CAPTAIN MEAGHAN'S RETIREMENT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7701, 9 May 1903, Page 2

CAPTAIN MEAGHAN'S RETIREMENT.

(By HARVEY J. O'ffIGGINS.)

When the alaarm of fire in Cook and Co.'s Warehouse rang in the truckhouse of Hook and Ladder Company No. 0, at ten o'clock that nighfc, Captain Meaghan and Battalion-Chief Tighe were closeted together in the captain's room. "v 0 ' Tighe bad been repeating patiently, " there ain't any knockin' in it. There ain'b any politics in it. There ain't anything mit but jusfc what I'm tellin' you. The Chief gays he wants young blood in the department. He's squeezed out all the old fellers out of the ranks, an' now he's goin' higher up If you won't gefc out without raism a kick, you'll have to stand examining by the medical board. An' you know bow that's worked." , - . "Why don't he retire Brodrick: Meaghan asked, plaintively. • Ti^he did nofc answer. "I m sorry, he went" on. "I'm sorry, but it's likely's not to be my call next. We're all of us gettin' stiff, I guess. They say you^ can'b learn an old dog any new stunts " ♦ Captain Meaghan's aiger had passed with his first indignant protests thafc be was being put oub of tbe department for private or political ends. He relapsed now into a silent apathy and resignation ; and he stood in the centre of bis room to gaze at his swivel chair and his desk of papers —fche empty throne and office of his power —with a mute pathos of fixed eye and wrinkled fojebead. Tighe continued : "We all got to come to it°some time. An' ifc ain'b as bad as lots of jobs I know, where a man's chucked out on the streets without a cent. You'll have your half pay to live easy on, anyways." Captain Meaghan sat down by tbe window, as if his desk, were already' occupied by tbe right of his successor. "Live!' he said. " I know how I'm goim* to live. But whafc'm I &oin' to do? Where's my "Well, if I was you," Tighe eaad, "I'd guess I'd work(:d long enough." Meaghan did not reply. He sank forward to resfc bis forearms on his knees and let his heavy hands hang down limp between them. Tighe watched him in silence. There was nothing more tbat he could say, and yet he did nob know how to get oufc of the room without saying something. He was looking wistfully at tbe door, when he was saved from am awkward exit by the jangling of the "jigger" with the firsfc strokes of the alarm of fire. He flung out of the room in a noisy baste tbat made an excuse of urgency out of an excess of busble. And the house awoke at once to the sound of cries and footfalls and the dull pounding of horses' hoofs on the planking.

Captain Meaghan rose like an automaiton to the belli and reached down bis cap from a hook in tht> corner. He pub ifc on ; and he seemed to grope- and feel around the room with his eyes, in a bewildered and wandering gaze, as he did so. Then he turned to go out in a blind stumble ; and he closed the door behind bim, either ab-sent-mindedly or in a* way a woman will gently shut herself out of a room of happy memories when she leaves it forever to the past,.' The truck was waiting for him impatiently below stairs. He nodded to the driver, and swung himself up to bis place on the " turn-table " as tho horses sprang forward obliquely from the pole with straining hauncheSj and the great machine rolled out on noiseless axles into the darkness. """" •His lieutenamt was the only one who noticed thafc he put on his helmet YronSside before; and the lieutenant noticed it because be was Gallegher— the soft-heart-ed, the slow-handed, the sure $nd steady Gallegher-r-who had "heard the' rumour^ of changes in the battalion, and knew that Meaghan was in danger. The men on the side-step were either aieepily putting on their rubber coats while they clung to the : ladders, or were borrowing and lending ' and chewing tobacco with which they were accustomed to fortify themselves against i tbe thirst and excitement of & fire. Tbere was some chaffing among those oiu the other side of the truck, and the lieutenant glarcd,at them through the rungs of the ladders, understanding from the manner of his captain thafc Tighe's interview with ! " the Old Man " had brought bim his retirement ; for Meaghan, instead of leaning out fropi the turn-table to watch the street ahead 'and call unnecessary directions to \ the driver, was holding on with both hands, bis face to the ladders, amd swaying dizzily a:ith the lurching of'th.e truck. When they swung around a street corner into the black belch of " steamers,^'* Gallegher had to say " Here we are, sir," before Meaghan raised his eyea. Even cheu be did nob seem to waken. He did not get down until tbe truck had stopped ; and he stood in the gutter fumbling with his helmet — as if he noticed for the first time that ifc sat uneasily awry on his head — until Gallegher, having righted it for him, said, "Chief's over there, sir^' and pointed • him out where he stood beside bis carriage.

