An Amateur Fireman

"It seems like as if I'm allers 'round when you fellers are puttin' up swell lay-outs, don't it?" Then getting a full view of Seth for the first time he cried in an accent of unquestionable admiration, "Well, I'll be jiggered! Dan said you was lookin' mighty fine; but I never thought you could flash up like this! Why, you're a reg'lar fireman already."

"You wouldn't think that if you could hear what Ninety-four's men say, an', besides, there's no brass buttons on this uniform, you know."

"I ain't certain but it looks better without 'em. Anyhow, you're way up in G."

"He ought'er know it by this time," Dan added with a laugh. "Everybody has been tellin' him so, an' he come mighty near paralyzin' Miss Hanson. She jest threw up both hands when we opened the door."

"Well, I don't wonder; but say, I didn't come round to sponge off you fellers, 'cause I never thought of your havin' two such lay-outs one right after the other. I didn't know but you'd like to hear how we'd left Jip, an' then agin I wanted to talk 'bout bunkin' in here with you fellers."

"This is Seth's spread; but you'll hold on an' get your share of it now you're here," and Dan began to arrange the food on the table in the most tempting manner possible.

"Of course you'll stop," Seth added, "an' even if you'd known we was goin' to kind of celebrate, what would be the harm in comin' 'round an' gettin' some?"

"Well, I don't want you to think I'm playin' it on you, that's all; but it struck me a little while ago that if we could make a trade with the woman what runs this house, it would come easier on all hands. Now, that bed is plenty big enough for three, an' it ain't likely you'll be here much of the time, except to sleep, so why wouldn't it be a good idea to see how much extra she'll charge to let me in with you fellers?"

Seth knew of no good reason why Bill should not be allowed to share their palatial quarters, providing Mrs. Hanson did not object.

He knew Master Dean to be an industrious, well-intentioned boy, whose company, now that he was to be absent from home so much, might be desirable to Dan, and at once signified his willingness that the landlady should be consulted.

"I reckon Dan will be lonesome here when I'm gone so much, an' perhaps it would be a good plan. S'pose you two fellers go down an' see what she's got to say."

"Why don't you tackle her?" Master Roberts suggested. "She'll be so busy lookin' at your uniform that perhaps you could make a better trade."

Seth hesitated only an instant, and then went down-stairs.

When he returned his companions knew from the expression on his face, before he made a report, that the mission had been successful.

"She says if we keep quiet an' don't have a crowd hangin' round, or too many visitors, that we needn't pay any more for three than we do for two. I didn't think that would be jest the square thing, an' besides, we couldn't divide half a dollar up in three parts, so I told her we'd call it sixty cents, an' that will make the lodgin' come mighty cheap for all hands of us."

"When are you willin' I should come?" Bill Dean asked eagerly.

"Whenever you want to."

"Then I'll start right in to-night an' pay the same as you fellers do, for you've only got one day ahead of me."

And thus the matter was settled to the manifest delight of the new lodger.

The feast was an unusually satisfactory one on this particular evening.

Seth was as happy as a boy well could be because of the good fortune which had come to him through Ninety-four's men; Bill believed himself unusually lucky in having secured such desirable lodgings at an exceedingly low price; and Master Roberts had suddenly conceived an idea which seemed to him a remarkably happy one.

Not until his hunger had been appeased did Dan give words to his new train of thoughts, and then he announced with the air of one who has made a great discovery:

"If Seth hadn't laid himself right out to get into the Department, an' stuck to it whether the fellers were makin' fun of him or not, he wouldn't be wearin' that uniform now, would he? Course not. If I keep on sellin' papers an' don't try to do anything else, I'll never get some other kind of a job, will I? Course not. Now, I've made up my mind to own a store on Third Avenoo where I'll sell papers, an' books, an' sich truck, an' keep a lot of kids to do the outside work."

"An' you can do it, too, Dan, if you stick right at it," Seth replied confidently.

