44 HIROSHIMA
Father Kleinsorge said to the woman, 6e We must get
away or we will all die." He went back to the Catholic
compound and told the Father Superior that the fire
was coining closer on the wind, which had swung
around and was now from the north; it was time for
everybody to go.
Just then, the kindergarten teacher pointed out to
the priests Mr. Fukai the secretary of the diocese, who
was standing in Ms window on the second floor of the
mission house, facing in the direction of the explosion,
weeping. Father Cieslik^ because lie thought the stairs
unusable, ran around to the back of the mission house
to look for a ladder. There he heard people crying for
help under a nearby fallen roof. He called to passers-by
running away in the street to help him lift it, but
nobody paid any attention, and he had to leave the
buried ones to die. Father Kleinsorge ran inside the
mission house and scrambled up the stairs, which were
awry and piled with plaster and lathing, and called
to Mr. Fukai from the doorway of his room.
Mr. Fukai, a very short man of about fifty, turned
around slowly, with a queer look, and said, " Leave
me here."
Father Kleinsorge went into the room and took
Mr, Fukai by the collar of Ms coat and said, " Come
with me or you'll die."
Mr. Fttkai said, " Leave me here to die."
Father Kleinsorge began to shove and haul Mr.
Fukai out of the room. Then the theological student
came up and grabbed Mr. Fukai's feet, and Father
Kleinsorge took Ms shoulders, and together they
carried him downstairs and outdoors, " I can't walk !",