WELL DONE, SCOUTS!
Hugh was glad that he had foreseen just such an emergency as the one
that now confronted the motion-picture players. It afforded him a
chance to get busy without wasting any precious time in laying out
plans.
The men who had been inside the building began to come rushing out,
some dragging comrades who may have temporarily found themselves unable
to walk, owing to the fatigue influenced by their recent terrific
efforts, and also the weight of the armor which they were wearing.
Everybody looked alarmed and distressed, and with reason, for it was
now seen that the wing where the girl was shut up in that turret room
was enveloped in real flames, which, whipped by the rising wind,
threatened to consume the whole structure in so far as it consisted
of wood made to resemble genuine stone.
The director was again shouting hoarsely through his megaphone, but
he was now up against a situation that none of them had foreseen, so
that consequently no preparations had been made toward meeting it.
Men ran this way and that as though they had temporarily taken
leave of their senses. Women could be seen wringing their hands,
and shrieking wildly.
Although the outside camera man undoubtedly realized that this was
anything but a sham now, he never once ceased grinding away at his
machine. Long experience in these lines had convinced him of the
great value of a stirring scene like this; and besides, his services
were hardly needed in the work of saving the one whose life seemed
to be in deadly peril.
"We must do something, and right away at that!" called Hugh. "Come
along with me, every one, I've got a scheme that may be made to work."
They followed close at his heels. Evidently it did not enter into
the head of the scout master to think, of applying for permission
from the stage manager before starting to try out his suddenly formed
plan. Hugh realized very well that this was an occasion where that
energetic gentleman would be at a loss what to tell him. Besides,
a wideawake scout, accustomed to doing his own thinking, should be
better equipped to manage such an affair as this than a man whose
talents ran in quite another direction.
The first thing Hugh sought to get hold of was a long and stout rope
which he had noticed lying on the ground near by, together with numerous
other things which the company had thought to fetch along with them,
having an eye to possible need.
"Lay hold of that ax, Alec!" he told the other, who had managed to
leave his beloved camera back of a tree, under the impression that it
would hinder him in the execution of the work Hugh had laid out for
himself and churns to perform.
Some of the players had by this time begun to notice the little bunch
of khaki-clad lads running toward the burning wing of the castle.
They commenced to shout out to them, perhaps encouragingly, or it may
be intending to warn them not to attempt anything rash.
Little Hugh cared what their cries might mean. He had his plan arranged,
and believed it could be carried to success if only speedy action
were taken.
"We've got to get to the roof of that tower!" he told the others, as
they drew near the fire, and could begin to feel the heat it was
beginning to throw out as it crept upward, whipped by the rising wind.
"Billy, I want you and Arthur to stay down under the walls and be
ready to receive the girl, if we manage to, get things going. Understand
that, both of you?"
"All right, if you say so, Hugh!" replied Arthur, though it could be
noticed that he looked greatly disappointed because he had not been
selected to accompany the rescuing party.
Billy did not make any reply. Perhaps he was, secretly, as well pleased
to be assigned to that task, because Billy, being a heavy-weight,
never made a success of climbing; and from all appearance there was
bound to be more or less of that style of work ahead of those who were
chosen to go aloft.
Having thus divided his party, Hugh hurried toward a window of the
main building close by. He remembered that it was possible to gain,
the roof of the castle---and unless the flames became too menacing---by
creeping along this they would be able to reach the top of the turret
tower. If no other means were found available for gaining access
to the room of the prisoner, Hugh expected to make good use of that
axe, and force an entrance through the roof itself, as he had seen
the Oakvale volunteer firemen do on more than one occasion.
Billy and Arthur watched their chums climbing hastily through that
window. Doubtless their hearts were throbbing with excitement, and
deep down those two were hoping and praying that not only would Hugh,
Alec and Monkey Stallings be able to come back alive and unharmed,
but that they might also accomplish the object that had enlisted their
services.
Meanwhile the trio of scouts found themselves groping their way along
smoke-filled passages. Hugh made the others keep in close touch with
him while this was going on. He did not mean that they should become
separated, and something dreadful mar their endeavor to make themselves
useful.
Fortunately the fire had not as yet reached the stairway leading upward,
so that in a brief space of time the three scouts found themselves
in the corridor where so lately a terrific combat had been taking
place. They even stumbled over some fragment of imitation steel armor
which may have been hurriedly thrown aside at the time the alarm of
fire had sounded, causing such a hasty stampede on the part of the
motion-picture players.
Apparently, while the retreat of the actors in this near-tragedy had
been of a hurried nature, they had seen to it that no one of their
number had been left in the corridor to become a victim of the flames.
Hugh made sure of this, even as he pushed his way along.
