ROBERT SHOWS HIS BRAVERY.
Robert was hardly in a fit mental condition to enjoy his row, and his
face was very serious as he drew away from the crowd that had molested
him.
"I don't see what they want to act so for?" he mused, as he pulled up
the broad stream. "I never tried to harm any of them, or interfered
with their amusements."
Crossing to the other side of the Thames he started to fish for a
while.
But the fish were not biting well just then, and after bringing up one
small stickleback, a fish very common to England's streams, he drew in
his lines and gave it up.
Close to where the rowboat rode was a grassy bank, filled with moss
and several species of ferns, and presently Robert jumped ashore to
investigate.
"Those ferns are very pretty," he thought. "I guess I'll dig some up,
put them in a flowerpot and place them in one of our windows. I am
certain Mrs. Vernon will be pleased to watch them grow."
He was prowling around, and had already dug up half a dozen ferns and
some moss to wrap them in, when he discovered the smoke drifting over
the village.
"That looks pretty close to our boarding house," he said to himself.
"Can it be possible that it is Mrs. Barlow's place?"
Much alarmed, he leaped into his boat and seized the oars. A few
strokes took him well out into the stream, and then he made out that
it was the boarding house beyond the possibility of a doubt.
With desperate energy he began to row for the nearest landing to the
house.
"If only Mrs. Vernon is safe," he said to himself, over and over
again.
He knew only too well how badly she was suffering from rheumatism, and
also knew that at this time of day she was probably lying down trying
to catch a nap.
At last the landing was gained, and our hero leaped from the boat and
ran at top speed for the boarding house.
By this time the alarm had been given through the village, and the
inhabitants were hurrying to the scene of the conflagration from all
directions.
There was but one fire engine in the place, and this was a very
primitive affair, so, with such a strong wind blowing, it was speedily
seen that Mrs. Barlow's resort was doomed.
When Robert came up he ran plump into the landlady, who was rushing
out of the house with a lamp in one hand and a canary bird cage in the
other.
"Mrs. Barlow, is Mrs. Vernon safe?" he asked breathlessly.
"Mrs. Vernon?" repeated Mrs. Barlow, in a semi-dazed fashion. "Sure,
Mr. Frost, I don't know where she is."
Robert waited to hear no more, but ran into the boarding house and
began to mount the stairs, three steps at a time.
"Mrs. Vernon!" he called out. "Mrs. Vernon, where are you?"
Getting no reply, he made his way through the upper hallway, which was
rapidly filling with smoke. The fire was in the rear of the dwelling
and so far the wind had blown it away, but now the wind was shifting
and the fire was leaping from cellar to garret.
Robert, as we know, was naturally brave, and now the thought that the
lady who had been so kind to him might be in peril of her life, lent
him additional courage.
He tried Mrs. Vernon's door, to find it locked.
"Mrs. Vernon!" he repeated. "Mrs. Vernon!"
"What is it, Robert?" came sleepily from inside.
"Get up, quickly! The house is on fire!"
"On fire!" came with a gasp. "Oh, Robert!"
"Open the door and I will help you to get downstairs," went on the
youth.
There was a hasty movement within the apartment and then the key
turned in the lock. Robert threw the door open, to behold Mrs. Vernon
standing before him, clad in a morning wrapper and her slippers.
Having just roused up from a sound sleep, she was bewildered and gazed
at him questioningly.
"Come, there is no time to lose," he said, and took hold of her arm.
"My jewels and money----" she began, and pointed to the dresser. With
one clutch he caught up the jewel case and her money box and placed
them under his arm.
They hurried into the hallway. The smoke was now so thick that Robert
could scarcely see the stairs. In her excitement Mrs. Vernon forgot
all about her rheumatism. She clutched the young secretary tightly by
the arm.
"Bend down and the smoke won't blind you so much," said Robert. "Lean
on me if you are afraid of falling."