"Well, she goes from this out! I shan't spend any more money buyin' swell grub same's this is, an' if I don't get down-town every mornin' by daylight it'll be 'cause I'm broke up so bad I can't move."

Then the feasters discussed this new idea of Dan's, approaching it from every point of view, until the Third Avenue store was to Master Roberts an accomplished fact; nothing stood between it and him save hard work and a strict adherence to his purpose.

After this subject was exhausted a certain amount of their attention was given to Jip Collins's affairs. They speculated briefly as to what Sam Barney might be doing at that particular moment, or regarding matters connected with his departure, and it was not yet nine o'clock when all three were lying comfortably in bed, sleeping peacefully.

Dan awakened shortly after daybreak, and, strong in his purpose of one day owning a Third Avenue store, lost no time in making ready for business.

He and Bill Dean started down-town before sunrise, and Seth made his way to Ninety-four's house, where he busied himself in doing such work as came to his hand.

Before seven o'clock he had blackened the boots of all the men, swept the floors, and groomed one of the horses.

'Lish Davis came down just as this last task was performed, and observing what had been done said gravely:

"Look here, Amateur, we don't count on your doing up all the odd jobs 'round this place, else the rest of us will rust out for lack of exercise."

"I got 'round pretty early, sir, an' 'd rather be at work than layin' still."

"After this noon you won't complain of having too much spare time on your hands. Been to breakfast?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then clear out an' go down-town, 'cause this is likely to be your last day off for quite a spell. I'll look after the other horses."

Seth would have been better pleased to remain in the engine-house two or three hours longer, but 'Lish Davis's injunctions, although given as a permission rather than a command, were not to be disobeyed, and without protesting he left the building.

It is hardly necessary to attempt to describe the reception accorded the amateur fireman, when he arrived at Printing House Square.

Every bootblack or newsboy in that section of the city had heard from Bill or Dan the fullest possible particulars regarding the new uniform, and all were expecting to see a great change in Seth's appearance, but not prepared for such a decided transformation.

During at least two hours business was practically suspended, and Seth was literally forced to remain on exhibition because of the throng which surrounded him.

Many times did the policemen in the vicinity disperse the gathering; but the admiring ones reassembled immediately afterward, regardless of the threats of the officers, and thus the Society for the Admiration of Seth Bartlett was virtually in continuous session.

Those who had laughed the loudest because of his ambition were now the most extravagant in their praises, and there was not a boy on Printing House Square who did not realize as never before how much might be accomplished by persistent effort. Until eleven o'clock Seth "visited" with his friends and acquaintances, and then made his way up to keep the appointment with 'Lish Davis.

The driver, clad in his best uniform, was awaiting the boy's arrival, and cried good-naturedly when the latter appeared:

"Well, Amateur, you've spread yourself, eh? Been swelling all the morning till your head is so big that you need to borrow a new cap?"

"There's no danger of that yet a while, Mr. Davis. I'll wait till I see how I get along at headquarters before puffin' myself out very much."

"That's a good idea, Amateur, though at the same time I believe you'll pull through in great shape, providing you hang on as you've done since I knew you. Now, if it so be you've tended to all your business and are ready to duf into the work, we'll mosey along toward Sixty-seventh Street."

"The sooner I get to work the quicker we'll know whether the folks up there are goin' to let me stay," Seth replied, and with words expressive of kindly cheer and friendly wishes ringing in his ears, the Amateur set out on this his first real step toward a position in the Department.

"I don't want them as you'll meet at headquarters to think you're a dummy, Amateur, and it's in my mind to give you a little outline, so to speak, of this 'ere school, after which there'll be no need of your showing ignorance by asking questions. In the first place it ain't counted on that this 'ere branch of the service is to educate anybody and everybody that may come along. It's for such men as are admitted to the Department on trial, 'probationary firemen' chiefly; but the old hands have had a deal of good out of it.

