THE DUTY OF A SCOUT.
Tubby was dreadfully shocked when he heard the news.
"The poor thing!" he cried, "to be forgotten in all the row, and left to
be smothered by the smoke, perhaps burned up in the bargain. Oh! Rob, I
hope you're mistaken!"
"I wish I could believe so myself, Tubby, but if you look you can see
them all staring up there at that window next to the one we jumped from.
Some even point at it, and you notice more than a few of the women are
crying like everything."
"But my stars! why doesn't somebody run up and get the child out, if
that's so?" Tubby demanded,--forgetting that his eyes still
smarted,--because this discovery, and the distress of the parents
overwhelmed him.
"Because the lower floor is all afire, and the stairs can't be used,"
Merritt told him.
"If only we'd known about the child before we came out, we might have
saved it," Tubby wailed. "If I could climb like some fellows I know, who
can even go up a greased pole in the contests, I'd be for making my way
up there right now. Hey! what are you going to do, Rob, Merritt? Let me
help any way I can. Stand on my back if you want to; it's broad enough
to do for a foundation! The poor little thing! We mustn't let it be
burned if we can help it!"
Neither Rob nor Merritt had waited to give Tubby any answer when he made
that really generous offer. They knew there would be no need of his back
as a means for elevating one of them to the sill of the upper window. In
fact, Rob had made a sudden discovery that must have been the main
reason for his speedy actions.
"The tree is close to the house, Merritt!" he was saying as he sprang
forward.
"Better still, Rob, one limb grows right alongside the window!" the
other scout added, keeping in touch with the patrol leader.
They were quickly on the spot, Rob starting up the trunk of the tree at
once.
"Don't follow me," he told his chum, as he climbed upward. "If I find
the child I may want to drop it down to you. Get busy underneath,
Merritt!"
"All right, Rob; I understand!" came the answer.
Tubby had also heard what was said. He came puffing forward, as though
he did not mean to be left out entirely of the rescue.
"Let me help you, Merritt," he was saying, between his pants from his
recent exertions.
"Sure I will, if there's any chance, Tubby."
"Can Rob reach that window from the limb?" the fat scout asked
anxiously, as he tried to look straight upward, a task that was always a
trying one with Tubby because of the odd shape of his chubby neck.
"He's about there now, you notice. There's something of a little ledge
underneath and he's going to make it all right."
"There! He's clinging outside and starting to throw a leg over," Tubby
exclaimed in evident rapture. "And if there is a child inside that room,
our chum will find it. If it was me now, I'd be so blind with the smoke
I'd have to just grope my way around, and p'raps get lost in the
shuffle."
"But what's that you've got in your hand, Tubby?" pursued Merritt,
becoming aware for the first time that the other was holding on to some
white object.
"This? Why, what but that fine sheet you used to lower me with," he was
told.
"I remember that Rob dropped it down after you landed," said Merritt,
"but I never thought you'd want to take it along with you, Tubby."
"Oh! shucks! don't you see, I picked it up when I started over after
you," the stout boy tried to explain.
"But why should you do that?" persisted Merritt, who was looking eagerly
aloft just then, and possibly not fully paying heed to what he was
saying.
"Why, you know how firemen stand and hold a blanket for people to jump
into?" explained Tubby; "I thought that if it came to the worst, Rob
might drop the baby into this sheet, which both of us could hold
stretched out!"
"Well, you _are_ a daisy, after all, Tubby!" cried Merritt, in sincere
admiration. "That's as clever a scheme as anyone could think up. Here,
give us a grip of an end, and we'll get ready for business!"
Quickly they clutched the four corners of the sheet. Fortunately, it
appeared to be a fairly new bed-covering, and might be trusted to bear a
certain weight without tearing.
Having reached the point where nothing more could be done in order to
assist Rob, the other two scouts had to stand there and wait, as the
precious seconds crept by, each seeming like an age to their anxious
hearts.
Meanwhile, what of Rob, who had, without the least hesitation, risked
his life in order to save the child forgotten in the excitement of the
Uhlans' coming, and the strange events that had so soon followed?
When he reached that window, he found it closed, but, on his pressing
against the sash, it had swung inward, allowing him free access to the
room.
It was rather an appalling prospect that confronted Rob. The smoke
seemed to be thick, and he could not see three feet away. For all he
knew the fire that was raging in the lower part of the inn might by this
time have eaten partly through the floor boards, so that, if he put his
weight on them, he stood a chance of being precipitated into the midst
of the flames.
Rob never hesitated a second. He had taken all these matters into
consideration when making up his mind as to what he meant to attempt.
More than this, he did not believe anything partaking of such a disaster
threatened him in case he entered that apartment.
The most he feared was that he might be unable to discover where the
child lay, for it was manifestly impossible to use one's eyes to any
advantage, with all that veil of smoke interfering.
Over the window-sill he climbed, just as the two boys below witnessed.
And, no sooner did Rob find himself in the room, than he started to
cross it. He expected to find a bed somewhere, and toward this purpose
he at once set himself.
He could hear the crackling of the flames below. Besides this, there
came to him with painful distinctness the wails of the poor woman who
was being restrained from trying to rush into the burning inn.
Rob was listening for something more. He had strong hopes that he might
catch another sound, perhaps feeble, but enough to guide him to where
the imperiled one lay in the bed or on the floor.
Groping as he advanced, and at the same time feeling with his feet, in
case the object he sought should prove to be on the floor, Rob passed
away from the vicinity of the open window. The smoke was pouring from
the aperture now, as though it were in the nature of a funnel. This
turned out to be of considerable help to the boy, for the draught served
to thin the smoke that had filled the room to suffocation.
Now he had reached the farther wall, and, turning sharply to one side,
started to comb this, every second expecting to come upon a bed of some
sort.
It was about this time that Rob thought he heard a low, gasping cry just
ahead of him. Though unable to use his eyes with any measure of success
in locating the source of the sound, he was encouraged, and persisted in
pushing forward. In this way he found himself bending over a cot.
His groping hand came in contact with something warm--something that
moved ever so slightly at his touch. It was the forgotten child. Rob
found that it was a mere baby, possibly not much more than a year old.
The smoke had not yet choked the little thing, though a short time
longer would have certainly finished it.
Rob had no sooner clutched it in his arms than he tried to set himself
right for the window by means of which he had reached the room. In this
he was assisted by the light that came through the opening, and which
served as his guide. By the time he reached it, he could no longer see a
single thing, and, when he leaned out of the window, his first thought
was to shout:
"Merritt, are you down below? I can't see a thing! The smoke has blinded
me!"
To his great satisfaction there came an immediate response, and never
had words from the lips of his chum sounded sweeter than they did then.
"Yes, we're both here, Rob. Let the child drop straight down! We'll take
good care of it!"
"But you might miss it," objected Rob, still unable to see a thing.
"We can't! We've got a sheet spread out to catch it in!" Merritt sent
back. "You're all right just there! Let go! Leave the rest to us!"
So Rob did as he was told. Accustomed to giving orders himself, he at
the same time could obey when the necessity arose. Perhaps it was with
considerable fear that he allowed the child to leave his grip; but the
joyful shout arising from his chums below assured him that all was well.
Then he heard a feminine shriek, and judged that the frantic mother had
darted to where the boys were standing, to clasp her rescued offspring
to her breast.
Rob crawled over the ledge. He could not see how to make that friendly
limb again, but then there was no need of going to all that trouble. He
had dropped in safety before, and felt able to do the same again; so
down he came like a plummet.