They passed downstairs as rapidly as the lady's condition permitted.
In the lower hallway they again met Mrs. Barlow, along with several
others, all carrying out furniture and other household effects.
Once outside, Robert conducted Mrs. Vernon to a place of safety, and
set her down on a garden bench. She was still bewildered, but
gradually her excitement left her.
The pair had hardly reached the bench when a piercing scream rang out,
coming from the garret of the boarding house. At the small dormer
window stood a young girl, waving her hands piteously for help.
"It is Norah Gump!" shouted somebody in the crowd. "What is she doing
up there?"
"She went up for her bag of clothing," answered Mrs. Barlow. "She used
to sleep in the garret."
Robert recognized the girl as one who had assisted the cook of the
boarding house. He had heard her called Norah, but had never supposed
that she was a sister to the bully of the village.
"She will be burnt up!" he cried, in horror.
"Oh, I trust not!" cried Mrs. Vernon. "See if you cannot aid her,
Robert."
"I will," he returned, and dropping her jewel casket and her money box
in her lap, he made again for the burning building.
"No use of trying to go up there," cried one of the firemen. "The
stairs is burning already."
"Then why not get a ladder and put it up to the window?" asked Robert.
"Aint got no ladder," came from another man. "Maybe she had better
jump."
"She'll break her neck if she jumps," said Robert. He looked up at the
window and then at a tree which grew nearby. One of the branches of
the tree was within four feet of the opening.
"Please save me!" shrieked the girl. "The room is full of smoke
already!"
"Don't jump!" answered Robert. He turned to the firemen. "Give me a
boost up into the tree."
"You can't reach the window from there," said one of the men.
"I think I can. But hurry, or it will be too late."
The firemen did as requested, and up the tree went Robert with the
agility of a cat. He felt that it was a veritable climb for life.
The fire was now coming out of a parlor window, and this sent the
smoke and sparks into the tree and up to the window at which the girl
was standing.
"I can't stay here," moaned the girl, wringing her hands. "I must
jump!" And she placed one foot on the window sill.
"Wait a few seconds longer," urged Robert, as he climbed nearer to
her.
"The fire is coming up through the floor!"
With a jump, our hero gained the branch which grew out toward the
window. Luckily it was a heavy limb, or it would not have sustained
his weight. The end had originally pressed on the roof of the house,
but this had been sawed off.
At last our hero was within four feet of the window sill, and somewhat
below the opening. The girl watched him in a frenzy of terror.
Buckling his feet under the tree limb Robert held out his arms.
"Now, jump and I will catch you," he said.
The girl needed no second bidding, for the flames were already licking
the floor under her. Standing on the window sill she cast herself
forth, and our hero caught and steadied her. It was no easy thing to
do, and for one brief instant it looked as if both would fall to the
ground. But Robert kept his hold, and soon they were safe and
descending to the ground.
A cheer went up.
"He's a brave lad!" was the cry. "He deserves a medal!"
The women folks standing around said but little, yet all were deeply
affected.
When Norah Gump reached the ground her emotions were such that she
fainted dead away.
Restoratives were speedily applied, and while they were being
administered Sammy Gump appeared on the scene, followed by the boys
who had helped him in his attack on Robert.
"Is Norah dead?" he asked, in a quivering voice. He thought a good
deal of his sister.
"No, she has only fainted from excitement," answered one of the women
standing by. "She'll be all right in a little while. But she would
have been burnt up if it hadn't been for that young gent yonder."
Sammy looked in the direction pointed out, and beheld Robert, who had
rejoined Mrs. Vernon.
"Do you mean to tell me he saved her?" he demanded, in amazement.
"Yes, he did," put in one of the men, and gave the bully the
particulars. These particulars were also corroborated by Bob Snipper
and his chums.
"I can't understand it at all," said Sammy, a little while later, when
he was taking his sister to his mother's house. "He's a good bit
better chap than I dreamed he was."