A glare suddenly illuminated the room. Ben Jolly moved to the window and uttered a sharp whistle of surprise. Frank ran into his room and came out with his cap on. Then there was a rush for the little back stairs running into the yard behind the building.
“Wait for me!” called out Randy, struggling to put on his shoes.
“Hey! what’s all the row?” hailed Pep sleepily, as Randy stamped his foot into a shoe, grabbed up his cap and coat and made a dive for the yard.
“Fire!” bawled back Randy. “Right near us, too! Hurry up!”
Pep sat up on his cot rubbing his eyes. Then a spurting glare from the fire lit up the room. He jumped to his feet and hurried out into the large room.
“It is a fire, sure enough,” he exclaimed, glancing from the window. “It’s that big building where they rent rooms to transients. The whole roof is ablaze and——”
Pep came to a sudden halt. Just stepping over the threshold of the doorway at the head of the yard steps, he was confronted by two men running up them.
One of them threw out one hand. It landed on Pep’s breast, almost pushing him off his footing, and was accompanied by the gruff voice:
“Hey, you get back in there!”