“You’re not going to it, are you, Larry?” asked his mother. “I think I’d better,” he replied. “Most of the men are working to-night, and none of them may go to the blaze. If we want a good story we must be right on the spot. So I think I’ll go, though I may find Mr. Newton or someone else covering it.” “Well, be careful, and don’t go too near,” cautioned Mrs. Dexter, who was quite nervous. “I’ll look out for myself,” said Larry, with all the assurance lads usually have. “Take me to the fire, I’ll help you report it,” begged Jimmy. “Not to-night,” answered Larry. “It’s probably a good way off, and you’d get tired.” “Then you can carry me,” spoke the little fellow, ready to cry at not being allowed to go. “You stay here, and I’ll tell you a story,” promised Lucy, who had grown to be a strong, healthy girl since the surgical operation. “I’ll tell you about Jack the Giant Killer.” “Will you truly?” cried Jimmy. “Then I don’t care about the old fire.” He climbed up into his sister’s lap, and soon was deeply interested in the story. Larry got on his hat and coat, and started out on the run. He found a big crowd in the street, hurrying toward the fire. “They say it’s a gas tank,” said someone. “I heard it was an armory,” remarked another. “It’s neither; it’s a big hotel, and about a hundred people are burned to death,” put in a third. “Whatever it is, it’s surely a big fire,” was a fourth man’s response as he started to run. Larry wanted to get to the fire in a hurry, so he asked the first policeman he met where the blaze was. Learning that it was well up town, though the glare in the sky made it seem nearer, Larry decided to get on an elevated train to save a long walk. As he neared the scene he could see the sky growing brighter, and the cloud of smoke increasing in volume. The trail of sparks across the heavens became larger. Down in the street an ever-increasing throng was hastening toward the conflagration. Larry dashed from the train as it slacked up at the station nearest the fire. He ran down the stairs, and through the streets. As he came into view of the blaze he saw it was a big drygoods store, which was a mass of fire. It evidently had secured a good start, as every window was belching tongues of yellow flame. Larry found a crowd of policemen lined up some distance away from the conflagration, keeping people back of the fire lines. Fortunately Larry had a newspaper badge with him, and the sight of this, with a statement that he was from the _Leader_, soon gained him admittance within the cordon. He could not but think of the first time he had been at a fire in New York, how he had helped Mr. Newton, and, incidentally, got his place on the paper.