THE WELCOME SIGHT—CONCLUSION.
Hugh shut his teeth together with a snap, as though his mind had been
suddenly made up.
Billy knew that there would be no shirking, for when the leader of the
Wolf Patrol saw his duty clear before him he never allowed anything to
stand between himself and its accomplishment.
“Come, you must show me that identical shack, Billy,” he announced.
“But hold on, Hugh,” hoarsely whispered the other, “if some of those men
saw us go in there they’d believe we were connected with the detective
squad, and trying to get them sent to prison. Why, they’d be furious
enough to murder us.”
Hugh realized that there was indeed need of caution. These ignorant and
explosive foreigners could not be reasoned with by one who was
unacquainted with their language. There may be times when signs will not
answer to cool the heated blood of men driven to extremes by what they
feel to be a gross injustice.
“Billy, you’re right, and we must first of all get the old padrone to
accompany us. If, as you seem to fear, those things turn out to be real
bombs, then his are the hands that must put them in water so as to
forever destroy their destructive properties. Come along with me,
Billy.”
It was not difficult to find the padrone, for he was hovering near where
the men were groaning, with Arthur and an assistant doing all they could
to ease their sufferings.
Hugh managed to explain, partly through signs, that he wanted the
padrone to go with him. After that Billy led the way straight to the
rude shack he had by accident entered, and in which he had found such
suspicious things being made.
As soon as Hugh set his eyes on the three-foot sections of old gaspipe
he knew Billy had sensed the truth. One of the bombs was apparently
ready for use. It had a short fuse at one end, and looked terribly
suggestive.
“You see what some of your men have been thinking of doing,” Hugh said
to the old padrone, as he held up this iron bomb.
The other showed all the signs of being both astonished and angry. Billy
wondered if such an enterprise could have been going on all this time in
the settlement and one so wise as the padrone not know it.
“It is bad biz!” the padrone said in a husky voice, as he, too, picked
up one of the metal tubes and examined it; “some of my men they be near
crazy with mad. When they see the children cry for be hungry they no
care what they do to get what you call even. It is the strike-breaker
they hate, you understan’.”
“But this will never do, padrone,” said the scout master. “Once they
start to using bombs and they lose the sympathy of the community. You
understand what that means. If your men even hope to win this strike
they must be held in and kept from violence. So far it has all been on
the other side, and that is going to gain you many friends. The owner of
the works will find that he has to call it off and give you living
wages. Do you understand that?”
The padrone nodded his head violently.
“Whatever you tell me that will I do, for I know you scouts ver’ good
friend to the workingman,” he hastened to say.
“All right,” Hugh told him promptly, “then first of all get a bucket of
water, and soak every one of these things in it so as to render them
harmless.”
“Here’s just what you want, right in this corner,” remarked Billy,
pointing to a half barrel used as a tub, and which was more than
two-thirds full of suspicious looking water, but which could be made
useful to “pull the teeth” of the dangerous bombs.
The padrone not only dumped the gaspipe infernal machines in the tub but
followed with every article connected with their manufacture that he
could lay hands on.
“Now, tell what you want me do next?” he asked Hugh, as though he meant
to leave no stone unturned in order to follow out the orders of this
energetic young Boy Scout whose coming with his comrades had meant so
much for the people under his care.
“You know who the men are who have been doing this black work, padrone?”
Hugh asserted, looking the old man straight in the eye.
For a few seconds the old man wavered, and then unconditionally
surrendered.
“Si, young sigñor, I know,” he admitted.
“All right, padrone,” said Hugh, sternly; “I want you to go and find
them, and make them swear that there shall be no more of this sort of
black work. Everything depends on how you manage to control your people
through this crisis. You will win, if you get them to behave.”
“I will promise it shall be so,” said the old man, hurrying away.
Hugh and Billy returned to where they had been standing at the time the
latter made his astonishing disclosure that had resulted in their
action; and they could see the padrone talking earnestly to some of the
men.
Just then Arthur called to Hugh to come and give him his advice about
something he was doing in connection with one of the men, who had
finally consented to have his injured shoulder treated. Up to that time
he had stubbornly held out, and seemed to be suspicious of these boys,
as though he feared that they would not do the right thing. The extreme
pain, however, had finally brought him around, or else the wise old
padrone had told him he was taking many more chances by waiting than he
would in having his wound dressed, even by amateur surgeons.
From one thing they went to another, so that they were kept constantly
busy. In the midst of it all, Billy discovered a woman carrying a sick
child straight to where Hugh and Arthur were engaged.
“There’s a compliment for you fellows, and a feather in your caps,” he
told the others. “At first they were afraid you didn’t know the first
principles of surgery, and they’ve been watching you like hawks. Now the
women are running to fetch any sick kids they may happen to have at
home, for the wonderful doctors to examine and prescribe for. Look
solemn now when you make your diagnosis, fellows; you’re making
reputations that are bound to go ringing down the ages. Doctor Blake and
Doctor Cameron of the Boy Scouts of Oakvale to the front. Here she is.
