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Was A Modern Elijah

Was A Modern Elijah image
Parent Issue
Day
18
Month
May
Year
1892
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

He was small and black - a child of au inferior race. There was nothing in liis appearance to suggest the hero, and ii you had told htm that he was a hero he would searcely have known what you meant. An unschooled, Uliterate, ugly, bulletheaded negro, he had nevertheless been baptized by the same spirit which had eaused the íace oí St. Stephen to shinc as the face of an angel. One winter day- almost a year before the event which gk&e liini a chance to show the stul'ï that was iu him- he carne iiito the hotel lookint;for a job. The office was brllllantly ited and lilled vvitb a crowd ui liajidsomely di'essed men. lliere werfi poltticians, club men, nieu Jibout toivn, reporters, niauy metnbera of the sporting' irat.e.rnity, and usual loungers and basgert on, an occasional hay-seed - all iorining a ery startling background íur the rag and ïiltli of tlie i)oor, shivering, halistarved, little darkey. It was no easy matter iör him to steer his course to the desk, and when be goi there the gplendor oí the man büliind it dazed hhn, so tiiat his vok-c aluiost failed liiia. Jle iiad, howev. er, even at lus eaiiy age, reached the loiut wüere lie liad to work or statte. ,So iii.s Dfice'ssittei made him eloquent. His eloqucn-i' incvailrd. He was the uexc day placed on the payroll oí the greaf hotel. As a bell boy lie was not a suceess. 1 íear I must confesa lie was lazy. People liked liim- I do not know wby- and for some reason or other he waa a favorito wiiu Jü.s employers. lf lie had not beun they would have dlsmlssed him beiore lus first week -vas out. lnstead of doing that, they concluded to fiud more conseniul work for him, so tiiey yut him in charge ol one of the elevators. Among the passengers who used to ride up and down with the boy wae a little live year oíd girl, the daughter of a family living in the hotel. She was as perfect a type of her race as he was oí his. Witli lier fair, white skin, golden huir, (leep blue eyes and pretty womanly ways, the cliild was a general favorite. Bveryone knew her; everyone loved her. Between her and the boy a great friendship had sprung up. He was devotion itself, and his nttentions to the little Caueasian were so grotesquely chivalrous as to be almost pathetic. She accepted them with a dignity and grace that were mg. Her family lived on the top floor of the hotel, and as she always rode in his elevator when she could do so, the boy and girl saw mueh of each other. Oace she was 111. The medicine that helped her most was a wretched little boquet sent her by her dusky friend. It was winter again. Tlie evening oí whicli I write was very cold and clear. The stars were diamondlike in their brilliancy. Evorj-thing was frozen up- the wheels creaked on the snow. The hotel was erowded with guest, not more than two or three of the hundreds of rooms were unoccupied. A belated traveler, who had been on a weatlier-bouud train, carne in at 1 o'cloek, tired and cold. He ordered a fire in hts room and went to the bar for a drink. A few minutes later he stepped into the elevator anti was r.-m-h'd to the top f loor. The great liouse was Tiuiet. Most of the liglns in the oïiicu had been extiniiuished. Tavo nighc o wis were talking in low tones on one of the setteea wlik-li linea the -walls of the lobby. Tlie bell boys weje most of them asleep. Tl-.e elei-k was ilrotrsIng. Tvo oVloek ! Tlte niRht' owls got ;ip and walfced out iato the eold air. A drunken man poked his nose in the door. The sleeping porter seeméd to scent liim, for he lmstled the poor fellow out. The quiet deepened till it liecame almoet oppesBive. ïhe air was heavy wlth it. Suddenly,, ■without a öotë'óf wárnJng-, the cry oí ran tlirough the house. There was life cnougli now. ecantuy-ciad people were scurrying wildly through the smoke filled corridors. They caoste plungIng down the stairs to the office, and so out mto the (reezing niglit. ShrlekB and curses and groans and prayers- it vas Babel broken loose. All the bells In the house were ringing. The smoke grew denser. it med to eome trom everywhee- above and below. Greát 'volumes roll through the long halls. Outside the streets were Jamnïed witi, people. The englneg, with their ing gongs, hurried to the ecene. Ladders were rateed, and te work oí rescue began. Ji was time, for thejre was a white figure in almost evci-y ,m;. ,,, ;!u. multitiHüuous wimlow.