A CALL FOR HELP
"WHAT'S this mean?" Elmer heard George saying, which proved that the
other had also discovered Conrad's presence. "I reckon that must be your
Boy Wonder with the fiddle and the bow, Elmer. Now, whatever brought him
away over here to visit us, do you think? Perhaps his folks don't know
that scouts are at home in the woods, no matter what sort of gay storm
crops up. Mebbe now they were afraid some of us had suffered. Well, it
was nice of them to send a messenger, anyhow."
But Elmer was disposed to view the matter differently. He could see that
there was a look of considerable apprehension visible on the peaked face
of Conrad. Elmer scented some kind of trouble at once. The boy had
sought them out, possibly sent with a message by his mother.
Lil Artha had entirely suspended operations with the pelt which he had
been engaged in fastening to a crude but effective stretching board,
fashioned after the directions he had received from the old scientist
and trapper some of the boys had visited a while before.[B]
Lil Artha loved good music, in which he differed from George. Hence he
had felt considerable interest in all Elmer told them about Conrad being
the direct descendant of the famous violinist, Ovid Anderson, of whom he
had often heard. He was in truth quite eager himself to hear the child
play, though ready to take Elmer's word for it that Conrad was the
possessor of wonderful genius.
As Elmer hastened toward the spot Lil Artha looked around and discovered
him.
"Hi! here's your young friend come to hunt you up, Elmer!" he called
out. "He is just telling me that his mother sent him. I hope now there's
nothing gone wrong over at their place. If we can do anything, of course
we'd be only too willing."
The boy shot him a look of gratitude at hearing Lil Artha say this. Then
he turned eagerly toward Elmer.
"Mother sent me over to see you," he went on to say in a voice that
quivered a little despite his manly effort to control his feelings.
"I hope she isn't sick, Conrad?" ventured the scout-master, anxiously.
"No, it's father," the boy said after he had gulped several times. "You
see, he hasn't come home; and we're so afraid something dreadful has
happened to him."
Elmer looked doubly concerned.
"Do you mean he was away from home during that awful storm last night?"
he went on to ask.
The other nodded his head, and then managed to explain further. Even the
proximity of Elmer seemed to have already done him much good; for there
was a certain atmosphere connected with the resolute scout-leader that
inspired the utmost confidence.
"He started to go to the lake that is farthest away, for there are two
small ones, you may not know," Conrad explained. "He had some set lines
there that needed attention, and we wanted the fish for eating, too. But
father backed out once, for he said he had wrenched his leg and felt a
little lame. But in the end he decided to start, though mother didn't
just like him to go."
"About what time was that, Conrad?" asked Elmer, in his methodical way,
eager to grasp the full details so he could figure out the answer.
"Just about an hour before the storm came along," the boy told him.
"Father said he believed it would hold off long enough for him to get
there and back, but his leg must have kept him from walking as fast as
he generally does. So the storm broke, and we kept watching through the
window when we could see anything, for the rain and the flying leaves.
But night came, and oh! what a night we had, mother and I. It never
seemed to end. I did fall asleep somehow, but I don't believe she once
shut her eyes--poor mother."
Elmer was fearful of the worst. A sturdy man like Jem Shock, accustomed
to buffeting the rough storms to be met with in the woods of a summer,
was not likely to stay away from those he loved unless something
terrible had happened to him. Elmer shivered as he remembered those
dreadful crashes in the depth of the forest, each signaling the collapse
of some mighty tree that had breasted the gales of a century, perhaps,
only to meet its fate in the end.
"And then your mother thought we might help find your father, did she?"
asked the sympathetic Lil Artha; while the others crowded around,
listening with white faces to the conversation; for even the two
tenderfeet could realize how serious the conditions must prove to be.
"Yes, that is why I am here," said the manly little fellow, whose
correct manner of speech astonished Lil Artha, himself apt to be more or
less "slangy," and even ungrammatical, in his careless boyish way. "She
knew of no one else close by to turn to; and Elmer was so kind, she
said. Oh! please come with me, and help find father. We are afraid that
he was caught under one of the falling trees; or he may have tripped in
the darkness, with that lame leg giving way under him, and fallen into
some terrible hole."
Elmer's mind was of course made up on the instant. Indeed, such an
appeal never came to a scout camp without being immediately accepted;
for every fellow who so proudly wears the khaki has it implanted in his
heart that he must eagerly grasp such golden opportunities to prove his
worth, and be of assistance to those who are in distress.
Elmer knew, too, that he could depend on his comrades to back him up.
Lil Artha, of course, must go along, for the tall scout's excellence as
a tracker was well known, and this might come in very handy before their
end was accomplished.
