THE HEROINE OF THE MILL, OR A LANCASHIRE MAN'S REVENGE.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 2789, 18 October 1910, Page 2

THE HEROINE OF THE MILL, OR A LANCASHIRE MAN'S REVENGE.

All Rights Reserved. PART 13. CHAPTER XVI.

THE FIRE AT THE MILLS.-DICK IN PERIL. Kate had fully explained matters to her mother, and tried all she could to prevail upon that lady to go home and leave her one night more under the roof of the woman who had looked after her for so many years. But Mrs. Marryat was firm, and Kate having vowed not to leave until the end of the evening had come, it was concluded that the three ladies should stay that night at Mrs. Fulford's.

Eleven o'clock had just chimed when the party rose to retire. The double-bedded room was the beet room in the humble house and its front window looked straight over multitudes of small cottages until view was interrupted by the colossal mills of Maud's father, with the towering chimney reaching up, as it were, to heaven. Just above the summit of this structure might be seen the moon, now high in the heavens, and so bright that the lesser or more distant lights paled in its presence. " What a beautiful night, children '" said Mrs. Marryat, beginning to undress. " The moon and our chimney as they appear at present, remind me of the old nursery game of cup and ball," said Maud, gaily. " Just imagine an immense giant taking up the stack and throwing the moon right into space, and then dexterously catching the worn-out crater-consum-ed planet in its passage back to earth !" At that instant a tremendous explosion shook the earth—then followed another and another. The moon for a moment disappeared from the firmament, and myriads of stars seemed to be falling in showers from above ; the great chtmney appeared to be twisting itself in the ambient air and then topple over. Mrs. Marryat shrieked and fainted away. Kate looked fearlessly in the direction of the mills and waited for the atmosphere to clear. White clouds and black masses of smoke gradually rose above the roofs of the mills showing the chimney still standing, but the glare of flames rose from the upper Btorey of the buildings. Raising her mother in her arms, she placed her on her own bed. Then Maud was assisted to the other. She kissed them both as if she were the mother and the? but little children.

She wrapped a shawl around her beautiul head and with a firm step descended the stairs.

At the bottom Kate met Nancy Fulford. She kissed her and told her to look to her mother and friend.

" You must tal'.e care of yourself, la§B," sobbed the foßter-mother. " There's somethin' wrong to-night."

At the door of the branch firestation Kate stopped and said :

" Get Mr. Tnzer to come with all he can of the brigade to Ritchison's Mills. There's five pounds to the first engine that's on the ground." '* All right, miss." said the active firemen. " We'll win that, although duty calls us before anything else."

, Ere he reached the end of Carruthers Street she met the faithful Gommy and his dog. " I thought th' angel would come!" he cried. " Eh. lass, it's just awful. But the chap 6 and wenches are all about. They're runnin* from every quarter to try an' save th' old place." " Follow me," was our heroine's only reply. A crowd surrounded the great gates leading from the roadway. Hundreds were endeavouring to enter at one and the same moment.

" Here comes Kate o' Pulford's," shouted a voice. " Lads and lasses," cried our heroine, "you mustn't lose your heads this night above all others. There's a fcre in there, an' unless it's stopped there won't be a hand's turn o' work for many a long day. Don't you, then, crush forward. Get in one at a time. An' since watchman doesn't open th' whole gates, we must wait until the master comes."

" Right you are, lass," from every quarter. " Where's John Morgan ?" asked Kate.

" Here I am, Kate," replied the man.

" Run aB fast as your legs will carry you to Queen's Hotel an' bring the master back wi' you." "Right you are, lass ; I'm off," cried the fellow, as he scampered away at full speed. The crowd gathered apace. Room was made for our heroine and presently she found herself within the outer courtyard, among a multitude of frightened and helpless beings of both sexes.

Instinctively she pushed forward to her ancient position on the foundation of the colossal crane.

That wing right in front of Kate was now one sheet of flame. From a hundred to a hundred and twenty thousand spindles were fuel to this most cruel fire and the devouring element was licking its way rapidly round the corner to the side which contained the counting-houses and the gentlemen who had remained there to watch No watchman was to he seen.

An engine here arrived just as Mr. Ritchison, senior, and Mr. Walton drove up in a hansom from the

Queen's. He opened the great gates and the

engine rapidly took up a stand in front of the groat fire. A strong jet. was soon beinir poured upon the buildins*. but apparently with little or no effect.

[ Tie gates communicating with tne entrance to the counting-house were now unclosed and a rush was made to the great doorway. A volume of* smoke threw the people back. When it had partially cleared away Mri Ritchison and Kate saw the great staircase—the only way of communication with the offices—had been blown up ! Nothing but fragments of stone were to be seen and they blocked the way. "The warehouses are on fire!" shouted Mr. Walton. " All hands to the mill hose ! Down to the canal, lads !"

