A RESCUE ON THE LAKE
"Andy's overboard!"
"Grab him, somebody!"
"Wow! what is this anyway--a bombardment?"
Such were the cries coming from the three Rovers when they saw the
luckless Andy lose his balance and go over into the lake with a
splash.
"It's fire coming down! We've got to get out of this!" cried Fred, a
few seconds later.
The youngest of the Rovers was right. It was indeed a rain of fire
that had suddenly descended upon them through the pall of
yellowish-black smoke. It was falling into the boat and on their
persons. Where it struck the lake it sent out a curious hissing sound.
"Come--let us get Andy aboard again and row out of this as quickly as
possible!" gasped Jack.
Andy had disappeared from view, but only for a few seconds. He came
up, thrashing around wildly, for he had been almost stunned by the
thing which had struck him, a block of wood carried up from the
ammunition plant by one of the explosions.
"Steady, Andy, steady! We'll save you!" called out his twin, and as
Fred and Jack sent the rowboat in the luckless one's direction, Randy
bent over and grabbed his brother by the hand. Then, taking care that
the craft should not tip over, Fred and Randy pulled Andy aboard.
"Are you much hurt?" questioned Randy anxiously.
"I--I don't know," was the gasped-out reply. "I--I don't think so,
though. What did you slam me in the back for?" Andy demanded of Jack,
who had been behind him.
"I didn't hit you. It was a block of wood which came sailing over from
the ammunition factory," was the quick reply. "Come on--we've got to
get out of here, or the first thing you know we'll be on fire."
"Better wet your clothing," said Andy. "It may help a whole lot."
This was good advice, and the others lost no time in filling their
baseball caps with water, which they sprinkled over their shoulders
and the other portions of their baseball outfits. They also wet down
the bow and stern seats of the rowboat. Then they grabbed up their
oars and commenced to row up the lake, trying to get out of the range
of both the fire and the smoke.
"Here is what the fire consists of," declared Fred presently, when he
caught a whisp of it on his arm. "It's nothing but oil-soaked waste.
They must have had a whole lot of it at that plant, and one of the
explosions sent it high into the air and scattered it in every
direction."
The boys continued on their way for a few minutes, and then ran into
another cloud of smoke. This was of a peculiar bluish-green cast, and
seemed so sulphurous they were nearly choked by it.
"Listen!" burst out Andy. "I think I heard somebody calling."
He held up one hand for silence, and all listened attentively. In
spite of the roaring of the flames, which were now devouring several
of the buildings at the shell-loading plant, and the continual popping
of some of the smaller shells, all heard a frantic cry for assistance.
"It's somebody calling for help!"
"Where is he?"
"I think the cry came from over yonder," said Jack, in answer to the
latter question. "Let's pull over there and see."
All were willing, and the four once more bent to their oars, sending
the rowboat through the bluish-green smoke, which almost choked and
blinded them.
"Hello there!" yelled Fred. "Where are you?"
"Help! Help!" came the cry from off to their left. "Help! Save me!"
The rowboat was turned in that direction, and a few seconds later the
Rover boys caught sight through the smoke of a water-logged rowboat to
which an elderly man, dressed in the garb of a workman, was clinging.
"Help me! Help me! I can't hang on much longer!" gasped the man, as
soon as he saw the boys.
"Sure, we'll help you," declared Jack. "Go slow now," he cautioned his
cousins. "We don't want to knock him off into the water."
With care the rowboat was brought around so that they came up
alongside of the elderly man. He was glad enough to turn from his
water-logged craft to the other boat. But he was well-nigh exhausted,
and the Rovers had not a little trouble in getting him on board.
"Tell you what--I'm mighty glad you lads came along," panted the old
man, when he was safe. "I couldn't have held out much longer. This is
something terrible, ain't it? Say, would you mind hooking that boat
fast and pulling it to shore? It belongs to me, and I ain't so
wealthy that I can afford to lose it. Besides, it's got some of my
things in it."
"We'll take it along unless it keeps us back too much," answered Jack.
And then he bent down, got hold of the bowline of the craft, and tied
it fast to their stern. Fortunately the other boat was a small one, so
they had not much difficulty in towing it along.
"I'm a dockman over at the ammunition factory," explained the old man.
