SHOWING THEIR METTLE.
"OH, thay, can't we do anything to thave him?"
It was, of course, Ted, with his lisp, who said this. He had come up
while the others were talking, and seemed to understand the situation;
perhaps he had even witnessed the strange dash of Ty Collins into the
burning farmhouse.
Elmer shook his head in the negative, as he replied:
"You see, the smoke is so heavy that even if one of us did go in, the
chances are he'd never be able to find Ty. We'll have to let him alone.
Ty has a long head on him, and generally knows what he's doing. Let's
work away here as fast as they fetch us the full buckets, and hope our
chum will get out again. Here, hand me that pail, Ted; and get busy,
Landy. No time to be staring around."
Landy seemed to be half stunned because of the queer actions of the
scout who had entered the house. He was standing there looking up at the
row of windows, out of which the smoke curled and eddied, as though he
expected an answer to the puzzling question there.
But the energy of the patrol leader influenced him; and taking the
bucket that had reached the end of the line of men and women, he
hastened to dash its contents in the spot Elmer indicated.
The boys were all showing more or less signs of exhaustion by this time,
owing to the terrific heat, caused by the stickiness of the weather, and
the influence of the fire. But not one of them gave any indication of
showing the white feather. They seemed to feel that the honor of the
scouts was involved in this fight for the farmer's home; and with set
teeth they continued to ply the water.
"We're gaining a little all the time, fellows!" exclaimed Elmer, meaning
to bolster up the courage of both Ted and Landy; though often he would
cast an anxious eye up at those mute windows, as though beginning to
fear that the missing chum would never again appear.
"Yeth," said Ted, dolefully, "but every time we leave a plathe to go to
a new one, the fire tharth out again freth ath a daithy. If only a lot
more men would come to help uth out, we might get it under."
"We will do it, boys, just make up your minds to that," gasped Elmer, as
he once more gripped a big stable bucket and started back to the window
through which he expected to hurl the contents. "We've got the grit to
stick to the job to the bitter end, and grit wins the day every time.
Hurry up there with that other pail; and tell them to find some more, if
they can. Anything will do that can hold water. We've just _got_ to put
this thing out! That's the way, Landy; you did a good job that time!"
Those words of praise did more to inspire new faith and confidence in
the heart of the almost exhausted fat boy than anything else could have
done. He seemed to pluck up fresh courage, braced himself to his task,
and even grinned at Elmer, although it was a sickly attempt at a smile.
Landy was, indeed, a sight just then. He was wet to the skin with
perspiration and spilled water from the creek. Besides, his usually
jolly face was streaked with a series of queer marks, where the black
smoke had found lodgment, and been ground in every time he drew his
sleeve across his smarting eyes.
But then the others were little better off, though possibly they did not
feel the terrible heat quite so much as the stout youth. Regardless of
the damage to their clothes they labored faithfully on, determined that
the Hickory Ridge troop was bound to receive new honor because of what
they did at the Brady fire.
Seconds had merged into minutes, and Elmer's anxiety grew to an alarming
extent. What if poor Ty had, indeed, fallen in the midst of that smoke
and was lying there now in the house helpless?
It was a terrible thought, and made him shiver, even though at the time
he was also burning with the heat. Suffocation was just as bad as the
fire itself; and Elmer began to argue with himself that perhaps it was
his sacred duty to rush into the house in the endeavor to find Ty.
He looked at Landy and Ted with almost pity in his eyes, and yet at that
moment the young patrol leader was proud of his chums. Never had there
been a test of endurance where the stake meant so much. If they could
save the Brady home surely that were far better than any prize which
might have fallen to their prowess because of a great hike, or a
swimming distance match!
Suddenly he heard Landy give a shrill yell.
"There he is, Elmer! Hurrah for Ty!"
The fat boy was pointing a trembling finger upward; and following its
general direction Elmer saw a head thrust forth from a certain window in
the second story.
Ty did not seem disposed to pay the slightest attention to his chums,
though the three of them stood there waving their hands and shouting. He
was beckoning wildly to the little girl who had been standing near by
all the while, with her eager eyes riveted on the window above, just as
though she expected a miracle to be wrought in her favor.
When Ty's head poked into view as through a curtain, for eddies of smoke
were all around the scout, the child began to dance up and down, and
clap her hands. At that moment Ty Collins came nearer to being a real
hero in the eyes of a girl than ever before in all his life.
"Come closer!" he shouted, and as she did so, he continued: "Where did
you say Bennie was, up here? Is this the room?"
"Yes, yes," she replied, nodding her head at the same time, as if in
fear lest he might not hear her childish voice in the midst of so much
noise, with women calling, and newcomers asking questions as they
reached the scene.
"Where did you leave him?" demanded the intrepid rescuer.
"Over in the corner--the box on the floor--Bennie was naughty, and he
had to be punished!" she cried at the top of her shrill voice.
Ty immediately disappeared, while his three chums below waited with
astonishment written on their faces, not knowing what it all meant.
"Did you hear that, Elmer?" demanded Landy, plucking at the wet sleeve
of the other. "She said the baby was in a box! Don't that beat the
Dutch, though? Whatever could she have been thinking of to do such a
thing?"