"This plan was started long about '83 for no other reason than to show the men who were then in the service how to use the scaling ladder which had just been introduced, and the idea seemed to work so well that it gradually grew, kind of swelled out, so to speak, till it became a reg'lar school. First off, before the new headquarters was built, the city hired an old sugar warehouse on One Hundred and Fifty-eighth Street and North River, where the men were shown how to use scaling ladders and a life net, and I've been there when one class counted up sixty scholars, all of us old hands at the business. Remember this, Amateur, you'll never be too old to go to school, leastways that's what I've found.

"After the new headquarters building was opened in '87 the sugar warehouse was given up, and we firemen had what you might almost call a college. There's a yard at the back of the building nigh on to a hundred feet square, which is put up in such shape that water can be used the same as you would at a fire, and here drills go on like this, for instance: An alarm is sent out for a certain company when they least expect it, and the men find themselves called into headquarters to show what they can do. All that you're going to see, lad, and talking about getting points, why, you can learn more there in one exhibition drill than you could at forty fires, 'cause you're understanding just how the thing is going to be done.

"You'll find when one of these unexpected drills comes off that the engine is run into the yard, hose coupled on to the hydrant, dragged up to the top of the building, water started and shut off, ladders used, and in fact the whole business gone through the same as if a hundred lives were in danger."

"Do the men really work as hard there as they do at a fire?" Seth asked.

"Do they, Amateur? Well, now, you can be mighty certain they do, 'cause it's owing to what they show at such times that gives them their rating. Now, for instance, Ninety-four's company is in the first grade; Eighty-six, that we bucked up against on that storage warehouse, is in the second grade; and there ain't a great many third grade nowadays, 'cause the men are drilled too well. And here's a point I want you to understand, Amateur: In case some man comes along and tries to tell you that the Department in this city or that is better than what we've got here, stick straight up for the fact that the New York Fire Department heads the world, and you won't be a grain away from the truth. Taking it all in all I'm free to say, open and above board, that you can't find a Department anywhere that can beat this, and I'm reckoning pretty strong that you wouldn't find one to equal us, taking all things into consideration.

"Now, we'll suppose you was old enough, and stout enough, and plucky enough, and knew enough to pass a civil-service and a physical examination for admission to the Department. You wouldn't be put into regular service, but sent up to headquarters, where we're going now, and drilled in the yard, raising ladders, tossing 'em 'round, setting 'em up, and keeping at that kind of work till you could handle one the same's you might a knife or fork. Now, considering the fact that the lightest of 'em weighs twenty and the heaviest sixty-five pounds, with a length of from fourteen to twenty feet, you can see that you've got to be pretty nimble before getting through the first lesson, eh?

"Then we'll allow you've satisfied them as are giving the lesson. You'll be set at climbing up to the first window to start with; after you can do that, to the second, and so on till you've got to the top of the building by aid of the scaling ladders. It ain't such a mighty easy thing when you come to do it yourself as it looks while you're watching somebody else; about the time you're half-way up the hair on your head will come pretty nigh to standing on end; but bless you, Amateur, a man soon gets over that, till shinning outside of a building don't seem more'n child's play.

"Then there's the drill of building a chain – making a line of ladders from the roof to the street – and getting from the upper window out over the cornice. Straddling sills is another lesson you'll have to learn, till you can get astride of one, and by holding on with your knees, work as handy as on the ground. Standing on sills; working the life-line; climbing crosswise so's to step from one window and go to the next story on a slant, instead of straight up; using the life net by jumping down, or holding it for others to leap into – and if it so chances that you are ever set to holding one, Amateur, my boy, you'll find it ain't child's play. I've heard it said that when a man weighing one hundred and fifty pounds jumps from the sixth floor of a building, he strikes the net with a force of nigh on to eighteen hundred pounds, and I tell you them as are holding it have to keep scratching."

"Do you reckon I'll be allowed to practise with the men, Mr. Davis?" Seth asked as the driver paused an instant.

