A PLOT FRUSTRATED
"Fire! get busy here, Bones! Where's the buckets? Turn in the alarm!"
"Oh! they've gone and done it! The house is burning up! Our boats will
all be lost!"
Buster himself was compelled to find the telephone, and clap the
receiver to his ear as he shouted:
"Give me fire headquarters! This is the boat club house, and it's on
fire! Be quick!"
No reply coming, he was staggered with a sudden terrible suspicion.
"They've even gone and cut the wires, so we can't telephone for help.
Here, take a bucket and pitch in, Bones! Perhaps we can keep it down
till some of the boys come. And yell for all you're worth while you
work!"
The two boys dashed out of the house. What they saw thrilled them, for
one side of the fine building seemed to be a mass of flames, which were
eagerly eating up toward the roof.
There was, fortunately, plenty of water close at hand. All they needed
were the ready arms to pass the buckets. Both boys began to shout at
the top of their voices:
"Fire! fire! help here!"
Another voice took up the refrain from a nearby house. Then a second
joined in further off. The town was being slowly aroused; but meanwhile
their feeble efforts did not seem to be holding the fire in check to
any appreciable extent.
"Hark! there goes the alarm!" shrilled Buster, as the sudden clang of
the fire bell awoke the echoes of the July night.
"Hurrah! we may save it yet! Here comes a feller on the jump!" gasped
Bones, who had been making a human hinge of himself with constant
dipping into the river, and then tossing the contents of his bucket on
the furious flames.
There were now three of them, and the reinforcement counted heavily.
The fire did not seem to gain so rapidly now. Eagerly Buster looked
for the coming of others, who would lend willing hands. It was a
thrilling moment in the lives of those two lads, fighting to save the
highly-prized boats with which Columbia High expected to do herself
proud on the coming day.
Others began to reach the scene. Everybody pitched in with a vim to
do something. As many buckets as could be pressed into service were
put to work. Some of the boys even made their way into the building to
snatch the boats out.
"Take care, there's a hole in the middle of the floor!" shouted Buster.
Three fellows found it immediately, and were plunged into the water, to
add to the confusion by their cries of terror.
"Here comes the machine!" arose the shout; and the fire engine horses
appeared in view, galloping toward the scene of confusion.
Fully five score of persons were now on the ground, and willing hands
took hold to put out the fire. Water was being dashed on the side of
the building from all sorts of available utensils, even to a dishpan
borrowed from the back door of a neighboring house.
Buster had rushed into the building as soon as he heard the shrieks of
the trio who had gone down into the river. There was no great trouble
in fishing the unlucky ones out of their bathtub.
Once the engine started to play upon the flames, the firemen made short
work of things. Lanterns were brought into service, to ascertain just
how much damage had been done.
"Are the boats injured?" boys flung at each other, as they crowded into
the building; for that seemed to be the one thing that concerned every
Columbia High School student just then.
"Not a bit. The flames never ate through the walls. They were made
especially to guard against fire. It's all right, fellows!" came a
reassuring answer; and as Roderic Seymour was the one who spoke, the
word of the senior carried weight.
At that a cheer went up, three times three! The dreadful suspense had
been relieved, and light replaced gloom.
"How did it happen. Was it an accident, or did some fellow set it afire
on purpose; we want to know?" they continued to demand.
"Where's Buster? He ought to be able to tell us. Make him speak!"
Poor Buster was feeling very limp just then, what with his tremendous
labors, added to the excitement. Still, he was game to answer that call.
"I'm here, fellows. You can just make up your minds this was no
accident. I know, because I knocked one of the scoundrels into that
hole in the floor with this fine old stuffed club!" he declared, as
they dragged him forward.
"How did he get in?" demanded Paul Bird.
"Through a window; I found it open when the alarm went off and woke me
up."
"Woke you up, eh? What made you sleep if you were going to watch?"
asked one, and Buster glared at the speaker, for it was Lef Seller,
looking as brazen as ever.
Buster had fully believed that it had been Lef whom he had knocked
down; but now he realized that this must be a mistake.
"Come off, will you? What would we want to both sit up for? It was my
turn to get a couple of hours' sleep. Bones can tell you himself what
he was doing. But I knocked the feller into the trap, and he went souse
into the river," he declared, with more or less vehemence.