Meaghan. shambled across tbe street to report the arrival of bis company, with ai dispirited "No. 0, Chief." The head of the department, without) turning to hin^ answered, impatiently: — ■ " Get in, then. " Gefc in. They don't se&m; to bo able to find the cursed fixe." Meaghan looked up dully at tbe fivestoreytd warehouse that showed a. dark bulk of brick in the feeble light of the streetl&njps. He saw smoke leaking out around thQ iron shutters of its second and third storeys, as if from the joints of a dampered box-etove. Ho s>aw firemen on ladder-topsi working to force an entrance through these shutters with crow-bars and jimmies. A second-starey window had been opened,, and a flaccid hose hung down empty from it to show that the blaze had not beeni found. And two engine crews, having coupled butts to 'hydrants and stretched thek lines of hese t were waiting bke soldiers in a night attack for the order to advance. . For one blank iioment, Meaghan stood! at gaze. Then ho 'pushed back bis helmet from his forehead ; his face set. ■in a thoughtful scowl; be spat aib his feet; he looked up agaiin, frowning. And, suddenly, be puUed down tbepfeak of his helmet to bis eyes, witb the manner of a mind resolved, and bounded forward in a run a0r033 the cobble-stones to his command.

"Ground floor!" he shouted. "Break mi the doors!" Three of the company leaped afc the truck and dragged out the bateer-ing-ram—a knobbed bair of iron, fitted with) bandies fdr two men. " That's no good," he bawled angrily at them. "Get your twenty-foot ladder!" Sia^of them dragged dowD the heavy ladder, caught iib at both end's and the middle, and ram at full tilt with it against the warehouse doors. ' Hit on the lock!" be yeilled. Lieutenant Gallegher suggested, mildly : " Smoke's all up above,, sir." Meaghan brushed bim aside as the impact of the half-dozen men,, behind the steel-shod hundred-weight of wood, struck the doors a blow that burst them opeu wit-a a crash of splintered-pdanking and the sharp repent of snappet^netal. "Gefc in,' now," Meaghan cried. "Get in ! Never mind your lights. You oan't open your eyefc in there. Get your axes." Gallegher dropped his lantern and ran to them. --. Sttnolce had begun to thicken in the doorway. They stopped to^ drag oufc theii* ladder. " Oh, Hell !"--■ Meaghan . yelled. " Gefc in, Will" you? Find the fire! Fmd the fire!" 3 t .. . . Three of them, armed from the truck, disappeared (ifter Gallegher into the smoke. Meaghan ' sent thru* others to support ! tbeni, nnd hurried out into the road to see the front of the building ; and now, as he looked up from the smoke of the doorway to tbe smoke of tbe windows, and down again, hie jerked hi? bead backward and forward abruptly and spasmodically, .with an old man's exaggerated alertnes*^ in the set of liis chin. He ran back to the door. "Try the elevator shaft," he shouted in. The cry that replied to him sounded