"My son ! my son !" cried Mr. Ritchison in great anguish. "My son ! Who will save my son ?"

" Let us return to the windows in front," said Kate.

" They are barred with the strongest iron," replied the poor father. " The rooms are lined with sheet iron for safety : and if the doors are shut, the poor fellows are doomed to a horrible death."

" Where there is life, there is hope," was Kate's reply, as she led the way back to the crane. Just then the roof of the front building fell in with a tremendous crash, and the fire superintendent, with the great steam engine drove furiously into the yard. The multitude of people gathered all around the doomed mills. The active policemen everywhere kept order.

" Will nobody save my son ?" cried Mr. Ritchison. " The chimneys—the chimneys !" rose in horrified shouts. The great structure appeared to totter for a moment, then another explosion that seemed to make the heavens rise and fall, deafened the spectators ; and with a rumbling noise that was a thousand times louder than all the world's artillerj combined, the tower rose in the air and fell in innumerable fragments upon the mills, the warehouses, and the busy workers, making one deep gap in the building containing the counting-house and obscuring everything around from the tremendous clouds of dust raised by so great a fall.

Then comparative silence, only broken by the steady and continued throbbing and working of the great steam and hand fire engines. " The young master's shut up !" was now the universal cry ; and then a moan passed through the mighty assemblage. " Where is the fire escape ?" asked Mr. Ritchison.

" Will be here presently," was the reply. Here Dick's pale face struggled to the window nearest the great gateway, and then a hand broke the glass iu a thousand pieces, and then the figure disappeared. The brightest summer day was not so light as the courtyard and great grounds of Ritchison's mills this night. The sad work meant ruin to

all around ; but everything was now forgotten but the three precious lives within the building. Despair was in every heart—but one. " Who'll go to the blacksmith's Bhop ?" cried our heroine. " I will," replied a hundred voices. " One at a time, an' no hurry," she said. "Bring me two sledge haromerß, John Morgan. Room for Morgan, lads !" "Ay, ay, Kate !" from every side. " Now all hands to the crane. Swing it round to that window." " Hoorah ! Bravo ! Three cheers for Kate o' Fulford's !"

And in a few seconds the long arm of the crane was swung round in front of the window just broken by young master Dick.

" Now, Gommy—now's thy time, lad !" continued Kate. " Creep up there an' knock those window-bars away."

" Ay, ay ! Whatever angel says is right !" cried Gommy ; and the giant crept like a cat up the arm of the crane to the very end. There he poised himself with difficulty, for the terrible flames were lapping themselves around him and the dense volumes of smoke were blinding. " Thud ! thud !" came the hammer upon the window-bars and the people cheered again. "Thud ! thud !" and a bar gives way. "Thud! thud!" and another follows suit. A cheer is broken in its first utterance ; for the cruel flames gather round the poor idiot, he drops the hammer, gave one cry of despair, and falls thirty feet upon the hard stones below.

"Who'll take Gommy's place ?" shouts Kate.

No answer

" You're Lancashire men, are you ? Well, I'm ashamed of you ! Give me that hammer !"

" For Heaven's sake be careful !" pleaded Mr Ritchison.

" Steady the crane, men !" continued Kate, wrapping her shawl closely around her head and preparing to take the elevated spot just vacated by poor Gommy. The firemen and all the crowd looked with fear and admiration. Maud Ritchison and Mrs. Marryat entered the gate just as our heroine appeared upon her dangerous perch, and began pounding away at the iron bars.

Dick's pale face was seen once more at the window.

Cheer upon cheer greeted her at the success of every effort. She seemed to possess a charmed life—the flames did not appear to burn her, the «noko inconvenienced her not. With one supreme effort she smashed in the casement, and then took one fearsome spring and stood amidst the flames upon the now open window Bill.

" Kate o' Fulford's for ever ! Three cheers for bonny Kate !" rose above the noise of the crackling timbers.

" Run up the chain—right up to the top—and put a sling in the hook !" This was done. She disappeared into the building, and brought the inanimate form of her lover to the window adjusted the sling around his body and the precious burden was safely lowered to thi* ground. This act was twice repeated for

[Hal Wainwright and the clerk, Weston, , among the most encouraging cheers.

Then our heroine, as the hook appeared on the level of the window once more leant forward and grasped it in her small strong hands. She swung herself off into space just as the roof fell in, crushing through the intervening floors, filling the air once more with dust and blinding smoke. Kate's mother and Maud gave a great cry as her form disappeared from sight and the multitude, after a moment's stillness gave one heartrending sob. *•, * * *

It is imperative that we go back for an hour or two from the time of the rescue of the fugitives of the Ritchison Mills, so that our readers may understand why three able-bod-ied men should depend upon a weak woman—only a mill girl—for the salvation of their lives.