Then it would be of more or less benefit to the tenderfeet to have a
share in his rescue work; Elmer hailed the opportunity to increase their
fund of woodcraft knowledge with eagerness. They could pick up more
valuable points through practical experience than by means of any books
or technical advice.
As for George, he must stay by the camp. Elmer remembered just then that
George had been limping, more or less, and complained of having stubbed
his toe since breakfast. Then it would be best for him not to walk so
far, or he might be lamed for the balance of their stay in camp.
The scout-master quickly explained his plan of campaign. George, of
course, frowned at first, and took on the look of a martyr; but then
that was his customary way, and Elmer paid very little attention to it
except to say that "a stitch in time saves nine"; and that George might
thank his lucky stars he did not _have_ to go along, but could rest
himself, and let that injured foot have a chance to get well again.
Conrad was wild for them to get started, and so Elmer lost as little
time as possible. Before he went, however, he made sure to carry along
with him several things he thought might be needed in case they found
Jem with a broken leg--he only hoped it would be no worse than that, for
many a man had had his back broken by the fall of a tree.
"Lil Artha, be sure not to forget the camp ax," he called out.
Of course that excited the curiosity of the two greenhorns, and seeing
the look of bewilderment which they exchanged, Elmer took occasion to
explain just a little.
"If Jem has been badly hurt in any way, and lies several miles away from
home," Elmer told them, "we would want to make some sort of stretcher so
as to carry him back to his cabin. A hatchet or an ax is indispensable
under such conditions; and you may have a chance to see just how it's
done."
George saw them go away with a wry face, for he did not like to be
cheated out of any pleasure; still, when he stepped around and found how
his foot hurt if he made any unusual exertion, he must have realized on
second thoughts that Elmer knew best.
Elmer had an idea at first of getting Conrad to head toward home, when
they were well upon the trail leading toward the lake, and which the boy
had said he could show them. Upon suggesting such a thing, however, he
immediately met with a prompt refusal.
"No, mother told me to take you to the second lake, and I shall," Conrad
said firmly. "Oh! I can stand much more than you would believe; I am
stronger than I look. And I have been over the trail with father, many
times. What does a few miles matter when father may be lying there, and
suffering terribly? Besides, mother depends on me to take you there.
What if you went alone and could not find it, for, you see, it is hidden
in the woods, and not at all easy to see if you haven't been over the
trail before. He might lie there for hours if that happened. So I must
go."
Of course that settled it. Elmer could not have the heart to deny the
lad the privilege he demanded. Besides, he knew that on the whole it
would be much better for them to have some one along who was acquainted
with the lay of the land. They might go astray, experienced though two
of them were in the secrets of woodcraft; for confusing trails might
deceive them, especially after the storm had washed away Jem's late
footprints.
And so they hurried along. Little Conrad walked as though eager to even
run; and more than once Elmer had to restrain the anxious lad. He saw
that Conrad was worked up to a feverish pitch that was not good for him;
and accordingly Elmer made it his business to try and reassure the
little fellow.
"Depend on it we'll find your father, Conrad," he went on to say in that
steady tone of his that carried weight, and could soothe even the most
troubled breast like "balm of Gilead," as Lil Artha slily told Rufus,
trotting along at his side. "And the chances are a broken leg will be
the extent of his injuries. Why, he may not even be so badly off as
that, you know. Perhaps he was called on to help some other unfortunate
family in that storm, and has been held up on that account."
But Conrad sadly shook his wise little head. He knew Elmer only meant to
encourage him; and that even he could have little hope such a strange
thing had happened.
"Oh! I'd like to believe that, Elmer," he said, with half a sob, "but
there is no other family near enough for such a thing to happen. But I'm
still hoping for the best. Mother told me to keep thinking that way. She
will not believe he could be taken away from us while we need him so
much. Yes, we must find him, poor, poor father!"
All this while they were heading in a certain direction that Elmer knew
would, in due time, unless they changed their course, take them to the
cabin in the clearing, where he had met Conrad's father and mother.
Just as he expected, however, eventually the boy brought them to a halt.
"See," he called out, as he pointed ahead, "there is where the trail
lies. One way is home, the other the first lake, with the second one
farther away. Now we must keep right on, and listen as we go. I shall
call out, too, ever so often, for if he hears my voice and can answer he
will let us know where he lies."
As they started to follow what was a plain trail, every one had his
senses on the alert, expecting to make some sort of discovery sooner or
later. Rufus and the other tenderfoot scout were very much excited. It
was their first experience on missionary work, and it gripped their
hearts with an intensity they may never have felt before.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote B: See "The Hickory Ridge Boy Scouts Storm-Bound."]