from above bim, as if 'the men were groping their way up the stairs ; and this waa nfrfc what he had intended that they should) do. He rushed oufc into tbe street to look up again at the smoke in tbe windows. Hei found it thinned and lessened, and witii an oath of exasperation he charged bachj into the doorway to shout, "Como down) here an' f ee\ fche floors 1 Feel the floors !" He got no answer. He waved to the rest of tho company to follow him, and plunged headlong into the choking heat and darkness. AVhen the old fireman's "sixth sense warned him of obstacles in his path, he dropped on hainds and knees to scuttle forward on flat- palms over the smooth hardwood. He stopped, in a moment, to take off his helmet and lay bis cheek to the planks. He scrambled on again— knocking against a packing-case that scraped his bare temple with its tin " straps "— " eatr ing smoke," with his nose down to get tha low current) of cold air. When he stopped a second time be put bis ealr to tihe floor. Then he jumped to bis feet, ran forward blindly, sHruck against a tin-slieathed door and fell panting at the crack beneath it. He could heaar, unmistakably, the quieb grumble of stifled flames. And tho flooring was hot under his bands. With that he turned on all-fours, followed his path back with an unerring sense of direction, shouldered into the packing-case, picked up his helmet, rose to his feefc and ran for the doorway, shouting to the men who were groping around him in the darkness.

Two of Gallegber's squad were coughing and gasping in the street. "Reporfc No. 0 finds fire in the basement," he cried in a heart-liiting exultation ; " comin' up th' elevator shaft ! . . . Smash in those dead-lights! Get your cellar pipe."

One of the men darted oufc into the confusion of tbe street to find the Chief. I Before the other could reach the truck, | Meaghan bad picked oufc the steel maul j and was attacking the deadrligbts with it. And swung witb the stiff, short blows of-' strong shoulders, he drove ifc through thick glass and cracking cast-iron with the accuracy of a stone-breaker. His men joined him with their axes; and while they were still working there, Gallegher came oufc, choking and coughing, from the stairs. He saw Meaghan working .with the maul like a common truckman, and he did nob understand the sight. He went over to bim. The captain tossed him the heavy hammer, ordered him to take, the men iDto tbe cellar, and hurried back to, the truck for an axe. He was met by an engine company dragging a line of hose. " Come along here," he greeted them. "Fire's in the back"; and led them into the ground floor on the double.

Gallegher looked up at» him as he passed, and remained staring after bim when he was lost in the smoke. He knew fhat it was Meaghan's . place to remain with his own company. He supposed — from whafc he had guessed of the condition of tho captain's mmd — thafc the old man, stung wititi the thought of his retirement, would commit some folly that would endanger his life. He turned to one of the crew. "Look after this," he said ; and shutting bis teeth M'ith a snap on the stifle that puffed into his face, he began to track up the line of hose which Meaghan bad led in.

He found the air at once almost unbreathable, the heat unendurable; bufc he made better progress, on the sure trail, than the men who had preceded him, and be quickly overtook the foreman of the engine company, who, with his two pipemen, was following on bands and knees after Meaghan, whom they bad lost. Gallegher beard the captain's call ahead of them, and he dashed forward in the direction of the voice to find Meaghan snaking in through the smoke, dragging this axe, as if be were crawling ia a burrow.

Gallegher threw himself beside him, "Start your water," Meaghan ordered " We can'b make the door."

"It's f me— Gallegher," the lieutenant gasped.

. . . Eh?" U What? What's the matter?" Meaghan asked, thickly. " Whafc d'you want? Gallegher stammered: "I thoughfc you'd I thought " Ifc was impossible to confess whafc be had thought.

"Someone wanb me?" Meaghan asked, lie' gob no answer. "Who wants me??

Gallegher did not answer. He had, in- fact, taken advantage of the darkness to? retreat from his mistake. "He's over to the right there," be said hurriedly to tbe pipemen as be passed ; and he came out on tbe utreet red and flustered witb the consciousness of having made an indiscreet fool of himself.

He was standing over the men, at their work of lowering a^ladder into the basement, when the captain came unexpectedly out to him. "What?" be said, looking around bim for a superior officer. "Who wants me?"

Gallegher struggled with a clumsy lie, iv. an abashed silence. Meaghan glared at bim. " Who wanted we?" he demanded.