Hal Wainwright overcome by the shock and loss of blood of the lakeside experience, quickly fell asleep as we noted. Young Dick rapidly followed suit, and the clerk, unused to the generous wine provided by the manufacturer, in due time succumbed to the influence of Morpheus. The suite of rooms which formed the offices or counting-houses of the great mills were colossal safes. Every door was of the sturdiest oak lined with strong sheet iron. The only vulnerable parts of the whole department were the sheets of opaque glass that formed the partitions between one room and another.

Just as the locking-up clerk was being overpowered by the heat of the room and the pungency of the port, a loud crash was heard from the outer or invoice clerks' department. It was the noise of the closing of the door and the young fellow might have concluded, had he gives a moment to thought, that some hand had done this act, for the sound of the withdrawal of the key was distinctly to be heard. The three men were prisoners. The range of offices formed one long iron cabinet. The windows were barred, for the firm frequently kept very large amounts of mcraej on the premises.

The only possible way of retreatdid the three watchers know of that necessity—was through the strong glass panels. The time passed, and the sleepers slept sounder than ever. The incendiaries went on with their work and the great timbers of a former generation burnt, and the fumes of the smoke penetrated the interstices and made the sleep of the sleepers doubly sure. Then the sailor, Hal Wainwright, notwithstanding his weakness awoke, and his first impulse was to rush to the door leading to the general mill floor. Tool fellow as he was he turned deadly pale when he saw that retreat cut off. He tried the windows, but their double frames resisted all interference and the great wrought iron bars were beyond. He was about to leap through when a most dreadful explosion occurred. The staircase was blown up and the heavy blocks of stone rose high in the space, penetrating the roof forty feet above. " Treachery, by Heaven !" he cried. " And Zulieka's father, Gravene Enumenides at the bottom of it all." Not a moment of delay, and then Dick and the clerk were told of their position and danger. Voices at length came from the roadway and the young men knew that friends were at hand. The communication from the ground floor to the upper tiers of the building was stopped by the destruction of the staircase ; but now that the debris of the fabric had fallen a kind of local stillness became familiar to the ears of the imprisoned listeners. "It is well," said a voice. "Those fellows are trapped. No one shall now know of this night's work. Let us to the chimney. The dynamite must do its work there as it has done here with this stair." " Look here, guv'nor," was the response. " It's about time that we . hooked it, an' thou must settle up' on th' spot." j " Nabal Blsckley," cried Demetri Enumenides, " the time for settle- \ ment has not yet arrived." "You're wrong there, man," cried Dawsy Howarth. " Do you hear the sounds of chaps outside ? If you do not pay us now—right down on the nail now—we'll chuck you over th' wall and swear that you are th' man tha't set th' mills on fire." "Pools, why do you annoy me now ?" said the young Armenian. " Behold, here are two Frenchmen. Attempt to molest me more and they will soon wipe you from the face of the earth." ; "That's your game, is it !" Na- j bal shouted, springing upon the Ar- j menian. " You'll find us a match for i you an' all your crowd. Where's th' money ? Out wi' it or you'll be i a dead man." A short, fierce struggle, a few words exchanged in French between the scarlet-fezzed employer and the two foreign retainers and a most aw- : ful spectacle greeted the eyes of the; horrified gentlemen imprisoned in the > counting-house. j Through the broken panel of glass they could see what was happening at the base of the space opened up by the blowing up of the staircase. Now, however, the fumes of the accumulating smofce began again to overpower their faculties and in their consciousness of extreme peril they called out to the scoundrels below to rescue them. J The only answer they received was i a general cry of derision, joined in i by the two renegade Englishmen. .' Hal Wainwright then saw Demetri Enumenides raise a big glass bottle j and pour its contents first upon the ', clothing of Nabal Blackley and then i upon that of his companion. Dawsy j Howarth. I " What are you up to?" cried the \ latter. i "Nothing," was the Armenian's! reply. "In a moment we shall be in the presence of flames, and I am preparing our garments to resist.! them." |

| " Get out with your scientific fakes !" shouted Blackley. "Shell lout the money you promised us and let us be off."

"You have not yet completed the work you are engaged for," replied Demetri Enumenides with imperturbable gravity.

" Well, lead you on, and we'll soon finish the job," growled Daws).

" Here is the second portion of the dynamite," responded their unprincipled employer. " You have provided the match. The crowd have penetrated to the front of the building. In a moment they may be here. Let us to the chimney ! Already we have removed many bricks from the foundation of the stack. It must be that it shall fall upon this building ; and, behold, there are our victims, and they must not now escape, or we are lost. Place this pogent mineral, adjust your match, and then fly for the out-offices on the wharf where I will pay you the money I have promised."

