DEAD WIRES
"We must have a chance yet," S. S. insisted weakly.
"About as much of a chance as a dish of ice cream at a Sunday-School
picnic," grinned Specs.
Bunny cleared his throat. "I know how you fellows feel about this, and
I know just what we are up against. Twenty minutes isn't much time for
the distance we have to cover. Just the same, I've made up my mind that
we are going to be at the ball park in Belden by three o'clock this
afternoon, even if we have to build a toboggan and slide there. But
we're not going to give up, not if I know anything about this patrol.
We've never quit yet when something had to be done."
There was a general murmur of agreement. Little Prissler said primly,
"That's the spirit that moves mountains!"
"And if it should turn out, at five minutes of three," added Bunny,
"that we are still trying to cross this lake, I'd vote for keeping
right on toward Belden till we reached there."
"That's what we all say!" shouted Bi enthusiastically; "that is, if
some near-sighted laundry doesn't catch us and hang us up on a line to
dry."
In the laughter that followed, the nine boys began to take stock of
their soaked clothing, wringing and pressing out as much of the water
as they could.
"The bullgine's picking up a little," said Roundy hopefully, squirting
a little oil on the exposed running parts and tightening the grease
cups. "If we don't touch shore ahead of time, I'm a tenderfoot."
With freshened courage, they waited the landing. And because neither
breakdowns nor stoppages came their way, they climbed upon the yacht
pier at exactly 10:39. While Roundy arranged with the keeper to look
after the launch, Bunny interviewed a fisherman on the best way to get
to Harrison City.
"The main road is that macadamized pike right there," the man informed
him. "It's a good mile and a quarter to the Charles City station."
Bunny gasped. The situation was even worse than he had imagined.
"But if you are in a hurry--"
"We are, Mister; we're in a mighty big hurry."
"Then take the old wagon road to the right," advised the fisherman.
"It's a short cut over a couple of little hills. A bad stretch of road,
I'm telling you, but only three quarters of a mile to Harrison City
that way. On foot, you'll get there a lot sooner than if you follow the
main highway."
"We want to catch the 10:50 train."
"You'll make it if you keep your legs moving."
A series of short blasts on the patrol leader's whistle gathered the
eight boys about him. In a few quick words, Bunny explained the lay of
the roads.
"We'll take up the Scout's pace, and keep at it till we reach the
station. We have almost ten minutes to make three quarters of a mile.
I'll lead, and I want each fellow to hang close to the heels of the one
ahead."
"I'll be rearguard," said Specs, as the nine boys broke into a trot.
"Remember, Roundy, if you drop back, I'll--I'll pick you up and carry
you into Harrison City."
There was nothing about the road to hinder people on foot. Deep ruts
and gullies made it practically impassable for finicky automobiles, but
the nine boys strung out in single file and thus avoided bad places and
fallen branches that had toppled upon the trail. Less than a quarter
mile from the lake, they skimmed the crest of the first hill with every
fellow hanging close to his pace-setter.
"It's like taking candy from a baby," Specs grinned, as the group
dropped into a walk. "What do you say, Bunny, if we make the run a
hundred yards and the walk fifty? We can do it easy enough."
Bunny was unwilling. "Yes, we could," he admitted, "but we have a ball
game to play this afternoon, and I guess we'll need all our strength to
win it."
The road was a little better now. Trees that met overhead threw a
grateful shade upon the hikers. There were even clumps of wild flowers
waiting to be appreciated by anybody in the mood to look at them. But
the Scouts and the Scout-trained Prissler had their minds set upon
catching that train, and the most beautiful flowers in the world could
have bloomed their heads off without getting more than a passing glance.
"Off again!" Bunny announced, giving the signal for the jog.
They wound past a clump of trees and around a turn to the left. Without
warning, Bunny slowed and halted. Behind him, Scout bumped Scout, like
a row of dominoes that is set falling.
A man with a cane faced Bunny. "I--it's--" He stammered incoherently
before he loosed a flood of words. "Boys, I must have help! I must have
it! I must ask you to help me!"
"What's the matter?" called Specs, who had not heard the request. He
was rubbing an affronted nose that had collided with Roundy's back.
It was now evident to Bunny that the stranger was older than he had
seemed at first. His face was lined with wrinkles. His back was twisted
and bent, as if from rheumatism. When he spoke, his voice quavered
uncertainly.
"My wife and I, we live back there in that little frame house. She's
just getting over a long spell of sickness, and it is necessary for me
to be in touch with the Harrison City doctor night and day. But now my
telephone won't work; it's gone dead."
"We'll leave word at Harrison City."
The old man shook his head despairingly. "It's a bad time of week to
get anything done. This is Saturday, you know, and they might not
come--they might not come till Monday."
"Well, what do you expect us to do, anyhow?" demanded the irritated
Specs.
The old gentleman's hand trembled as he gestured. "I--I don't know.
