Charlie could be seen lifting a small boy out of the window into the arms of the first ladderman, who quickly carried him down to safety, while the crowd hurrahed.
Now those who could see well had an interesting exhibit of one way in which a fireman carries a person down a ladder. The second ladderman grasped firmly each upright of the ladder, while Charlie lifted out a twelve-year-old girl and laid her across the life-saver’s bent arms.
Carefully he began to descend with his burden, step by step, while the mother watched fearfully out of the window, and the people below held their breath.
In less time than it takes to tell it, he reached the bottom. The people shouted in relief, and a voice cried, “All the children are saved! Hurrah!”
As the fireman again quickly ascended the ladder, the woman was seen to topple over. She had fainted when she knew that the children were safe.
In a few seconds the ladderman stood at the top, his arms bent and braced as before. Quickly Charlie laid across them a long bundle. It was the unconscious mother wrapped in a blanket. Swiftly, yet cautiously he came down.
It is no easy task to carry a heavy woman down a three-story ladder, with smoke blinding the eyes and fire scorching the face and hands. But the life-saver on the ladder does not think of that. His only thought is to save life and to put out the fire.
Soon the ladderman reached the ground and tender hands relieved him of his charge.
III
THE RESCUE OF SHORTY
“Where’s Shorty?” asked the chief of the man who had just come down.