The upper story of a factory was ablaze, and in the street in front of it two policemen were vainly trying to keep back an excited throng of people, many of whom were yelling and gesticulating and talking in German and Polish, while others were weeping from sheer excitement. The chief was on the sidewalk in a moment and, in an incredibly short space of time, the crowd had been driven away to a respectful distance, the hose attached to a hydrant across the street and run rapidly out to a convenient length, while the members of the truck company, acting under their chief’s order, were quickly and quietly getting their ladders against the front of the building and preparing to ascend. Bruce did not know exactly what he was expected to do, but concluded that it would be best for him to sit where he was and take care of his horses. From his place in the driver’s seat he noted carefully the speedy, intelligent and systematic work of the brigade. He saw the chief of battalion cast his practiced eye at the building and then tell his men where to direct the streams of water. In less than two minutes the flames were under control, and the frightened people, who had been screaming and crying in the street, realized that what they had mistaken for an awful conflagration was in reality nothing but a comparatively harmless combustion in the factory’s upper floor, that no lives had been jeopardized, and that all danger of the flames spreading had vanished in the face of the rapid and efficient work of Chief Trask’s men. The neighborhood was inhabited chiefly by foreigners, and Bruce could hear these people talking to one another in half a dozen strange tongues, as they leaned out of windows or crowded about the engines as closely as the police would allow them. And among this crowd of chattering, excited aliens, Bruce noticed one man of striking appearance, who seemed totally different from those about him, and who stood on the steps of a tenement house and watched the fire with amusement and interest reflected on his countenance. In marked contrast to the other denizens of the street, this man was well dressed and carried with him an unmistakable air of prosperity. He was tall and dark, and his heavy black beard was cropped close to his face. As he stood on the top step the boy could see his profile, distinctly. It was clear cut, the nose slightly aquiline and the chin and mouth firm and square. He wondered idly what this well-dressed man could be doing in that part of the city, and, while he was still wondering, the subject of his thoughts came down the steps and walked quickly away, for by this time the fire was out, the men were reeling up the hose, and the members of the truck company were returning their apparatus to the truck and preparing to go home.