-.. flke -awSuI wall lüomed up in the ü:n- ry after story, dimly seen as tó iis iinper half, for tliat. j.art of i; was wreathefl in the smoke. The smoke turned to tiaiiif-, burstlng through scores oí Windows. The terror-stricken éreWtures Í) to Jump. The people iu the street below were frantic. "Back : back !" the.v shneked "Wait! we'Ü save you ! don't jump!" Whieb ia the plc;) snater, to be roasted alive, or to be mashed out of Bhape on the stone pavement ? If there is to be any saving done it must be done quickly. Many peoplo were busy saving themselves. The sleeping clerk and porter and bellboys had gotten out. But what of the little black fellow in tlie elevator ? He, too, had been asleep. He liad been awakened a the others had been by the first cry oï fire. Unlike thcm, he had tlia '■two-o'clock-in-the-niorning courage whioh Napoleón nail was the rar est sort. In an instant he decidei that it was his dut5r to stick to hl post. And stick he did. Up and down he went, and every time hiiá car touched the office door it was loaded with people. The journey -was a frlghtful one, but he did not shrink. How long he could continue to make the trip he cioüí not teil. The clevator might drop any niimite. Yery weil, let it drop Some of the people in it might Mirrive the shock. It was sure to rai cli fine sooner or later. Even then he would be on the way to saiVty -w-ith liis paseengers. And at any ratc he knew that he coukl hring some people out of the fire burning above. He had not been sood at soingup-stairs, but he could run Iiis elevator1. Trip alter trip he made, each worse tlian the last. The men at the bottom of the shaft to whom he turned over liis living freight sought to stop him in hi.s daagerous föI. Tlie whole well was ful] of smoke, and f;ir up toward th roofi th efire eould be seen. Still lie kr[)t on. and it dirt seom that erery time he startea kyward he was going to certain deatu. But ho kne-v that tlie rooms and halla werfi warmin.i;' viili ]ieo])lo. and hf would rake any chance to save a lile. The firemen were doing tlioir bis; outside; ileath was lmsy within; and he tiiially made up his mind tliat it w.is no use to go back again, till all ajt once lie remembered tliat lie had geen nöthing of his little friend. Could he weather the storm and fíame once more ? He could try. He pulled -i he ropo, and the ourney began. lt was slow, olí, how slow. The smoke vv-as teiTible - worse even than the fire- but Ii elie'.d his breath and fixed his mind upoti the business in hand. The llame kindled the ivoodwovl; of the car. He feil on liis hands and tctieeè, but he his hold on the rope. At Last he reached the floor. He found lier room, and found lier. She was asleep and alone. Wrápjing her in tlie blankets, and thrówirig about lier a rug which he snatehed from the floor, he struggled through the ilame and f-moke back to the burning car. "Back from the jaws of heil" it was that he brought her, fighting the fire away from lier evei-y inch of the way down. He had just strength enough to stop the car. The cliildren were taken out and carried to a drug store across the street, the girl alive and well and the boy seemingly dead. He was horribly burned. Among the people viho etood around werc tlie párente of the little girl. They had been otitflo an evening party, and returning after a long, cold drive, found their home on fire. Every effort had been made, in response to the agonizing appeals ojt the father to save the child - and now here ehe was, safe and sound, laughing ín her niotlier's arms. And the hero. He opened his cyes. 'Did I bring her froo all richt ?" "Yes, yes," said the fatlier, -'and how can we ever tliank you for what you have done ?" "Nebber min' "bout dat, boss. Ef she's safe dat's miff for me." And he closod liis eyes. Dead ? Yes, dead and gone to

Article

Subjects
Old News
Ann Arbor Courier