Running over the roofs of the adjoining houses until he reached the burning building, he found that on the fourth floor the flames had cut off all exit from an apartment in which there were four women, two of them over fifty, and one of the others with a six-months-old baby.

The officer ran down to the adjoining house, broke open the door of the apartment on the same floor--the fourth--and crept out on the coping, less than three inches wide, that ran from one house to the other.

Being a large and very powerful and active man, he managed to keep hold of the casing of the window with one hand, and with the other to reach to the window of the apartment where the women and child were.

The firemen appeared, and stretched a net underneath.

The crowd that was looking on suddenly became motionless and silent.