A STARTLING DISCLOSURE
"Let me try to save the child; it is no more than right that I should be
the one to risk his life!"
Possibly some of the men might have laid hands on the stranger and
prevented his attempting such a rash act, for with the house so filled
with smoke and flame it seemed next door to madness for any one to brave
the peril that lay in wait. He managed to elude them, however, and to
the astonishment of the three boys in particular, plunged recklessly
through the door where vast columns of smoke could be seen pouring
forth.
Apparently one of the valiant firemen might have been better fitted for
this dangerous duty than a gentleman of his calibre. Jack was tempted to
follow after the stranger, but the firemen had formed a line in front of
the entrance, and by their manner announced that no second fool would be
allowed to take his life in his hands by entering that blazing building.
Just then Mrs. Baxter came staggering up. She must have seen the little
episode, and suspected strongly that the one who had gone in was her own
boy Fred, unable to hold himself in check after learning that his poor
sister was in all probability still within the cottage.
Some of the men caught her as she was trying to rush toward the door,
holding out her arms entreatingly. The boys understood when they heard
her crying:
"Oh! why did you let him go in there? Was it not enough that I should
lose one of my children, but now I am doubly bereft! Fred, Fred, come
back to me!"
"Mother, see here I am!" called the boy, this time managing to regain
his feet, though he swayed unsteadily, and might have fallen in his
weakness only for Jack, who quickly put a sustaining arm around him.
Mrs. Badger turned swiftly and with a look of new-born joy on her
strained features. Another instant and she had darted forward and
embraced Fred. The poor woman was almost frantic with mingled emotions,
nor could any one blame her for giving way to weeping as she hugged
Fred.
"Oh! I was sure it must be you, my son, and I feared I should never see
either of you again!" she cried, passionately.
"I wanted to go, mother," he told her, soothingly, "but I couldn't stand
alone. You see, I was struck on the head and knocked out, so I'm feeling
as weak as a kitten."
"But Lucy?" wailed the poor woman.
"Try to calm yourself, mother," urged Fred, stoutly. "If she is in there
still he may yet be in time to save her, with the aid of Providence."
"But tell me who was so ready to take his own life in his hands, so as
to try and save my child for me?" she went on, almost hysterically. "Oh!
I shall never cease to remember him for a noble man in my prayers. What
neighbor could have been such a Good Samaritan to me and mine!"
"It was the stranger, Mrs. Badger!" said one of the men close by, and
Jack, as well as Toby listened eagerly for what was coming.
"Yes, a party who's been hanging around town for a week or more,
stopping at the Eureka House," added another of the citizens, who
apparently had noticed the presence of the guest in question, and even
speculated as to his object in staying so long in Chester, where there
were no special summer attractions outside of the beautiful lake near
by.
"And he seemed to have lots of money in the bargain," a third went on to
say, as he eyed the burning house as though wondering greatly why a
stranger would accept such grave risks for people whom he could never
have seen before.
"Mebbe I might throw a little light on this thing," said another man,
eagerly. "I happened to get in conversation with the party at one time.
He goes by the name of Smith at the hotel. He told me he'd been pretty
much of a wanderer, and had seen most of the world. But among other
things he said was that once on a time he had been a fireman. He even
showed me a scar that he said reminded him of a night when he nigh lost
his life in a big blaze. So you see he's right in his line when he goes
into a burning building to effect a rescue!"
Jack was picking up points as he listened to these things so hurriedly
said. He turned to see what effect they had upon Fred and his mother.
The woman seemed more bewildered than ever. Evidently she could not
understand why a total stranger should risk his life for her child when
so many of her neighbors stood around; unless it might be the old fever
still burned in Smith's veins, and he could not resist the lure of the
crackling flames that seemed to be defying him.
Fred, however, did not look at all puzzled. There was an eager light in
his eyes that Jack began to understand. Fred knew something that his
mother was utterly ignorant of. He had heard those words of hers about
remembering the gallant stranger in her prayers with considerable
emotion. Jack even thought the expression written on the face of the boy
might spell delight.
"But even if he had at one time been a fire-fighter in the city," Mrs.
Badger kept on saying, wonderingly, "why should he be so eager to throw
away his life in _my_ service. What could a poor woman and her
crippled child be to him?"
Then Fred, unable longer to keep his wonderful secret, burst out:
"Oh! mother, don't you know, can't you guess who he is? Why, it's only
right he should be the one to save our poor Lucy, or perish in the
attempt; because this is the great chance he's been praying would come,
so he could prove to you that he has redeemed the past. Mother, surely
now you know who he is?"
