairs?"
"Not any of that stuff, buddy," Jack told the impulsive one in hisimpressive fashion. "He represents the Law, and so do we. Besides, lookat the smoke rolling out of that rear door, it would be the last of usif we started that fool racket."
"But--somethin's _got_ to be done, Jack--we jest can't stand here andlet a poor woman be burned to death. Do somethin' partner, 'cause I'mflyin' blind in a messy fog and can't see where I ought to head."
His voice and manner were both imploring, and Jack could not but beimpressed by the gravity of the occasion.
"Sure you saw some one are you, Perk?" he demanded.
"Jack, I got good eyesight, an'--looky there, right now, she's back atthe same window an' _will_ you b'lieve me if she ain't got a kidalongside her? Wouldn't that jar you, ol' hoss?"
Jack no longer entertained any doubt regarding the truth of what hiscomrade had seen for he too could dimly make out moving figures at thethird window from the end of the burning tenement.
"They're makin' motions to us right now!" sang out the greatlydistressed Perk in new agony of mind. "I swan if I don't think they'remeanin' to make the jump an' it'd be a crack-up dead sure!"
Startled by his own works Perk began to make violent gestures, as thoughendeavoring to warn the frightened woman not to dream of jumping.
"Hold your hosses--we'll get goin' an' have you out o' that mess in ajiffy;" and then turning upon his companion Perk almost savagelydemanded: "It's up to us, Jack--now how're we goin' to do it?"
"There's only one chance that I can see," Jack told him, "which is byway of this other building here. We must rush up to the third floor andif luck backs us we can find some way of passing over to her room--see,it's only a matter of five or six feet at most. Come on, buddy!"
"Whoop! here we go then!" thundered Perk, making one more sweep of hisarms as if to reassure the trapped inmate of the tenement and thenrushing in the wake of the fast moving Jack.
Several people were emerging from a rear door of the brick building, andlugging all manner of household things in a mad endeavor to savecherished possessions. Evidently they had been seized by an overpoweringfear that the fire might leap to their establishment and acting underthis impression were hardly conscious of what they were doing.
Indeed, it began to look as though they might so block the narrowpassage with the stuff they sought to salvage that no one could eitherget up or down. Jack was finding it difficult to push past and hadalmost to climb over a bulky bundle of bedding that had become lodged inthe passage.
Perk, more impetuous, bowled over a stout man who had come down thestairs dragging a trunk, that banged and skittered in a dangerousfashion.
By great good luck and the exercise of some muscle, they both managed tobrush past the blockade and the stairs seemed free above them. The firstlanding was reached and the second almost immediately afterwards; thencame the final climb and the two pals, almost breathless, reached thethird floor.
There was enough illumination for them to see what lay about them forthe fire seemed to be breaking out of all the upper windows by this timeand despite the thick smoke, shone through into the interior of thebrick tenement.
Smoke had found entrance too, and made their eyes smart but that was asmall matter and could be tolerated with such a vital stake in view.
Perk saw his companion take a swift look around as though to get hisbearings, after which he turned to the left and ran along the hall. Bythis time Perk, a bit bewildered and confused, was willing to followwherever Jack saw fit to lead, so in blind confidence he put after theother.
A door stood open as if inviting the would-be rescuers to enter a roomwhich Jack lost no time in doing, with Perk at his heels, both of themgroping about amidst whirls of pungent smoke.
One of the two windows was open, which would account for the presence ofthat dense blanket and like a shot Jack jumped over to thrust out hishead so as to ascertain whether his guess had been worth while.
He saw the greedy banks of flame shooting out, across and up, and feltit almost scorching his cheeks but just the same it was a satisfactionto discover he was exactly opposite the third window from the end of theburning building.
"This the right place?" Perk was booming in his ear for what with theroaring of the fire, the pumping of the steamers down below and theshouts of deeply interested crowds in every quarter, the clamor wasindeed something fierce and impressive, stirring the blood in theirveins and causing their hearts to beat wildly.
"Yes--that window right across this gap, Perk, is the one we pickedout!"
"Je-ru-sa-lem crickets! I kinder guess I c'n make the riffle!"
