The blood of the Clanworthys rose in his veins. The Pass lay before
him--so did the Bridge. A full suit of dove-colored pajamas and a pair
of turned-up Turkish slippers was not exactly the kind of uniform that
either Leonidas or Horatius would have chosen to fight his way to
glory, but there was no time to change them.
With a whoop to Bender, who had really begun to believe in him, and a
commanding order to Jackson, the three stripped the costly Turkish rugs
from the lounges, and blankets from the beds, and, following his lead,
dashed through the woods to the relief of the endangered pile of
lumber. On the way they passed a gang of Canucks, carrying buckets. It
was but the work of a moment to arrange these into a posse of relays
with Bender on the lake end of the line and Jackson next the pile, the
gang passing the buckets from hand to hand.
This done Muggles snatched a ladder from an adjacent building, threw it
against the threatened lumber, skipped up its rungs like a squirrel and
stood in silhouette against the flaring blaze, his dove-gray flannels
flapping about his thin legs, his attenuated arms gyrating orders to
the relief party, who had spread the rugs and blankets on the
fire-endangered side of the pile of lumber and who were now soaking
them with water under Muggles's direction. Now and then, as some part
of the burning mass would collapse, a shower of sparks and smoke would
obscure Muggles; then he could be seen brushing the live coals from his
pajamas, darting here and there, shouting: "More water! More water!
Here, on this end! All together now!" fighting his way with hand raised
to keep the heat from blistering his face, a very Casabianca on the
burning deck.
Soon the tongues of flame mounting skyward grew less in number; columns
of black smoke took the place of the shower of sparks; the light
flickering on the frightened tree-trunks began to pale; from the rugs
and blankets the hot steam no longer rose in clouds. The crisis had
passed! The pile was saved! Muggles had won!
During all this time neither Monteith nor the big lumber-boss had put
in an appearance; nor had Podvine nor little Billy Salters lent a hand.
Bender had stuck to his post and so had Jackson, oblivious of the
whereabouts of any other member of the coterie except Muggles, whose
clothespin of a figure came into relief now and then against the flare
of the flames. Then Bender made his way back to the bungalow.
The last man to leave the deck was Muggles.
Backing slowly down the ladder one rung at a time, his face blistered,
his pajamas burnt into holes, he examined the surrounding lumber; saw
that all his orders had been carried out, gave some parting
instructions to the men to watch out for sparks, especially those
around the edge of the saved pile, and then slowly, and with great
dignity, made his way to the bungalow--his destiny fulfilled, his honor
maintained and his position assured among his fellows. He had now only
to await the plaudits of his comrades!
As he pushed open the door and looked about him the color rose in his
cheeks and a kind of a hotness came from inside his pajamas. Grouped
about the low table, heaped with specimens of cut glass, a squatty
bottle, a siphon and a bowl of cracked ice, sat every member of the
coterie--Bender among them--Monteith in the easy chair at their head.
If any other occupation had engrossed their attention since the alarm
sounded there was no evidence of it either in their appearance or in
the tones of their voices.
"Lo, the Conquering Hero," broke out Podvine. "Get up Billy and put a
wreath of laurel over his scorched and blistered brow."
Muggles, for a moment, did not reply. The shock had taken his breath
away. He supposed every man had worked himself into exhaustion. The
only thing that had really dimmed his own triumph was the fear that on
reaching the bungalow he might find the blackened remains of one or
more of his comrades stretched out on the floor.
"Didn't you fellows try to save anything?" he exploded.
"Wasn't anything to save--mill was in no danger."
"Why, the whole place would have gone if I hadn't--"
"You're quite right, Muggles," said Monteith. "Let up on him, boys. You
worked like a beaver, old man. Sorry about the rugs--one was an old
Bokhara--but that's all right--of course you didn't stop to think."
"Well, but, Monteith--what's a rug or two when you have to save a pile
of--what's the lumber worth, anyhow?"
"Oh, well, never mind--let it go, old man."
Bender, who was still soaking wet from splashing buckets, and since his
return to the bungalow had been boiling mad clear through, sprang to
his feet.
"I'll tell you--I've just found out. As the pile now stands it's worth
four thousand dollars. If it had burned up it would have been worth
six. It's insured, you goat!"