Now, listen to the poor mother chatter like a poll-parrot, would you?”
Even if they could not understand one word she said, there was no
difficulty whatever in knowing what the woman wanted. She held out the
sick child, and there was a beseeching look on her face.
Hugh hardly knew what to do, but he had common-sense in plenty, and
urged on by the confident Billy, he proceeded to take a professional
look at the youngster. Then he nodded toward Arthur, as though he
fancied that two heads would be better than one in a case like this.
“I’d be on the safe side in saying that it’s eaten something that
doesn’t agree with it,” ventured Doctor Blake, solemnly.
“Just my idea to a fraction,” added the second amateur physician.
Upon that Hugh opened his little medicine kit, and taking out a phial
proceeded to fix up a remedy which he knew was excellent for cramps and
indigestion. It would do no harm, that he knew for a fact, and there was
a fair chance of its taking effect. It certainly pleased the anxious
mother, and she went away with a satisfied look on her swarthy face.
“If that ambulance does come along,” said Hugh, with a whimsical look at
his fellow-worker, “we’ll get the doctor to take a look at the child so
as to make a sure thing of it.”
“No need,” sang out Billy, blithely; “it began getting better right away
after its maw got it to take that remedy. Why, you fellows must be
wizards, that’s what. Whenever I get sick again, I’m going to insist on
having _you_ attend me. And that’s praise not many doctors ever get, let
me tell you.”
An hour had gone by since Ralph returned with the news that he had heard
the telegraph operator at the station send the message to Farmingdale.
Still there was no sign of anything happening, nor for that matter had
the authorities of the county taken a hand in the matter.
The guards still walked the platform back of the heavy stockade, and the
sunlight glinted from the polished barrels of their guns as they moved
to and fro. In the foreign settlement there were more or less ominous
gatherings, and the scouts began to grow a little uneasy when they saw
how furious the men were becoming under the lash of the tongues of the
women.
“There’ll be more trouble around here before long unless the right kind
of officers are sent to keep order,” said Billy to Hugh, as they hurried
from one patient to another, so as to keep up the good work.
“What makes you say that, Billy?” demanded the other, uneasily.
“Well, they’ve got some old shotguns and the like, and they’re talking
things over now in little bunches!” Billy declared. “Whenever the old
padrone comes around they hide these things, and let on that they’re not
plotting mischief; but before night gets here they’ll make an attack on
that stockade, unless the officers come up before, or something else
happens.”
“The trouble is they keep seeing all these injured people,” complained
Arthur.
“There is a whole lot in that,” admitted Hugh. “If only we could get
them away somewhere, it might be easier to handle the mob.”
“Hugh, as sure as you live there’s a cloud of dust up the road there!”
exclaimed Ralph Kenyon, joyously.
Every eye was instantly turned in that direction, for all of the scouts
realized that it meant a great deal, not only to them but for the future
peace of the community that something occurred to make these ignorant
foreigners understand they were not objects of indifference in the eyes
of the authorities, who would permit them to be shot down like dogs and
never interpose a hand to prevent the deed or punish the aggressors.
Ten seconds later a cheer broke forth from the six khaki-clad boys as
they saw a motor ambulance bearing the magical red cross on its side,
swinging around the bend of the road that led toward distant
Farmingdale. On the front seat with the chauffeur was a man dressed in
white clothes, who had a badge around his arm, doubtless bearing the
insignia of his calling; and further back in the commodious up-to-date
ambulance could be seen a couple of nurses also garbed in the snowy
dress that characterized their profession.
No wonder the weary scouts felt like throwing up their hats and shouting
with an excess of joy; for their long vigil was about to be ended, since
they could hand over all their patients to the care of these experienced
workers in the Army of Mercy.
Even the ignorant foreigners seemed to understand that the coming of the
ambulance with its Red Cross, known throughout the whole world, meant a
new chance of life and hope for the sufferers.
There was no cheering on their part, for their hearts were heavy with
the dismal outlook confronting them; but some of the black looks began
to give way to a feeling of confidence that the worst was over.
It was the coming of Hugh and his fellow scouts on the scene, as the
wise old padrone knew very well, that had started the scales to moving
in their favor.
If you have been interested in following the adventures of Hugh and his
comrades as detailed in these pages, and would know more about their
further activities, it is easily possible to do so by purchasing the
next volume of this series, now on sale everywhere, under the title of
“The Boy Scouts and the Red Cross.”
THE END.
Transcriber’s Notes
--Copyright notice provided as in the original—this e-text is public
domain in the country of publication.
--Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and
dialect unchanged.
--In the text versions, delimited italics text in _underscores_ (the
HTML version reproduces the font form of the printed book.)