The Boy Scouts of Bob's Hill Part 36

You see, I had practised with the splints more than some of the boys had. They were all for saving folks from drowning.

We first found two pieces of board. There were plenty of them scattered around, on account of the wreck. We put one piece, which was long enough to reach from his armpit to below his foot, on the outside of the leg. The other we put on the inside. It didn't have to be so long, but reached well below the knee. Then, making sure the broken bones were in place, we tied the splints on with strips from Skinny's shirt, first putting a cushion of leaves between the boards and the leg. After that we tore up Bill's shirt and tied the broken leg to the good one with three or four strips of that.

"Do you suppose that we can get him up on the river bank?" asked Skinny, when we had him all fixed.

"We must," a quiet voice answered.

Turning, we saw Mr. Norton, who had come up so still that we had not heard him.

"Oh, Mr. Norton!" cried Skinny. "We are so glad you have come. It is an awful wreck and n.o.body to do anything at first but us, and we didn't know what to do. I think the engineer and fireman were killed. The brakeman is over there, trying to get them out."

"You seem to have done remarkably well for boys who didn't know what to do. I want two poles from the woods, Gabriel. Quick! William, you go with him. John will help me here."

Skinny grabbed his hatchet, and before we had time to miss them the boys were back again with two long poles. While they were away Mr. Norton and I pulled two car seats out of the wreck and were ready to make a stretcher. By laying the seats end to end on the poles and tying them fast with Skinny's rope, we had a good one and not bad to ride on, because of the springs.

Then Mr. Norton and the brakeman, with us boys helping all we could, lifted the conductor very carefully and laid him on the stretcher. To lift it by the ends of the poles and carry it up to the river bank was the easiest part of all.

By that time, Hank and Benny had come back with two or three men from Hoosac Tunnel station, and they went to work with jacks to get the engineer and fireman out.

"A special train is coming from Readsboro," Hank told us. "It's bringing some doctors and the wrecker."

"Do you feel able to continue your journey, Mrs. Richmond?" Mr. Norton asked. "We could manage to carry the little girl as far as the station and there is a train due from North Adams in about an hour. Or would you rather wait for the special and go back?"

"I think we'd better go back to Readsboro," she said. "We have friends there and I don't feel much like walking."

We didn't have long to wait, for the train soon came puffing down the valley. Two doctors jumped off before it had time to stop and hurried over to where we were standing. They were surprised some, when they saw the people all bandaged up.

"Who did this?" asked one of them, standing over the conductor. "I thought there were no surgeons here. Did you succeed in getting somebody from North Adams?"

"These boys," Mr. Norton told him. "They are Boy Scouts and have been in training some time for this very job."

The doctor gave a little whistle.

"Good thing for him," he said, "that they were around. I couldn't have done it much better, myself."

We felt proud when he said that, and I could tell by the way Mr. Norton smiled at us that he was feeling pretty good over it.

All the same, the doctor bandaged him over again, to make sure that everything was all right. When he had finished, the hurt ones were put on board the train and made as comfortable as possible. We heard some cheering over by the wreck and hurried back to find out what had happened.

"They are alive," a man explained. "We've jacked her up a little, and the engineer just spoke to us. He says that the fireman is alive, too."

It made us feel better to know that they were alive, and the men worked like sixty to get them out. By that time the wrecking crew had the big crane ready. After that it was easy. It didn't take long to swing the heavy frame clear of the ground and to one side.

The two men were found somewhere in the ma.s.s, badly hurt but alive, which was more than we could understand.

They were lifted out as carefully as possible and carried to the car.

"Good-by, boys!" called Mary out of the window.

"Good-by! G.o.d bless you, dear children!" said Mrs. Richmond.

"Good-by,--good-by," yelled the brakeman.

The doctors were too busy to say good-by to anybody. We watched the train steam up through the valley; then Mr. Norton took each one of us by the hand, and he squeezed hard.

We heard afterward that both men got well, although many weeks pa.s.sed before they were able to work again.

We started for home, bright and early the next morning, taking all day for the climb over the mountain and camping that night among the foothills on the west side. It was only six or seven miles from there home, and we were so tough and hard that it didn't seem far.

"We can do it in two hours, easy," said Skinny.

We were beginning to be in a hurry to see our folks and the cave, after being away so long.

"Let's get home in time for breakfast," I said. "What do you say?"

"And go without eatin' until we get there? Not much!"

"We can have an early breakfast," Mr. Norton told us, "and start as soon as we can see; say, about four o'clock. We ought to be able to make it by seven, easily, and I feel sure that we shall be able to eat again, after our walk. I'd like to get home early, myself. It is time that I was going back to work after my vacation."

That is what we did, and we surprised everybody. They had not been expecting us before afternoon.

After that we didn't see anything of Mr. Norton for several days. Then he asked us to meet him at a campfire on Bob's Hill, Sat.u.r.day evening.

"I have spoken to your parents," he told us, "and they have arranged for a picnic in Plunkett's woods, Sat.u.r.day afternoon. We will eat supper together on the gra.s.s, at the edge of the woods, and afterward have a campfire at the old stone. I think that we owe it to your people to make a sort of official report of what we did on our trip; that will be a good time to do it."

That was some picnic, all right, and it was great fun, sitting there, talking and eating; then playing Indian in the woods, surrounding the palefaces, and all that. But, best of all, was the campfire, after the sun had gone down and the moon lighted up the hills and made old Greylock loom up big and shadowy. Of course, we had told our folks all about everything but they wanted to hear more, and we had to tell it all over again.

Finally Pa spoke up. "We have heard a great deal from the Scouts," he said, "and we have enjoyed it all. Now, we'd like to hear from the Scoutmaster, how the boys behaved. But first I want to tell him how grateful we all feel for what he is doing for these youngsters."

"I am enjoying it as much as they are," said Mr. Norton, looking fine as he stood there, with the moonlight on his face. "In fact, I think that I am getting more out of it than they are. I asked you fathers and mothers to meet me here to-night because I wanted to tell you how proud I am of these Bob's Hill boys, the Boy Scouts of Raven Patrol. I understand that in their cave at Peck's Falls they have a motto hanging, which says that 'The Boys of Bob's Hill are going to make good.' They have made good, Mr. Smith, every one of them."

He hesitated a moment; then went on:

"I have made official application for Honor Medals for the part they took in saving human life at that unfortunate train wreck, and I hope the National Court of Honor will award them. But I, myself, have wanted to do something personally to show the boys how much I have enjoyed their companionship and what I think of their conduct--all of them, not only those who happened to be on hand at the time of the wreck. So I have had this banner made to hang under the other one, in the cave, or wherever their place of meeting may be."

He pulled out a fine silk banner from his pocket, as he spoke, and shook it out until it hung full length in the moonlight, and, looking, we saw in one corner a black raven and "Patrol 1, Troop 3 Ma.s.s."; then, in large, gold letters, the Scout motto:

"BE PREPARED."

How we did cheer! And our folks cheered louder than anybody.

"Guess what!" said Benny, after all was still again. "When we grow up, we are going to try and be like Mr. Norton, our Scoutmaster."

"Bet your life we are!" shouted Skinny, springing to his feet and waving the banner.

Then he stopped and stood there, looking at us, with his arms folded.

"I have spoken," said he. "Let be what is."