The Outdoor Chums on the Gulf | Page 5

yet.
They happen to be further along toward the safe side. There's a
chance!" he panted.
Half a minute later they had turned the corner, and were close to the
rear exit.
"See, the smoke is coming out, but no fire. Shall we risk it?" asked the
eager Jerry.
Frank swept a quick look above and around. He was weighing the thing
in his mind, so that they might not be carried by impulse to their doom.

"It's worth while. At the worst we can jump into that tree from the
window. And it's just terrible to think of the professor sleeping on until
he is caught. Lead the way, Jerry; you know about it better than I do.
Remember, on the third floor, and turn to the left!"
They darted in. Several persons near by shouted warnings, but the
words fell on deaf ears, for already the daring lads were rushing up the
narrow stairs. Around them the smoke was dense. It smarted their eyes
dreadfully, so that they were compelled to rub them from time to time
in order to see at all.
Reaching the first landing, Jerry turned to the left. Frank had hold of
his chum's coat, for he did not want to get lost in that smoky interior,
and Jerry was the one acquainted with the situation.
Now they had reached the second flight of stairs. A burst of red fire
further along the hall served to show them for a brief space of time how
matters stood. Up the stairs they stumbled, gaining the upper landing.
Again Jerry turned to the left.
"He said the last room, didn't he?" he gasped.
"Yes, go on!" answered Frank, still gripping his comrade's garment.
"Then here's the door!"
"Shut?"
"Yes, and locked, too! What shall we do?" exclaimed Jerry.
"Kick it in--any old way, but we must be quick!" answered the other.
Then the two threw themselves upon the door. It quickly gave way
before their combined assault. They pushed into the room. The smoke
had gained a footing here, but on account of the closed door it was not
nearly so bad as in the halls.
Immediately they saw a figure stretched across the bed. The balloonist
had evidently been overcome by sleep before he thought to undress,

and dropped over just as he had come from his lame brother's house.
"Wake up, professor, the house is on fire!" shouted Frank in the ear of
the man.
Jerry, meanwhile, was shaking him vigorously; but all their efforts
seemed to be of no avail. The man slept on as peacefully as though a
babe, such was the power of the drug he had taken.
"We can't stay here long," said Frank, as the smoke thickened in the
room. "And as he won't wake up, why, we'll have to try and carry or
drag him down."
Fortunately, the man was not a very large person, or they might have
despaired of ever accomplishing such a thing.
"Take hold on that side, Jerry. Now, lift, and drag his heels. That's the
only way we can do," exclaimed Frank, who feared that even short as
their stay in that room had been they would find conditions changed for
the worse when they again reached the hall.
The professor paid not the least attention to what they were doing. He
had possibly taken an overdose of his sleeping-powder, and only for the
coming of the two chums must have perished miserably, like a rat in a
trap.
When Frank threw open the door of the room again he uttered a cry of
alarm. The back stairway was a mass of flame. Although hardly more
than two minutes had passed since they came up those stairs, it was
now manifestly impossible to pass down again.
He slammed the door shut and found Jerry staring at him in the half
light.
"Talk to me about your fiery furnaces, that beats them all!" exclaimed
Frank's chum, as he let go the professor's shoulders. "What shall we do
now?"

Frank ran over to the window and threw up the sash. He looked out and
then came back to where Jerry stood, trembling with excitement. Frank
was as cool as ever in his life.
"There's a chance, Jerry," he shouted. "No fire below! Take hold here;
tear up these sheets and knot them into a rope. Work for your life, and
if the fire only holds back we may be able to save both the professor
and ourselves! But work! work!"
CHAPTER III
HEADED SOUTH
They did work with a vim, for the smoke was getting more oppressive
with each passing second; and from the glimpse they had taken of the
stairway it was plain to the boys that presently the fire would wrap the
whole south end of