"Don't cry, baby, don't cry," he said soothingly to the screaming child as he ran here and there looking for something with which to carry into practice the lesson he had received.

CHAPTER XVI.

WINNING A MEDAL.

The struggles and screams of the child he was trying to save served to confuse Seth, and the smoke, which was growing more stifling each moment, bewildered at the same time that it choked him.

But for the lectures the boy had heard at headquarters, neither he nor the baby would have left the apartment alive.

He realized the vital necessity of keeping a "grip on himself," as Josh Fernald had expressed it, and, in order the better to do so, repeated again and again the words of the instructor.

During the first dozen seconds he tried to soothe the child, and then came the thought that the little one would suffocate more quickly by inhaling the smoke-laden atmosphere as she gasped and sobbed violently.

A garment--perhaps it was a table-cloth or a light blanket--hung over the back of a chair near at hand, and this Seth wound around the baby's face, regardless of its struggles.

"A clear head is the next best thing to a ladder," he said again and again, repeating the words of Mr. Fernald, and all the while searching for a rope, or something which would serve him in its stead.

By this time the room was completely filled with smoke, and his eyes were blinded, smarting, burning.

Near the window was a footstool, and seizing this with one hand he hurled it through the gla.s.s.

Fresh air was a necessity now; he must have it, or speedily succ.u.mb to the deadly vapor.

Holding the child, who was apparently in a paroxysm of fear, or a spasm caused by pain, close against his breast, he thrust the upper portion of his body through the aperture regardless of the sharp fragments of gla.s.s which cut his flesh cruelly.

What a blessed relief was this first indrawing of comparatively fresh air!

The "clear head" was coming to him rapidly, and he understood that unless aid could be summoned from below he must make immediate battle with the vapor again, for with every moment the flames on the landing were increasing.

"Ninety-four!" he shouted at the full strength of his lungs. "This way, Ninety-four!"

He could hear from below a tumult of shouts and commands; but none of them appeared to be an answer to his cry.

The roaring of the fire as it came through the elevator-shaft could be clearly distinguished even above all the noise, and he knew full well the blaze must soon make its way through the door, which presented but a frail barrier against the on-rush of flame.

"Ninety-four! Here, Ninety-four!" he cried once more without receiving a reply, and feeling comparatively strong for another struggle against the smoke, he drew the covering more closely around the child's head, at the same time stepping back into the suffocating vapor.

He made his way by sense of touch rather than sight into the adjoining apartment.

It was the kitchen of the suite, and at one end, stretched across from wall to wall above the range, was a cord on which hung several articles of wearing apparel.

Placing the child, who had ceased to struggle, on the floor, he tore at this apology for a rope with all his strength, dragging it from its fastenings, and, taking up the baby once more, ran back to the window from which he had just come.

It was but the work of a few seconds to tie one end of the cord under the child's arms; but yet it seemed to him, half bewildered and suffering as he was, that more than five minutes pa.s.sed before it had been completed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SETH RESCUES THE BABY. _Page_ 272.]

"Ninety-four!" he shouted as he thrust the seemingly lifeless body through the aperture, cutting his hands and arms again and again on the sharp points of gla.s.s.

Quickly, but at the same time gently, he lowered the burden until the cord was at its full length.

It did not seem possible this poor subst.i.tute for a life-line extended much below the top of the first story, and he dared not let go his hold lest the child should be dashed to death upon the pavement.

Once more he called for the men who he knew must be close at hand, leaning far out of the window in the faint hope he might be seen.

His eyes were so blinded that he could distinguish nothing; he was unable to say whether the smoke yet enveloped him or if he was in full view of the men below.

The sense of suffocation was heavy upon him; he tried to repeat Josh Fernald's words, but failed, and then came the knowledge--dim and unreal--that the cord was slipping, or being pulled, from his grasp.

He made a final effort to retain his hold, and at the instant there was in his mind, as if he dreamed, a fancy that strong arms were around him.

After that all was a blank until he opened his eyes to see 'Lish Davis bending over him as he had done on that night when Jip Collins set fire to the shed in Baxter's lumber-yard.

"Where's the baby?" he asked, attempting to rise, but forced back by the deathly faintness which a.s.sailed him.

"His mother has got him by this time, Amateur, and you've made a man of yourself in shorter order than the majority of us are able to do. It was a close shave, lad, and we'll have no more like it till the time comes when it's your duty to take such chances."

The driver's voice sounded oddly to the half-stupefied boy; usually it was gruff, like that of a man in a bad temper, but now it quavered as if the speaker was making an unsuccessful effort to control his emotions.

Seth allowed his head to fall back on a pile of rubber blankets, and as his cheeks touched the smooth surface there came to him the thought that once more he was in the patrol-wagon.

How long he remained apparently unable to speak he had no idea, and then he heard the shout from afar off, but readily distinguishable above the panting of the engines:

"How is Ninety-four's kid?"

'Lish Davis rose to his feet and cried in reply:

"He's got his head again, and appears to be all right!"

At that moment some one stepped to the side of the wagon and asked the driver:

"Shall we send an ambulance?"

"I reckon he'll get along without it, Chief. It's only the reg'lar dose, as nigh as I can make out."

"How did he happen to be here instead of at headquarters?"

"It was his day off, owing to being a witness in an arson case, and he'd come up to the house to visit us."

"We shall have to put him in a straight-jacket until he is taken on as a fireman, else something serious may happen. This would be a case for a medal if he belonged to the Department."

"That's what he does, Chief. He comes as nigh being one of Ninety-four's men as I am, and if it so be a medal belongs to him, we'll see he gets it."

Seth heard, but did not understand this conversation.