Somewhere down stairs in the building came a terrific, crashing explosion. Jeff and Wade staggered under the concussion, and the whole building shivered and shook for the fraction of a second.
“Great cats, what was that?” cried Wade in real terror.
“Must have been a boiler in the basement. Come on, for goodness’ sakes, let’s get out of here or we’ll be trapped sure,” cried Jeff, for a moment losing control of himself and permitting utter panic to sway him.
But an instant later he got a firmer grip on himself and began to think more clearly than he had at any time since he first discovered the fire. Thicker, blacker smoke was rolling into the hallway now and behind them Jeff could hear the roar of flames more clearly. There was a peculiar slope to the floor, too, which led Jeff to believe that somewhere down the hall in the direction from which they had come a hole had been torn in the floor by the explosion. He realized instantly that if this were true that hole would create a new draught that would bring the flames up onto their floor in terrific volume.
“Quick, Wade, we’ve got to move mighty fast now or the whole building will be in flames. Wow, there are the stairs. There, right ahead.”
Outlined through the smoke he could see the iron railings of the stairway, and seizing Wade by the arm he plunged toward them, Wade following eagerly beside him.
They reached the top step and started down. Great clouds of thick, black, gaseous smoke were rolling upward toward them. They wondered vaguely whether they could struggle through them and make the first floor and the open air safely. Down stairs they could hear the flames roaring louder than ever. They could hear the hiss and spatter of hose lines, too, and the thunder of the water pounding against the floor and side walls.
“Must be a ripper of a fire. Listen to the water they are pouring into it,” exclaimed Jeff, as they started down the stair well.
Down they went step by step, working their way cautiously, for by this time they could not see where they were putting their feet and each had a vague fear that at any moment they might step off into space and go tumbling down the stair well, so thick was the smoke. The draught was drawing it up the stair well in ever increasing volume and Jeff realized that ere long the flames would follow. He knew that they must get clear of the stairs as soon as possible and out of the building before many minutes had passed or else they would be doomed. Already they were both nearly suffocated with the terrible nauseating smoke fumes.
They continued on. Presently they reached a landing and a bend in the stairs; as they turned they could behold part of the flame-swept lower story of the building, and they gasped with horror as they realized what a terrific fire was developing there. It was a veritable furnace toward the far end of the structure, and they realized too that the flames were sweeping toward their end of the building with terrifying speed. The structure was surely doomed.