The lieutenant d''^l nob answer; he looked up with a piteously appealing eye. The truth dawned on the captain. " Wbat tiie " He choked. "What d'you What the devil 1"

Gallegher eased bis helmet. "Well," he tried to explain, "I was afraid you'd " "Afraid I'd what?" Meaghan bellowed at him. " Ain'fc P old enough to take care of my " The words stopped bim. " Well, by G ," be swore. " That's it, is it? You got the Chief's bat, have yout" He shook his fisfc in the lieutenant's eyes. "When I want a nurse, I'll tell you — you. You cubs, you'd been huntin' for this blaze yet if it hadn't been for me."

A muflled cry of "Start your water!" sounded from within. The lineman on the threshold took up the cry and sent; ib bounding from man to man, like a tossed ball, over the tumult of the street, into the echoing gorge of high buildings at the corner.

Meaghan took off his helmet and threw ib in Gallegher's face. '"'Blast your eyes," he cried. " Why can'fc you mind your own business. You think you know ib all, don't you? If I didn't know any more'n you do about; a fire "

The bose at their feet writhed, swelled, and stiffened to the size of a gigantic serpent. "You obey your orders, see?" Meaghan cried. "Pm captain of this company yet a while;" and with a last furious oath, turned and darted b^ck into the doorway. Gallegher put a hahd across bis bruised mouth. " Well, darn his old hide," he said. " I'll show bim I got's much right in there as him;" and kicking aside the captain's helmet, he followed him doggedly in.

• • ... • * . When. Captain Meaghan reached the nozzie again be found the pipemen lying drenched with the water thafc beat back on fchem from the near wall in a refreshingly cool spray. He shouted to them to turn the stream to tbe left where he knew the door to be. They could not hear bim. He crawled over one of them to push the nozzle aside, and the man promptly gave place to him. He lay down beside the pipe and directed ifc blindly; and in a moment tbe powerful stream struck the tin sheathing witb a roaring weight that burst the door from its binges into a hissing flame. The beat leaped out on them before a live puff of flame, and Captain Meaghan ielb the man beside him kick and struggle with the pain and stingings of blistered bands and cracking lips. Then the nozzle tried to lash free of bis grip ; the remaining pipeman clambered over his legs, and he was left alone.

Ho rolled over on the hose to pin it down, rested the nozzle on his arm, and hid bis face beside' ifc yhere be» could get the little air that was freed from the stream. •His anger against Gallegher and the Chief set his jaws in a determination to beat

back the fire, even though he was helpless before them. And that Irish resolution held him until the first torture of tlie heat had slowly passed and left 'him numb and drowsy in thafc effect of physical ease which precedes death by fire as ib precedes death by freezing. He was aroused by the touch of a hand on bis boot-heel. It closed tightly around his instep and tugged afc his leg ; and he kicked oufc impatiently to show that he was in no need of (help. A man crawled up on him and loosened his bands from tlwPnozzle— which immediately wriggled freo of him and began to thresh aboufc on the floor. He protested angrily, trying to catch the bose again. A pair of strong aims closed under his chest, turned him, lifted him, and threw bim suddenly over a broad shoulder. He fought with the smooth tarpaulin of a " turn-out " coat until his knees were pinned together in the crook of an arm, and his rescuer, straightening his back to the load, rose swaying with him and began to run through/ the smoke toward the doorway. Slung head down, and choked with the rush of blood to his throat, Meaghan caught speechlessly at the man's legs in a vain attempt to trip him. He might as well have tried- to bold back a runaway horse by leaning down oufc of the saddle to catch his hoofs ; the fireman went ahead with him unbeedingly^ The crew of an engine company, hurrying in to the fire, bumped against them. He got a breath of cooler air, and he beat on tbe rubber coat, shouting a maddened indignation. Then, as he was bornei out of tbe doorway, be caught a glimpse of the street, turned topsy-tur.vy, and the fear of making his situation still more laughable before bis command, held him ragingly still and silent. His rescuer bent forward to heave him upright on his feet, and stood back from him "warily. And he saw that it was Gallegher. If he had bad an axe in his band he would have killed the lieutenant on the spot. Having no weapon, he leaped at him, without a word, nofc striking bim, but clutching for his throat, in the primitive instinct of the savage to use bis fingers as claws. Qallegber wrapped him in a tender embrace, threw bim carefully on the flagstones, and sat on his chesfc. He raved and fought in a panting struggle to wriggle himself free, growling like an animal, his face blackened with smoke and .fire, his eyes red-rimmejd) as the jaws of a mastiff, bis teeth gleaming through a singed mustache. Someone said over Gallegber's shoulder : "What's wrong here?" The lieutenant forced down a straining arm and gasped : " Man gone fire crazy !" "You're a lißr!" Meaghan yelled. "You're a liar! You're a li— " Galleghe* shifted bis weight to tbe captain's diaphragm, and be ended in a gruntinjr groan. The voice above them said : " Gefc off bim." And Gallegher looked up to recognice tbe Chief.

