The Banner Boy Scouts Part 18

With these and many more cries the Boy Scouts bore down on the building that sheltered the lone fire department of the town. This consisted of a cast-off engine in good repair which had been purchased from some big city, where they were installing an auto in place of horse power for propelling their machines; and a hose reel, the latter to be drawn by a line of men.

Of course the a.s.sembling firemen were only too glad of the offered aid.

To have a score of husky boys appear so readily on the scene, ready for business, was in the line of a "snap."

Accordingly, while some of the men got the horses. .h.i.tched to the engine, and others started the fire going, the hose cart was rushed out, and its long rope eagerly seized by the waiting boys.

Paul was at the end of the line, for a scout leader must live up to his reputation as a general, no matter what the emergency.

"Pull!" went forth the cry, and immediately the hose reel started off in the direction where a flash of fiery red announced that the excitement was centred.

Nothing could please such an energetic lot of lads more than a chance to make themselves useful in this way. They pulled with a will, and pa.s.sed along the road leading out of the town, on a wild run.

The one who had declared that it was the old Bradley house that was on fire must have had the situation well in mind. Perhaps he lived in that neighborhood, and was better able to judge than the balance of the boys.

At any rate all of them had by now made sure of the fact.

Paul remembered that a family, in which were quite a number of children, had lately come to town, and taken the big ramshackle building.

The thought gave him a thrill, and inwardly he found himself hoping that none of them might be caught in that fire-trap.

"There comes the old machine!" shouted the fellow who, not being able to get a grip on the rope by which the hose wagon was drawn, trotted in the rear, and made out to push.

Yes, they could hear the shouts of the excited fire laddies now, and also catch the sound of galloping horses.

Looking over his shoulder, Paul saw a medley of moving lights, evidently the lanterns carried by the volunteers. These were doubtless clad in their old toggery and fire hats, the foreman with his silver trumpet in evidence, without which no respectable fire would think of allowing itself to be quenched.

And a rising column of sparks attested to the fact that the fire in the engine was in full blast, so that steam would be ready by the time the scene of operations was reached.

"One side, boys, and let them pa.s.s! Give them plenty of room!" called Paul.

He had seen that old engine booming along to a fire on many an occasion, and remembered that the driver, Hank Seeris, was inclined to be a reckless hand; for as a rule the machine was wobbling from side to side, and threatening to overturn at any minute.

Up to this date that catastrophe had never happened; but Paul remembered the old saying that "a pitcher may go to the well once too often;" and he had fears.

It proved that they were well grounded too, after the hose reed had safely negotiated the last bend in the road, and the burning dwelling was in plain sight.

"Look at them coming, full tilt! They will be over at the turn!" shrieked Bobolink, who, being near the tail end of the double line could observe what was taking place without hindrance.

Immediately there arose a chorus of loud shouts, as of warning. But apparently Hank Seeris must have been indulging in more liquor than was good for him; or else he happened to be in an unusually reckless state.

"They're going over!" howled Bobolink.

"Smash!"

"Oh! there goes our only engine to the sc.r.a.p heap!" exclaimed Jud Elderkin, in dismay; for his father happened to be the foreman, and it looked just then as though the gallant fireman might be without a job.

Paul ran back, as did most of the boys, thinking that something terrible must have happened.

The plunging horses had been pulled down, and a man was already sitting on the head of each to keep them from kicking further. There are generally some wise persons present in such a calamity, who know just what ought to be done.

Willing hands were already unhitching the horses, so that they could be taken out of the way, and the ditched engine upraised.

"Where's Hank, the driver! Is he hurt?" asked some one; and Paul recognized the old minister, who must have been on the way home from visiting when the alarm burst out, and hence he had accompanied the fire fighters, eager to lend a hand at the rescue work.

"Here he is, and just comin' to, after being knocked senseless. Hank ain't hurted, I reckon," answered a citizen who had run with the machine.

"How about the engine--is she much damaged?" asked the foreman, as men set about raising the heavy Rescue No. 1.

"Out of business for this trip, Elderkin. She'll never work again till she's gone down to the city for repairs," came the answer.

A groan of dismay went up.

"That settles the fate of the old Bradley house, then," declared many, as they saw the flames and smoke apparently increasing.

Everybody was now anxious to get on the scene, and the engine was left in charge of a watcher, while the crowd rushed along, exchanging views of the accident, and the chances of saving the building by means of a bucket brigade.

The foreman proved himself to be the right man in the right place. He instantly organized a double line of men and boys, leading from the creek near by, up to the house that was burning.

Every imaginable species of bucket and tin pail was pressed into use. Men and boys invaded the kitchen and captured all sorts of utensils, from milkpans to b.u.t.ter firkins.

These were put into use, and pa.s.sed along as rapidly as those at the creek end could plunge them in, and fill them with water.

At the other terminus the foreman and his a.s.sistants took the water pails, and dashed the contents here and there as opportunity arose.

The Boy Scouts were nearly all somewhere in the line, and working valorously. For the time being they utterly forgot they were dressed in their new suits of khaki, and that the pails slopped over continuously, soon soaking them to the skin.

Cheered on by the appeals of their leader they never flinched. It was the first chance Paul had of seeing how his enlisted followers could forget self, and rise grandly to an occasion.

When any one showed signs of tiring he was quickly crowded out of the line by another eager willing worker. Indeed, there seemed to be three applicants for each job; and had there been more buckets several lines might have been formed to make use of that accommodating creek.

Jack, after a little, found himself pushed aside by another scout, who wanted to exercise his muscles, and could wait no longer.

Seeing a group around some children, and hearing sudden cries from a woman, Jack hurried across the lawn. Somehow he seemed to fear that new trouble had broken out; and when he saw a half-clad figure wringing her hands, and shrieking, he realized that his suspicions were going to prove true.

"What is it?" he asked, of another scout, coming away from the group.

"Her baby. She says it is in the house!" replied the boy, whose face was white with the horror of it all.

"What?" cried Jack; "did she forget her own baby, then?"

"She thought her husband had it. He's a sick man too. See, that's him they are holding back there. He wants to go in for the baby, and they won't let him. Oh! Jack, I'd like to do it, but I'm afraid of fire. I just da.s.sent!" sobbed the boy.

Jack waited to hear no more. His blood seemed to be on fire, and his teeth came together with a click.

Another moment and he was in the group, eagerly plying the almost distracted mother with questions as to which room her baby had been in.

Fortunately Jack had once known a boy living in the old Bradley mansion; so that the interior of the house was not strange to him.

"Our bedroom--it is the corner one where the tower stands. The one that has the alcove!" the lady managed to cry, as she caught his arm, and looked, oh, so pleadingly, in his boyish, determined face.

After that Jack would have risked anything in the attempt to save that innocent little one. He rushed off without saying a word. Several put out a hand to stop him, under the belief that it was useless, since that portion of the building seemed to be a ma.s.s of flames by now. But Jack dodged them just as he did when running with the ball on the football field.