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.