Jack managed to catch hold of the reckless fellow as he was in the actof clambering up on the sill of the window, undoubtedly with the fullintention of making a desperate attempt to jump across, to the one fromwhich the smoke was pouring forth.
"Don't think of trying it--a crazy idea--one chance in ten you'd getacross without falling!" he shouted in the ear of the struggling one.
"Gosh! let me make the try, partner--sure I c'n do such a little stuntokay--let off, won't you, Jack?" pleaded Perk, but the other onlytightened his grip.
"Even if you did manage to hang on and climb inside, what good would itdo--how get the woman and child across the gap?" Jack roared, feelingthat his comrade was losing all the sense he ever had.
Perk suddenly ceased struggling as though he had seen a great light.
"Wall, I guess you ditched me, ol' hoss--that's a fact they couldn'tmake it after all. Then what's to be done?" he went on to say,dejectedly.
"We've got to bridge it some way or other," snapped the ever ready Jack."This is a kitchen, seems like, partner--jump into it now, and see ifyou can't run across something that would reach across to that otherwindow--even an ironing-board might make it. I'll take a look across thehall, in some other apartment, and may run across another."
Perk, as if freshly inspired, set about his commission with alacrity andalmost immediately made a plunge toward a corner of the small room tosnatch up a six-foot board covered with several thicknesses of cloththat was scorched in numerous places as with a hot iron.
Jack had meanwhile darted into the hall, discovered another open doornearly opposite and without knocking rushed through to find a seconddeserted kitchen and not quite so much smoke to interfere with hisvision.
Fortune again favored him, for almost the first object he saw was asimilar ironing-board, evidently a mate to that Perk had run across.Snatching it up he turned and hurried back to the opposite room, wherehe found Perk just laying his frail plank across the area to discoverthat it bridged the gap, although with but a mite to spare.
Jack arrived just in time for the rash one was in the very act ofcrawling out on his unsteady bridge which, if moved a few inches, wouldhave precipitated him down thirty feet and more to land upon a cementpavement and meet with grievous injuries, even if he survived the drop.
"Hold on!" Jack shouted as he again caught hold of his chum. "Here's asecond board that will widen the bridge. Let's swing it across and thenone hold them together while the other crawls over!"
"Yeah, let's," Perk chimed in, seeing the advantage a double width wouldafford, and this was quickly accomplished.
"I'll go over," Jack was saying.
"Not much you won't--that's _my_ job I'm tellin' you partner!" the otherinsisted, pushing Jack aside.
"But--I'm younger than you, Perk, spryer too--it ought to be my game,don't you see?"
"The devil you are!" whooped the one who would not be denied. "I'mstronger an' tougher'n you ever be, boy--an' I saw 'em first, too! Letme have my way, _please_, partner, won't you?"
/> Jack, realizing that it would be the utmost folly for them to keep ondisputing in this fashion while the very seconds were so valuable whenhuman lives were in jeopardy, gave up the contention.
"All right, Perk, you win, but I'll go next time, remember. Make up yourmind I'll keep the boards close together--be as easy as you can whencrossing. Now, go to it!"
Already Perk was out on the strange bridge on hands and knees, crawlingtoward the opposite window while Jack, gripping the ends of the twoboards with all his strength, held them steady. It was a tense momentand one not soon to be forgotten.
By this time it seemed that two of the firemen down below holding thenozzle of a hose and sending a stream of water up to the roof of thedoomed tenement building had discovered what was being done, for theyraised their hoarse voices to applaud the daring bridge creeper. It wasall in the line of their own daily work and they surely could appreciatethe venturesome act at its full value.
Jack had a dread lest they change the direction of the stream, hopingthus to sprinkle the climber and render him immune to that heat whichthey must know would be almost unbearable so close to those dartingbillows of fire but fortunately they did nothing of the sort, doubtlessrealizing how frail that mockery of a bridge must be and how the shockof a volume of water might cause it to break away.
A few seconds of dreadful suspense and then Perk vanished from view,having passed into the room through the third window from the end of thetenement. Jack almost ceased breathing, so thrilled was he lest thatmight be the last glimpse he would ever have of his pal.