PUTTING OUT THE FLAMES
"What do you know about that! The gym is on fire!" gasped Fred, and
clutched Randy by the arm. He looked at his cousin knowingly.
"I know what you're thinking, Fred. Those cigarettes that Slugger, Nappy
and Codfish were smoking----"
"That's it! They threw them down recklessly, and also threw down the
matches they had lighted."
"If the gym burns down Colonel Colby will hold them responsible for the
loss," put in Jack, who had heard what was said.
While this talk was taking place, all of the cadets were rushing down
the stairs. Soon they were out on the campus and headed through the
fast-falling snow in the direction of the gymnasium building.
A heavy smoke was pouring from a broken-out upper window, and also from
the edges of a scuttle on the roof. As the cadets hurried closer, they
saw a thin flame show itself for a moment just inside the window.
"It's on fire all right enough, but maybe they can get it under
control," announced Jack. "Come on, fellows! Do your duty!"
Warned by the fate which had overtaken Putnam Hall, Colonel Colby had
taken every possible precaution against fire. There were several large
water towers erected in and near the school buildings, and these were
connected with various fire plugs. There were also numerous lengths of
hose, with nozzles attached, hung up in the several buildings, and both
the cadets and the teachers had been instructed in a fire drill.
Some of the cadets, who had been in the gymnasium when the fire was
discovered, had already brought out the hose in that building and
attached it to one of the plugs. Now this water was turned on, and a
stream of fair size began to play upon the flames, the cadets, aided by
one of the teachers, dragging the hose up the narrow stairway for that
purpose.
"Get out hose number three and number eight!" directed Colonel Colby,
who was on the scene; and the cadets went to work with a will, and soon
had two more streams in action.
Despite the thickness of the smoke, two of the teachers and several of
the cadets had gone up into the second floor of the building and
located the fire.
"It's up near the steam radiator, just between the two windows,"
announced one of the teachers. "It's in some boxes and barrels that
contain straw and excelsior."
"Isn't the building on fire?" queried one cadet.
"The flames are going up to the roof, but so far they haven't broken
through."
The announcement that the fire so far was confined to some boxes and
barrels, nerved the cadets and the others to make a greater effort to
get it under control, and some began to fill buckets with water in the
washroom below, and these were passed up the narrow stairway and the
water thrown where it was apparently most needed.
Randy and Andy were in this bucket brigade, while Fred and Jack worked
with one of the hose gangs. It was exciting labor for all of the boys,
but this they did not mind.
"Hurrah! we're getting it under control!" shouted Major Mason presently.
"Keep it up, boys, and we'll save the whole building!"
In the crowd were, of course, Slugger, Nappy and Codfish. At the first
alarm they had run forth from the school and gazed in amazement at the
smoke pouring from the gymnasium.
"Oh, look! It's the gym that's on fire!" Codfish had burst out; and then
the little sneak had suddenly turned deadly pale, and would have sunk
down in the snow had not Slugger caught him.
"See here, Codfish!" hissed the bully, shaking him. "Don't you say a
word about this, do you understand? Not a word!"
"Don't you dare to admit to anybody that you were upstairs in the
gymnasium," added Nappy.
"I--I ain't going to say nothing!" sniveled Codfish, and then, of a
sudden, burst out crying. "You fellows let me alone! I didn't want to
smoke anyhow!" he wailed.
"Shut up! Don't you mention smoking to anybody, or I'll just about half
kill you!" hissed Slugger. "Now mind! not a word, if you know when you
are best off!" and then he gave Codfish's arm such a twist that the
little cadet screamed with pain.
Not to be suspected of what they had done, Slugger and Nappy mingled
with the other cadets and did their full share in working on the lines
of hose; but there were really more cadets than were needed for this
labor, so they had little to do. Codfish also tried to take hold, but he
trembled so that he soon had to give up, and then he ran back into the
Hall, where he sat on the stairs, half sobbing.