Ht rose with a stubborn reluctance. Meaghan sprang unsteadily to bis feefc. He was weak almost to the point of tears. "He's been — chasm' me aroun' all night," be panted. " Haulin' . me oub ol everywhere I got " "You've been tryin' to gefc yourself burned alive," Gallegher cub in. "An' when I carried bim out of a blazin' fire, be trjed to t'rottle me. Look at him!" He pointed to the burned aad blackened face of his captain. "Ain't I able to take care of myself?" Meaghan cried. "No, you ain't," Gallegher said. "You been runnin' wild aroun' here aU night. You ain't -right. You know you ain't right." "What's wrong aboufc bim?" the Chief interposed. " I don't know,'.' -Gallegher said, sulkily. " There ain't nuthin' wrong aboufc me," Meaighan complained. "I wanted to have a whirl out of the fire — «eein' ib was goin' to be my last. . . . An' I did; have a whirk oub of it, too," he boasted. "I found ifc. An' I'd 'ye held it in the shaft tbere, if that — — hadn't yanked me oufc.

The Chiof stroked 1 bis moustache. "Wbat do you say it was your 'last' for?" Meaghan frowned at . bim. "Tighe said ycu said " The Chief shook his heaid slowly. "I told Tighe either Brodrick or you oughfc to give place to a younger man." Meaghan looked down ab his rubber boots. 0 "I don'fc want to squeeze oub Brodrick, neither," be said. "If I got to go, I'll go." The Chief stood aside for the entrance of another engine company. . "Well," he nilcd, "you can do as you like about it. Brodrick fell off a ladder over there, and broke his hip. He's out anyway. You can go too, if you wanfc to. Nobody's going to prevent you, but nobody's going to force you to." He followed into the building after the linemen.

Meaghan looked up ab Gallegher. Gallegher looked away. Se saw the captain's much-abused helmet lying on the curb-stone, and be went to pick it up. Meaghan took it from him and clapped ifc on his head. "It's lucky for you I didn't have anything to bit you witb," be growled. " Yes, sir," Gallegher answered, meekly. Meaghan glared at him. " Well, what'd you do it for?"

"I thought tbere was something wrong with you,' J Gojlegher apologised. "I didn't want you to — to gefc hurt." The captain snorted his contempt. "Who told you to think? You obey orders— that's your business." Gallegher raised an humble eye to him. "Yes, sir," he said. (Meaghan scowled and. swallowed. Gallegher waited in a pose of humility that ifc would have been inhuman to abuse. "Where's theboys?" the captain demanded. \

"In the cellar," Gallegher replied. "Well," be said with a heavy sarcasm, "don't you think it's aboufc time you yanked them out?" And when the lieutenant was descending the ladder, Meaghan looked up alb the smoking windows and down on the crown of Gallegher's helmet with his old mouth twisted in what seemed to be the grim suppression of a sriile.