She stared at him as though bewildered. Then her eyes again sought the
burning building into which the stranger had plunged, bent on his
mission of mercy. By now the staggering truth must have forced itself
into her groping mind, for she suddenly caught hold of Fred again, and
hugged him passionately.
"It must be the mysterious ways of Heaven!" Jack heard her say. "Tell
me, boy, do you mean that it is----"
"Yes, my father!" Fred said, "and for a whole week and more I have known
about his being here. He wanted to wait until I could get up courage
enough to break the news to you. He has changed, mother, oh! so much,
and made a fortune honestly in the mines, just to show you that the past
has been wiped out. And surely this last act of his proves it."
The poor woman sank on her knees. Jack could see her lips move, though
of course he was unable to catch a single word she uttered; but he felt
positive she was sending up a prayer of gratitude, and beseeching
Providence that the precious lives of both father and daughter might be
spared through a miracle.
It was all as clear as daylight to Jack now. He could easily understand
how at some time in the past, while the Badgers lived in another town,
the husband and father had fallen into evil ways, almost breaking his
wife's heart. Finally he had possibly been forced to flee from the law,
which he may have broken while under the influence of liquor. And all
through the years that had come and gone they had never heard of him
again, so that she felt she had a right to call herself a widow.
Then one day had come this stranger to Chester, whom Fred must have met,
to learn that the other was his own father. He doubtless had been old
enough to understand how cruelly his beloved mother had been treated in
the past, and it took time to make the boy believe in the protestations
of the prodigal father. As the days passed he saw the other frequently,
and was gradually coming to believe that his reformation had been
sincere.
All the while Mr. Badger had been afraid lest his wife refuse to forgive
him, and receive him. From afar he had taken to watching the humble
cottage home in which his dear ones dwelt, and doubtless each day saw
his yearning to embrace them grow stronger.
Why, Jack could easily understand now his peculiar actions at the time
he stood leaning on the picket fence, and watching; also why he should
seek to hold the trusting little hand of pretty Barbara as he walked at
her side. He would doubtless have given worlds just then for the
privilege of clasping the child in his arms and straining her to his
heart, but he did not dare, lest she repulse him.
It was simply grand, and Jack's heart beat tumultuously as he watched
Mrs. Badger praying for the safety of little Lucy, yes, and also for the
life of the man whom she had for years been trying to put out of her
mind as utterly unworthy of remembrance.
Just then in the light of his noble sacrifice she undoubtedly forgot all
the misery he had caused her during their married life, and could only
think of him as he had appeared during their courtship, when she
believed him the best of his sex.
It would be all right, Jack believed, if only Mr. Badger might find his
Lucy, and be able to save her life. His wife would be only too ready and
willing to let the bitter past sink into oblivion, and begin life anew,
in her belief in his reformation.
So all interest now hung over the burning cottage. Somewhere inside
those doomed walls the man who had once upon a time in his checkered
career served as a fireman on a city force, was groping his way about,
seeking to stumble over the unconscious form of the poor little cripple
whom the pungent smoke had caused to collapse before she could creep to
safety.
His utter ignorance of the interior of the cottage would be against him,
Jack feared. He wondered whether a double tragedy might complete this
wonderful happening; or would Heaven be so kind as to allow the
repentant man to save Lucy, and thus again cement the bonds his
wickedness in the past had severed?
The only things in his favor were first of all the fact that he had had
much experience along this line of life-saving, and would know just how
to go about it; and then again his great enthusiasm might serve to carry
him along through difficulties that would have daunted most men.
The firemen could do next to nothing to assist in the rescue. They
gathered before the building, and sent several streams of water in at
the gaping front door, as if desirous of keeping the flames back as long
as possible, and thus affording the stranger a better chance for
effecting his purpose.
Already he had been inside for several minutes. Events had occurred with
lightning-like rapidity, for Fred and his mother had talked eagerly. To
Jack, however, it seemed as though a quarter of an hour must have
elapsed, he was in such a state of suspense. He felt as though he must
break through the line of fire fighters and dash into the cottage, to
find the pair they knew to be still there amidst that terrible smoke, so
dense and suffocating.
Would they ever come out, he kept asking himself, as he strained his
eyes while looking. When hope was beginning to fade away Jack heard a
shout that thrilled him to the core, and made him pluck up new courage.