"It wath the thillieth ever!" declared Ted, "thtuffing a baby in a box
jutht like he wath a rag doll!"
"Hold on and see," said Elmer, who must have had some sort of suspicion
as to the true state of affairs.
All eyes were riveted on that window. Seconds passed as before, and the
boys began to get nervous again because Ty failed to appear. Had he
found the baby really smothered? Was he attempting to carry the poor
little darling down the stairs through all that dreadful smoke?
"Oh, look! look!" cried Landy.
There was no need of his saying this, because everyone near by had been
watching that window eagerly, and no doubt saw what was happening just
as quickly as the fat boy did; but then Landy was so worked up with
excitement that he could not restrain himself.
Yes, Ty was there in full sight again. This time he was leaning from the
window, and seemed to be holding something in his arms.
"Hold on there, Ty," shouted Ted, feeling a thrill of horror, as he
fancied his fellow scout must be about to heave the poor little innocent
darling from that second story window, in the hope of somebody catching
it before it could reach the ground. "Give uth a thanthe to get under
firtht."
"Yes, hold your horses, old fellow!" panted Landy, as he started forward
with outstretched arms.
But, singular to say, Ty seemed to pay little or no attention to their
demands; though Elmer was sure he could see a broad grin on the
blackened face of the one who leaned out of the window to get away from
the smoke.
"Here, take your baby, little girl!" he shouted hoarsely, as he began to
lower away on a strange rope, which Elmer decided he must have made by
tearing a sheet into long strips, and tying these together.
Something came down, foot by foot--something that struggled, and made
frantic attempts at getting free from the encircling rope.
"Wow! it's a pup!" shrieked the astonished Landy.
"Well, I do declare!" echoed Ted.
Elmer laughed aloud, as he started once more at the task of emptying
several buckets that had meanwhile arrived at the end of the human
chain. For wise Elmer had guessed the truth before the moment when the
other two made their discovery.
The little girl darted forward and snatched the small woolly dog up the
moment it touched the ground. She began to hug "Bennie" with all the
ardor of an indulgent little mistress; and, then freeing him from the
torn sheet, ran off toward the women as if to show her recovered prize
to her mother.
"Now come down yourself, Ty!" shouted Elmer. "Don't you think of going
back by way of the stairs, d'ye hear?"
Ty waved his hand. Perhaps his voice was utterly gone by this time,
thanks to the smoke and his exertions. They saw him swing out of the
window; and Elmer understood from this that at least the scout had
considerable power left in his arms and lower limbs.
Now his feet were on a little ledge that ran along the face of the house
above the lower windows. Ty had noticed that a shutter was partly open
and meant to make use of this in his descent. It was a clever idea, and
did the boy great credit in the way of judgment. A veteran fireman,
accustomed to such things, could hardly have conceived a better plan of
campaign.
Once his feet were planted on top of this, Ty gave a sudden move, and
they saw him slipping down until his ready hands caught the upper edge
of the heavy blind. After that he dropped to the ground in a heap, to
quickly stagger to his feet once more.
"Hurrah for Ty!" shouted Landy, making the high sign of fellowship in
the direction of his chum; for he was too busily engaged just then to
think of abandoning his buckets in order to rush to Ty's side so as to
shake hands with the hero of the occasion.
What if it was only a miserable little woolly pup that he had managed to
save from possible destruction; it would have been all the same had it
been the real baby that the child had given him to understand was in
peril. And Ty need never feel ashamed of his brave act. It shed new
luster on the name of the Hickory Ridge Boy Scout troop; and Elmer was
determined that when the account was written up, there should be no hint
of humor in the same that might reflect in any way on Ty's act.
Immediately Ty got busy again, and proceeded to fight the fire with
renewed vigor, though the poor fellow did look as though he had almost
reached the end of his resources. Twice did Elmer tell him to drop out,
and try to recover; but for once Ty refused to obey orders, under the
plea that, as they were not really in uniform, it was not obligatory on
his part.
"Now something is going to happen!" said Landy, as he brushed past Elmer
while warmly engaged; and at the same time he pointed across the open
space to where a party of stout farm hands had burst into view, running
as fast as they could toward the fire.
"More bucketh coming, boyth!" called Ted, who had seen that each one of
the newcomers was armed with at least one big pail; which fact proved
that they must have suspected the cause of the wild alarm before they
left home, and had provided in this wise manner against a dearth of
vessels for fighting the flames.
When those fellows got busy, hurrying up from the friendly creek, each
with a fresh supply of energy, and a pair of big buckets that were
filled to the brim with the liquid so needful in order to check the
spread of the flames, things began to look more cheerful.
"Now we've got it on the run, fellows!" cried Landy, almost hysterical
through sheer weakness, and his grim determination not to give up so
long as he could put one foot before the other.
"Thay, look at that giant bringing a wath boiler full of water at a
time!" exclaimed the delighted Ted, almost forgetting to lisp, so great
was his excitement. "When he geth thtarted, it'th good-by to the old
fire. Whoop! hear it thizzle, would you! Hit it again, mithter; it never
will be mithed! Now it'th your turn, Elmer. One, two, three, and thet
'em up again in the other alley! We win, boyth, we win!"