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."We can only waitand hope," said Mr.Keith solemnly.Mary gave a gasp.Her uncle thought she was going to burst into tears, but shebravely conquered herself and faced him with what was meant to be a smile.Butit is difficult to smile with quivering lips, and Mary soon gave up theattempt.Mr.Keith went over to the water coolerone of those inverted large glassbottlesand looked to see how much water it contained."It's nearly full," he said."What good will it do?" asked Mary."This fire is beyond a little water likePage 64ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlthat.""Yes, but it will serve to keep our handkerchiefs wet so we can breathethrough them if the smoke gets too thick," was his reply."It begins to look as if we'd need to try that soon," said Mary, and shepointed to thick smoke curling in under the door."Yes," agreed her uncle."It's getting worse." Hardly had he spoken when therecame a rush of feet in the corridor outside his office door.Then a voiceexclaimed:"We're trapped! We can't get down either the stairs or the elevators!""It can't be possible!" said another voice."Something must be done! Help!Help! Take us out of here!""Foolish cowards!" murmured Mr.Keith, and then the door of his office wasviolently opened and two men rushed in.They were strangers to Mary and heruncle."Isn't there any way out of this fire trap?" cried one of the men."Are thereany fire escapes at your windows?""None," said Mr.Keith."This is all your fault, Melling!" cried the smaller of the two men, whosevoice, in loudness and depth of pitch, was out of all proportion to his size."All your fault! I told you we should have those new fire escapes!""And you were the one, Field, who objected to the cost of fire escapes whenyou found what the charge would be," retorted the other."You said we didn'tneed to waste that money, if the building was fireproof.""But it isn't, Melling! It isn't!" yelled the other.Tom Swift Among The Fire FightersCHAPTER XXIII.TO THE RESCUE74"We're finding that out too late!" came the retort."But I'm not going to diehere like a rat in a trap!" And he raised the window and leaned out andyelled, "Help! Help! Help!""Don't do that," said Mr.Keith, coming over to close the casement."Theycan't hear you down below, and opening the window will only fill this placewith smoke.Are you Field and Melling?""Yes, of the Consolidated Dye Company," was the answer from the big man."Weare also part owners of this building, but I wish we weren't.""It is a pretty poor specimen of a modern building," said Mr.Keith."You haveoffices here, haven't you?" he went on."I remember to have seen your names onthe directory.""We're on the floor above," was the answer from Field."We were in a rearroom, going over some accounts, and we didn't know anything was wrong until wesmelled smoke.We tried to get down, and managed to come, by way of thestairs, as far as this floor," he explained quickly."You can't go any farther," said Mr.Keith."All there is to do is to wait forthe firemen.""Suppose they never come?" whined Melling."Oh, they'll come!" asserted Mary'suncle, but he spoke more to quiet her alarm than because he really believedit, for the Landmark Building was a seething furnace of flame centering in andabout the elevator shafts and stairs.Meanwhile Tom and his companions in the airship had seen the red glow in theevening sky, and in another minute the young inventor had turned his craftmore directly toward it."It surely is in Newmarket," said Mr.Damon."Right in the center of the city,too.There's one big building therethe Landmark.""Looks as if that was afire," said Ned quickly."Hasn't some relative ofMary's an office there, Tom?""Yes.Mr.Keith.And her other uncle, Jasper Blake, is also interested in thebuilding.It's the Landmark all right!" cried Tom, as his craft rose higherand advanced nearer the blaze.Page 65ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"What are you going to do?" yelled Mr.Damon, as he saw the young inventorhead directly toward a spouting mushroom of flame, which showed that the firehad broken through the roof."What are you going to do?""Go to the rescue!" answered Tom Swift."I couldn't ask a better opportunityto try my new extinguisher! Sit tight, every one!"CHAPTER XXIV.A STRANGE DISCOVERYOnce it became evident to the occupants of the airship what Tom Swift's planswere, they all prepared to help him [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]