he slipped, passing the threatening flame, in fact shooting through
it just as the rope began to be consumed in its hot breath. Frank had
almost reached the point of safety when he felt his support collapse, and
he dropped downward.

Something caught him, something that seemed endowed with life--the
extended arms of his three chums eagerly fashioned into a net, and he was
not injured, beyond a little singeing of his hair as he passed through
the fiery torch.

The boys were glad to get away from the crowd of enthusiastic admirers
who wanted to lift Frank and Jerry on their shoulders, and carry them
around town in triumph, something that felt repulsive to the lads.

But the lame brother of the man they had saved, seized upon them ere they
went off.

"A thousand thanks to you, for your brave deed!" he cried. "You have
saved a human life to-night, boys, and one of more than ordinary value.
My brother is employed by the Government to experiment with balloons and
aeroplanes, and his discoveries may prove a great thing for our nation in
case of a foreign war. To-morrow he will thank you himself, and from
his heart. Your mothers have cause to be proud of their sons, and I shall
tell them so myself."

From a distance the boys watched the hotel burn, and talked over the
affair just as though they might have been casual watchers, and had no
particular interest in the matter. And yet two of them had come very
close to sacrificing their young lives in attempting to save that of
another.

Both Bluff and Will had suffered tortures while their chums were
inside the doomed structure. Their voices had led all the rest as the
sheet-rope fell from the upper window, with the form of the professor
dangling at the end, for they knew the daring plan of their mates had
been a brilliant success.

The fire did not jump to any of the nearby dwellings or stores, thanks to
the efficient labors of the department, the members of which worked like
Trojans in order to confine it to its original field.

When it had died down the boys separated once more, and the hearty grip
that passed between them was evidence of the sincere affection that bound
this quartette of clean, manly fellows in common.

Neither Frank nor Jerry said a word to their parents about the heroic
part they had played in the rescue of Professor Smythe. Imagine the
astonishment of Frank's father when that gentleman, in company with his
brother, a respected business man of Cen