By this time there was little more than smoke to be seen in the upper
part of the gymnasium. The teachers and the cadets still continued to
play water into the building. Some now began to open all the windows,
realizing that a draft could not do much harm. Then, as the smoke began
to clear away, they began an investigation, so that the last spark of
the fire might be extinguished.
"I guess it's about out," announced Professor Brice presently. He had
worked hard, and his face and hands were streaked with black.
"I think you are right, Brice," answered Colonel Colby, who had also
mounted to the upper floor. "We may as well bring up a few buckets of
water, and then turn off all the hose. There is no use of flooding the
building, especially in this cold weather. As it is, I think the boys
will have a skating pond below by morning," and he smiled faintly.
"Do you suppose this started from the heating plant?" questioned the
teacher.
"Not at all!" was the low reply. "But we won't speak about that now,
Brice," added Colonel Colby significantly; and thereupon the young
teacher understood and said no more about the matter.
The cadets were sent below, and Colonel Colby and Professor Brice,
aided by a couple of the hired men, made a close examination of the spot
where the fire had taken place. It had been confined almost wholly to
three boxes, loosely filled with excelsior, and two barrels containing
straw and waste paper.
"It was a mistake to put such inflammable material up here," said
Colonel Colby to Mr. Crews, the gymnasium instructor.
"I realize that now, Colonel Colby," answered Silas Crews, and his
manner showed how much the fire had upset him. "But, you see, it was
this way. We got some of that new gymnasium material in only a couple of
weeks ago, and we weren't altogether satisfied with it--if you will
remember. I said something about sending it back. Well, it came in those
boxes and barrels, and so I just put them up here, thinking that maybe
we'd want to use them in sending the stuff back. If it hadn't been for
that, I'd have cleaned the boxes and barrels out and burnt the stuff
up."
"I see, Crews. Well, after this, I want you to be careful and not do
anything like that again."
"But I don't see how the boxes and barrels caught fire, sir," went on
the gymnasium instructor perplexedly. "We had no light up here, and I
don't see how they could catch from that little steam radiator over
there. Why, that radiator hardly gets warm!" It may be mentioned here
that the radiator had been placed on the upper floor of the gymnasium
because there had once been talk of partitioning this part of the floor
from the rest and making of it a meeting room for one of the cadet
clubs.
"I'll make an investigation later," answered Colonel Colby. "For the
present, as the steam heating plant seems to be in perfect order, you
had better start the fire up well, so that we can dry things out here.
Otherwise, all the pipes may freeze up, and that might give us more
trouble than this fire."
"Yes, sir. I'll see to it, sir," said Silas Crews hastily. "And I'll
have this whole place cleaned up the first thing in the morning. And
I'll also have the broken windows fixed."
As soon as he returned to the school, Colonel Colby sent for Randy and
Fred. He questioned them closely about the cigarette smoking indulged in
by Slugger, Nappy and Codfish.
"You two are quite sure that you were not smoking yourselves?" he
demanded sternly.
"We don't smoke, sir," answered Randy promptly.
"Did you light any matches while you were upstairs in the gymnasium?"
"No, sir. We had no need for a light," returned Fred.
"Have you any idea how this fire started?"
"I don't see how it could start unless it was from the cigarettes and
the matches those fellows used," answered Randy bluntly. "I hate to make
that statement, but the truth is the truth."
"I believe you are right, Rover. Now then, I wish you to do me a favor.
I want you to keep as quiet about this as you are to keep quiet about
that joke those cadets proposed to play. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir," answered both the Rovers.
"Then that is all for the present;" and, so speaking, Colonel Colby
dismissed the boys.
"I guess he's going to save this fire affair until he catches them
trying to play the joke," was Fred's comment, as they hurried away to
join the others.
"That's it, Fred." Randy looked at his cousin knowingly. "There is
certainly something coming to Slugger, Nappy and Codfish, isn't there?"