They disappeared through the gap in the back made b> the blowing up of the principal flight of stairs, and then the Ere was seen by Dick and his companions to be raging fiercer than ever ; the heat became oppressive and at last the feeling stole over them that to attempt escape was useless and nothing appeared to be certain but—death. Just as they were about to succumb to the horrible surrounding Influences two fearful shrieks rose upon the flame-burdened air.

Blinded by the dense green smoke, scorched by the fierce heat, almost forgetful of aught but the present necessity of self-preservation, they could not resist the desire to seek for the cause of those terrible cries. The back or warehouse yard was now as light as day. The throbbing of the mighty engines could be distinctly heard from the front, but across the wide barren windows in that direction nothing could be Been but red-yellow sheets of hissing flame lapping the woodwork and clinging round the iron bars until they were of the same hue—brilliant as the bolt heated at the forge and ready for the anvil. Thej were not long in discovering the cause of the two great cries of agony. A gust of wind dispelling for a moment the heavy clouds of smoke disclosed two columns of fire and from their centres came the awful shrieks. Demetri Enumenides had saturated the garments of Nabal Blackley and his companion with benzoline, and while they were occupied with the arrangement of the match that was to lead to the destruction of the immense chimney their cunning employer had set fire to them.

In the very shortest possible space of time the fierce liquid ignited and the flames rose high above the heads of the victims, while their cries penetrated the great din of the devouring element, and reached the ears of the crowd in front of the building, among whom was our heroine, who, with many others, thought that the I young gentlemen in the countingj bouse were the authors of the wails of misery and so the efforts for their release became redoubled. Then it was that a great rush was made for the intervening gate, and as the fire-master prepared to despatch an engine to the warehouses he pushi ed forward into the open grounds to | see what appeared to him, truly a | most wonderful phenomenon—a blue | pillar of fire waft across the ground, i and disappear into the dark rolling river, while another seemed to be absorbed into the very walls of the building he was about to attempt to rescue. Had he been a minute sooner he would have seen the young Armenian disappear in the direction of the canal that crossed the termination of the grounds belonging to the mills, closely followed by the two Frenchmen, Achille Duon and Jules Veral The worthy trio had no fear of beins watched. The interest was too intense at the buildings for any stragglers to be in this direction, therefore they made no endeavour to conceal themselves. The glee of Demetri Enumenides at the horrible destruction of which he was the active cause was perfectly diabolical. "The father will be pleased," he cried, "and I shall have my reward. Then away from this stupid cold country to the warmer East where one can have unlimited pleasure, and but little surveillance from the authorities." " We are impatient to be with you once more, monsieur," said Achille. Such women—and so many of them ! Tndeed, then, I have no patience when I think of it," remarked the other ruffian. '"Behold !" cried Enumenides. " That fellow with the engines will save the warehouses. He is getting the fire under Helas ! we are not complete enough. And then— the chimney—what of the match ? It is time that the explosion had occurred —go on, Achille, and see what is the matter You can pass round there in the shadow of the sheds." " Hut then, 1 a m not a fool " was Achille's reply. " Miscreant ! Darest thou to disobey me ?" cried the young Armenian. " Tt is certain death " " Bah ! Then, Jules, go you." " I also have some sense," replied that worthy ; "and so here I remain. Why not go yourself, m'sieu?" Even as he spoke, the dreadful explosion and destruction of the great chimney as described in our last chapter took place. j " Aha, hut that is magnificent !" cried the fiendish perpetrator, per- ! fectly careless as to the likelihood j of the great loss of life which might ! ensue. " After this triumph, let us fly." And amidst, the great swell of hu- j man voices caused by the tremendous i —almost appalling—sight the trio entered a punt, and rowed across the canal. On the other side was a low stone I wall which divided the water from ! the street. i Demetri looked to the right and to . the left theu hack upon the wide ex- \

pause of burning property which seemed a stormy sea of fire and foam, while over it rose monstrous masses of ever-whirling black smoke, illuminated every now and then by showers of lurid sparks, while above all, for miles round, the sky reflected the prevailing colour below. . " A splendid revenge ! My father will be in ecstasy. Our object is accomplished, and we are free." " Not so fast, Mr. Demetri Enumenides," cried a man dressed up as ! a countryman rising from the shadow ! of the low wall and seizing the joung ! Armenian by the throat. i " Who are you that you dare seize ! me thUH ?" cried Demetri. i " Jack Wills, inspector of the Oldi Chester detective police," cried that sentleman, removing a great black | beard. "You and your father outI witted me once. I swore to be even ' with him and I think I'll succeed this journey." Then ensued a struggle, and the detective whistled a long shrill rail. Two policemen appeared on the scene. (To be Continued.) :