"And when things began to go off I thought it was high time to get
out. I tried to save a few of my things and dumped 'em into my boat
and began to pull for the shore. But then one of the big explosions
went off, and I got caught in a lot of smoke and a rain of I don't
know what, and was nearly rendered senseless. When I came to, I had
drifted along to near where you found me. Something must have hit the
boat and gone through the bottom, for she was filling with water fast.
Then she tipped, and I went overboard. I can't swim very well, and
that confounded smoke got in my lungs, and I thought sure I would be a
goner. You boys certainly came in the nick of time."
"And we are glad of it," declared Fred, and the others nodded in
approval.
The elderly man said that his name was Jed Kessler, and that he lived
on the outskirts of Haven Point. He knew very little about Colby
Hall, however, for previous to being employed by the Hasley Shell
Loading Company he had worked around the docks at Hixley, at one end
of the lake. So much the boys learned from him when they had rowed out
of the pall of smoke and the rain of fire and could breathe freely and
in comfort.
"Have you any idea what started that fire?" questioned Jack, when they
were headed for one of the docks at Haven Point.
"I've got my idea, yes. But I don't know whether it's correct or not,"
replied Jed Kessler. "Of course, any kind of a slight accident in a
place like that might set things to going. But I know one thing, and
that is very important, I think."
"What is that?" questioned Randy.
"The first explosion took place down the railroad track, in one of the
cars loaded with shells, while the second explosion, which came less
than half a minute later, occurred in one of the supply houses."
"Was the supply house near the car where the first explosion
happened?" queried Jack.
"No. The two places are at least five hundred feet apart."
"In that case, it isn't likely that the first explosion brought on
the second, is it?" questioned Andy.
"It didn't!" was the prompt answer. "Those two explosions had nothing
to do with each other--except in one way,--and that is that they were
both started by the same person or persons," declared Jed Kessler
emphatically.
"Gee! do you suppose there were German spies around?" ejaculated
Randy.
"I am sure there were," went on the old dockman.
"But I supposed your guards kept all strangers away from the plant,"
said Jack.
"They were supposed to. But you know how it is. Those fellows aren't
on the watch all the time. They get tired of their job, and sometimes
they take it easy. Besides that, it is rather easy to reach the plant
from the water front, and it is almost equally easy to come down
through the woods on the hill behind the place. Of course, we've got a
big wire fence up all around, but it doesn't take much to go through
that if a fellow has a good pair of wire cutters."
"Did you ever see anybody suspicious?"
"Lots of times. But, of course, most of the people who looked
suspicious proved to be nothing but men who had an idle curiosity
regarding the plant. But I saw some fellows around there two weeks
ago and again a couple of days ago, and they looked mighty suspicious
to me. They were a couple of heavy-set looking fellows, with strong
German faces, and I heard 'em at a distance talking in a language that
I'm pretty sure was German."
"Why didn't you report this to the guard?"
"I did. But they were a lot of fresh young fellows, and they only
laughed at me and said I was too suspicious," grumbled Jed Kessler.
"But that is where I made a mistake. I should have gone right to the
offices and reported to the head boss."
"Do you suppose you'd know those fellows again if you saw them?"
questioned Jack.
"I think I would--although I'm not sure. They were both fellows with
heavy black hair and heavy black beards, and one of them walked with
his right foot kind of turned out."
"You certainly ought to report this as soon as possible," declared the
oldest Rover boy. "It may furnish the authorities with an important
clue. If I were you, I would get into communication with one of your
bosses without delay."
Leaving the old man and his rowboat at the dock, the four Rovers rowed
up the lake once more in the direction of the Clearwater Hall
boathouse. By this time the explosions at the shell-loading plant had
practically ceased, and only a small amount of smoke was now coming
from the ruins.
When the Rovers arrived at the boathouse connected with the girls'
school, they found that Mary and Martha had come down to the place,
accompanied by a number of the other girls. All had heard that the
Rovers had taken the rowboat, and were wondering if the lads were
safe.
"You've given us a terrible scare," declared Martha to her brother.
"You shouldn't have taken such a risk!"
"Well, it was worth while," answered Fred, and then told of the rescue
of Jed Kessler.
"Well, we've had a surprise since you went away," said Ruth Stevenson
presently.
"A thoroughly disagreeable surprise, too," added May Powell. "You'll
never guess who was here only a few minutes ago!"
"Some of our folks from New York?" questioned Jack quickly.
"No such luck," answered his sister.
"They were two persons we didn't care to see," said Ruth. "They were
Slugger Brown and Nappy Martell!"