"Perhaps he's in there yet!" suggested some one.
"Well, you better take a lantern and look; but I don't think you'll
find him. He's had plenty of time to crawl out and skip. I wish I knew
who he was!" and Buster glared in the direction of Lef as he spoke.
Other eyes followed his meaning look, so that Lef could not help taking
notice of the fact.
"Here, what you looking at me that way for? Think I'd be mean enough
to be in a game like this? Feel my clothes if you want to; ain't a bit
wet, eh? Well, just go and chase yourself, Billings. I was home and
sleeping when I heard the bell go bang. I run here like mad, and I've
helped as well as the next feller. Get that, do you? Then look the
other way!" said Lef angrily.
"More than likely it was some fellows from Clifford," remarked a voice.
"Hello! Frank, that you? Wondered why you didn't show up before," cried
Paul.
Frank was keeping watch of Lef. He felt sure that he had seen a shade
of bitter disappointment cross the face of the other.
"He's the one who put those benches across our walk. He wanted to trip
me up if I dashed out in a hurry, and perhaps hurt myself badly. But
how did Lef know there would be an alarm? Is he responsible for this
nasty job here?"
That was what Frank was saying to himself. It was an unpleasant
thought, and he did not want to believe it. Lef had been guilty of many
mad pranks, but it did not seem possible that he would let his private
grudge against a schoolmate urge him on to such a criminal deed as this
burning of the boathouse.
And so Frank was sincere when he declared that he firmly believed some
outsiders who were interested in heavy wagers made against Columbia
winning the boat races, were responsible for the outrage.
Still, the fact of Lef arranging that trap before the door of the Allen
house puzzled him. Why should the other have any idea that there might
be an alarm during the night, that would bring Frank from his home in
great haste?
Only by the greatest of luck had Frank escaped serious injury when he
plunged headlong over the obstruction. Several slight contusions on his
shoulder and shins were apt to remind him of his adventure for some
little time to come.
A seething crowd had gathered around by this time. Excited voices arose
on every hand, commenting bitterly on the contemptible nature of the
recent attempt to keep Columbia out of the races.
"This shows that they're afraid of us!" exclaimed one boy, angrily.
"Hold on, Cart, don't go to accusing the boys of Clifford or Bellport
High for such a low-down trick as this," said Frank, quickly.
"What! don't you think they did it, Frank?" queried the other, in
astonishment.
"I do not. I know most of the fellows in their athletic associations,
and they're not the kind to crawl down to anything like this. If it
wasn't done by some Columbia reptiles then you can lay it to that
element always making wagers on our games. This ought to settle them
with all good citizens," replied Frank.
"It sure will. The sooner we're rid of that gang the better all around.
To win money they'd even try to bribe some poor chap to throw a game.
Here's Chief Hogg come to ask questions, and make an investigation.
Buster, toe the mark, and tell him everything."
It was deemed advisable to put a police guard over the building after
that, and there were some who declared such a thing should have been
done in the beginning.
Buster and Bones were allowed a chance to go home in order to secure
some sleep. On the way the former gave his private opinion of a fellow
who would keep such a lax watch that a window could be opened, and an
intruder prowl about the premises without discovery until the sudden
alarm of the clock startled him.
"Don't think I was off more than a minute," grumbled Bones, in self
defense; "and even if we'd been awake it wouldn't have stopped them
from piling up that stuff on the outside, and setting fire to it. You
just keep mum on that subject, Buster. I did the best I could to help
you out, because I knew you was afraid to stay there alone, after
reading all them ghost stories."
Buster wisely decided that perhaps it would be best to let the matter
drop, especially since after all no great damage had been done, as none
of the boats were injured in the least.
"I wish I knew who that fellow was I knocked into that hole!" remarked
Buster, for the tenth time, as they walked toward home at three
o'clock in the morning.
"You never will. He slipped away in the crowd. But what was he doing
_inside_ the boathouse while the others were building that fire
outside?" queried Bones.
"I was thinking that perhaps he wanted to make sure nobody was inside.
It was bad enough to burn the boats; but they didn't want to hurt some
of us fellows. But anyhow, I soaked him a good one, and that tickles me
some!" laughed Buster.