Perhaps one of you could go to the telephone office and maybe stay
right there and explain how much we needed the 'phone fixed and not
give up till they started somebody out here to fix it."
There were five seconds of uncomfortable silence, broken by Bunny. "We
might do better than that. If Handy were here--"
"Roundy knows a lot about telephones," suggested Jump.
"Not very much," Roundy admitted slowly. "But I can tell if any of the
wires are disconnected, or if the battery is dead, or if anything big
is the matter with the instrument."
"That's enough; that's plenty!" Bunny was thinking hard and fast.
"We all know a little something about electricity. Roundy, you go
to the telephone and look it over. I'll meet you there." Roundy was
off on a run. The old gentleman, staring in blank surprise, suddenly
comprehended and shouted that the telephone was in the hall, just
inside the front door.
"Now for the insulators," Bunny said briskly. "You notice how the
wires run from the house along those trees, with the insulators on the
limbs. If somebody shinnies up each tree, we'll soon discover whether
the trouble's between here and the regular poles."
There was no time to discuss matters with the aged cottager, who seemed
still dazed and wondering. Like so many squirrels, the boys scattered
and began squirming their way up the proper trunks.
Eight trees carried the glass insulators. Fortunately, however, the
one nearest the house could be examined with the aid of a friendly
stepladder. Bunny was up and down in the twinkling of an eye. With
the other volunteer repairmen fairly started, he now made his way to
Roundy, already deep in his labors of examining the telephone.
"I can't see anything wrong here," Roundy grunted, squinting at the
wire coiled in the box. He tested the poles of the battery with a wet
finger. "Plenty of juice in that. Everything tightly connected, and
transmitter and receiver in good shape."
Bunny flung open the nearest window.
"Find anything wrong, Bi?"
"Nothing here. How about you, Specs?"
"Right as a trivet on this tree."
Down the line the Scouts reported, each to the effect that his wire and
insulator were in prime condition. From the last tree, Prissler shouted
a confident, "O. K. here."
Puzzled and disappointed, Bunny turned again to Roundy, who was making
a last effort to call Central. Almost two minutes had passed in this
determination to live up to the Scout law that says a Scout must be
helpful and prepared at all times to give aid to those in need. If they
hoped to catch the train--
"Oh, Bi!" It was the voice of Bonfire Cree calling from the fourth
tree, that roused Bunny from his slump of depression. "Look back where
the wire leaves the house. It doesn't come out from the corner; it
turns through that vine. Take a look at the vine."
With a shout, Bi swung from the lowest limb of his perch, and ran to
the spot Bonfire had pointed out. Along the side of the house, a vine
had wrapped its heavy creepers around a little segment of the wire
between the insulator on the corner and the holes where the wire turned
in to connect with the instrument.
Slapping open his knife, Bi slashed away the green foliage, to expose
a tiny patch of wire, hard against a tin rain trough, where faulty
insulation had rubbed or rotted free, forming a short circuit. By
bending out the copper strands, the trouble was eliminated.
At that moment, a smile creased Roundy's cheeks into joyous wrinkles.
"Listen to this!" he said, handing the receiver to Bunny.
Faintly, but distinctly, the patrol leader could hear the voice of
Central. "Number, please?"
"Get 'em together, Roundy, and have Bi start on a slow jog and keep
it up. I'll catch you. And hustle, because we have a fighting chance
yet." As Roundy picked up his cap, Bunny turned his attention to the
telephone. "The R. A. & S. station, please. No, I don't know the
number, and there isn't a book here. But it's important."
A moment later, a gruff voice answered. "R. A. & S."
"Nine of us want to catch that 10:50 train. We must make it. Can't you
hold it sixty seconds for us? Yes, we'll be there surely by 10:51; by
10:50, I hope. Just sixty seconds?"
The answer made his heart leap. "Thank you! Thank you! You've done us
the biggest favor anybody could!"
Working with all possible speed, Bunny hooked the front of the
telephone box in place, warned the old gentleman to tape the exposed
wire outside the house, and dashed after the others, without getting
more than the first part of the thanks which were being showered upon
him.
Already the other boys had rounded the next bend in the road, and it
took stiff running for almost three hundred yards to catch them.
"Just heard the whistle of the train," Specs confided, as Bunny came
even.
"We'll make it," said Bunny confidently. "Why, we're not much behind
schedule. There are over seventy seconds of our regular time left, and
they have promised to hold the train an extra minute for us."
As they trotted down the last hill, the railroad station came into
sight. Already slowing down, the train was just pulling in.
"Safe at last!" Nap shouted. "I knew we could catch it."
But even while they were still running, a most unexpected thing
happened.
The train braked to a stop. But it wasn't a real stop. As Specs said,
it seemed as though the engineer just "hesitated." Almost before the
big driving wheels had ceased revolving, and with the nine boys still
a good two hundred yards from the track, the engine puffed, the piston
rods spun the wheels till the friction caught, and the train, under
gathering speed, pounded out of sight.