“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 neither 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.