"I'll go up if you want me to," cried Tom, as he saw the men who belonged around the place hold back. "You steady the ladder so it doesn't slip."
"Want me to help, Tom?" asked Sam.
"No, you see that they steady the ladder." And thus speaking, Tom began to mount the rungs.
A cheer went up, but to this the youth paid no attention. In a few seconds he was at the third story window. He had to pass through considerable smoke, but as yet the flames had not reached that vicinity.
"Come, give me your hand, and step out on the ladder," cried Tom to the teacher.
"I—I can't!" gasped Miss Harrow. And now the youth saw that she was almost paralyzed from fright. She clung desperately to the window sill, evidently unable to move. Clinging to the ladder with his left hand, Tom placed his right foot on the window sill, and then he reached down and caught the teacher under the arm.
"Come, you don't want to stay here," he ordered, almost sternly, and pulled the teacher to her feet.
"Oh, oh, we'll fall! I can't do it!" were her gasped-out words.
"You've got to do it—unless you want to be burned up. Now then, if you don't want to climb down the ladder, let me carry you."
"I—I—oh—I can't move!" And with these words, the teacher sank down across the window sill.