"I'm counting on it, lad; but don't make up your mind it'll be right away. We of Ninety-four's company believe we know what kind of a boy you are, because we've tried you, so to speak; but up here where we're going they've got only our word for it, and won't count very much on that till they've found it out for themselves. It may take a long time, and then again it mayn't; but every boy, whatever business he goes into, is bound to prove himself before he's thought to be of much account. It'll be the same at headquarters. Turn to, Amateur, the same as you've done since we knew you, and before a year goes by I reckon on seeing you in the drill."

"Are the men always practising?"

"Not every minute of the time, you know, because it comes precious nigh being hard work; but you can count on their doing all a man ought to do in the twelve hours. When it's storming, or too cold to work in the yard, you'll find them 'ere grown-up scholars in the gymnasium on the fifth floor, at work coupling or uncoupling hose; learning how to fight cellar fires, or practising with the tin-cutters for opening roofs. They're told about battering-rams, axes, hooks, and, finally, everything that we use, until the man who graduates up at headquarters is fit to handle a company all by himself, save, of course, that he lacks experience. Now, if it so happens that one don't learn quick enough, or shows he hasn't got a good head for the business, he's switched right off, and that ends his chance of getting into the Department. Of course kids are never taken on, and it ain't held out to you that you're going there on probation. We've got a job for you as a boy in the building, that's all, but with what little influence Ninety-four's men can use, and some thrown in from the other companies that we're friendly with, the idea is to slip you through on the sly, so to speak. If you please them at headquarters there'll be no voice raised agin your practising now and again with the others, and then is the time that everything depends on you.

"You've run to fires for the sake of getting points; but never had a chance to see whether you could carry them out or not. Now the opportunity is coming; if it's in you to do the work, why, when you're sizable we shan't have any trouble in getting you taken on probation, providing, of course, you can pass both examinations, and about that we've got to talk later. I don't want you to think a fireman is a regular idiot when it comes to book-learning. The older hands of us may be 'way off on such things; but them as goes through the civil-service examination have got to be pretty well posted, an' I'm counting on your working into some night-school."

Seth had listened attentively to the old driver's words; but there was a cloud on his face when mention was made of the fact that a fireman must have a certain amount of book-learning.

"I don't know hardly anythin' at all, Mr. Davis," he said in a mournful tone.

"You can read, can't you?"

"Yes, if the words ain't too long."

"And write?"

"Well, I wouldn't like to say I really could, 'cause it's just puttin' down letters same as they're printed."

"Didn't you ever go to school, Amateur?"

"No, sir."

"Why not?"

"'Cause I've allers had to hustle for my livin,' an' it never seemed as though I had the time; but now since you've begun to talk I know I might have done it evenings, instead of hangin' 'round with the fellers, or sleepin'. If I'd known folks had to go to school before they could be firemen, I'd been studyin' these last two years."

"I believe you, my boy, and if you had put into the work at books anywhere near as hard as you have on what you call 'picking up points,' you'd have been pretty well along by this time. Howsomever, we can remedy that, though we can't call back lost time. Jerry Walters and I'll figger up what's to be done, and explain further as soon as we've settled matters, 'cause you see, Amateur, you belong to Ninety-four, an' we ain't of the mind to have you fail in what you set out after."

"Shall I have any chance to see you?"

"Bless you, lad, yes. You'll be through between six and seven o'clock, and we'll be glad to have you drop in any evening till you set about studying; then I allow we'll fix up some place so's you can be away from your partner and his friends. We won't have any soft talk after we get inside, so I'll say it all now. Keep your upper lip stiff, Amateur; don't get down at the heel if them as are in charge seem to bear on a little too hard; remember that all hands of Ninety-four's company are counting on you to make good their words, and be a man. Unless we get a call you'll see us to-night, so there ain't need of saying very much more just now."

By this time they had arrived at headquarters, and 'Lish Davis entered the building with the air of one who has no especial interest in whoever may be following him.