A minute later and the boys were climbing out of a certain window on
to the roof. Hugh had taken note of that very circumstance himself
when prowling about the remarkable building; in fact, he had even
half pulled himself up to see what the roof looked like, though never
dreaming at the time he would so soon find need of his knowledge.
Monkey Stallings was, of course, in his element. None of the others
could do nearly so well as he when it came to this sort of thing.
Probably Hugh had remembered this circumstance when picking the acrobat
out as one of his party, instead of choosing Arthur Cameron.
He sent the Stallings boy on ahead, and gave him to understand that he
was expected to assist the others whenever he could. So they managed
to gain the roof of the main building, and started in, the direction
of the wing that was being fast enveloped in fiercely leaping flames.
When the trio of scouts were discovered by the clusters of appalled
actors down below, and many fingers were pointed up at them, cheers
began to arise. Undoubtedly those quick-witted players guessed what
Hugh had in mind, and as it seemed to be the only possible chance to
save the poor girl from her prison room, they one and all wished the
courageous lads godspeed in their mission.
Hugh felt considerably relieved when he discovered that it would be
possible to gain the other roof from the main structure. There was
really no time to lose, however, for the fire seemed to be getting
a pretty good headway, and any delay was likely to imperil their chances
of success.
They had to get down on their hands and knees and crawl part of the
way across. Had they been less agile they never could have made it,
and just here it was seen how wisely the scout master had acted when
he failed to choose clumsy if willing Billy Worth as one of their
number.
Once upon the smaller roof covering the turret tower, Hugh found that
it was a matter of impossibility to lower themselves so as to gain
the slits of windows in the walls, made more for appearances than
for any particular use. And even though they were able to reach one
of these he doubted whether any of them could manage to crawl through.
There was nothing for it then but to attack the roof with the ax,
which Alec had managed to cling to through all his climbing. Hugh
snatched the implement from the hands of his churn, and went at it.
The ax bit into the roof with each hearty blow, and Hugh worked like
a beaver, knowing that there was constant danger they might be caught
by the creeping flames before their object had been accomplished.
Afterwards, when speaking about their experiences up there on that
roof, Alec and Monkey Stallings always declared they had never seen
any one wield an ax with more telling effect than Hugh did on that
wonderful occasion. Those who were below had a fair view of what
was going on aloft, whenever the wind carried the smoke aside, as
their encouraging cheers testified from time to time.
When Hugh found his muscles beginning to lag, he handed the implement
over to Alec, knowing the other must be fairly wild to have a hand
in the labor. How the chips did fly and scatter with each and every
blow of that descending ax! Alec put every ounce of vim he could
muster into each stroke, while if he faltered there was Monkey Stallings
opening and shutting his two hands as though eager to take up the
good work.
Then came the critical moment when the ax cut through, and a small
gap appeared out of which a spiral of smoke began to ooze. Larger
grew the hole, and then Alec, dripping with perspiration, fairly gasping
for breath, handed the ax over to the third member of the group, after
which the work continued furiously.
Finally Hugh stopped Monkey Stallings and made motions that he was
about to go through the aperture. The others saw him vanish, and
a brief but terrible period of suspense followed. Then through the
gap in the roof appeared the head of the young woman who was playing
the romantic part of the Jewess, Rebecca. Through all this tragic
happening she, must have managed to retain her self-possession in
a way that was simply wonderful, for she was now able to do her part
toward working up through the hole in the roof, assisted by the two
scouts above.
When those below discovered how success had thus far rewarded the
efforts of Hugh and his equally quick-witted fellow scouts, the cheer
that broke forth could have been heard miles away, so great was their
admiration for the work of the three boys.
However, there was still more to be done if they would escape from
the trap arranged between the rival elements, the wind and the fire.
To return over the same route by which they had come was now impossible,
since the fire had cut off escape by that course.
This was a possibility foreseen by Hugh when he concluded to take
that long and serviceable rope aloft with him. By this means the
girl could first be lowered to the ground at a point where the flames
had not yet reached; and afterwards it would be little trouble for,
himself and chums to also slide down to safety. Hugh always paid
much attention to details.
Accordingly this was what they hastily set about doing. They were
fortunate in having to deal with a plucky little woman. She understood
just what was expected of her, and indeed, to see the way she assisted
them secure the rope about her body under the arms, and then bade them
swing her free, from the parapet of the tower, one might suspect that
she had long since practiced for just this sort of thrilling picture.
All went well, and one by one the three scouts came sliding down the
rope later on, none of them so much as having an eyelash singed, though
the flames roared as if angry at having lost a victim.
"And," Billy was heard to remark when the boys could break away from
the excited players, all of whom wanted to squeeze their hands, and
say what they thought of the clever work, "Don't forget every
minute of the time that camera man was turning his crank like fury.
He got it all down pat, too, boys, as maybe we'll see for ourselves
one of these fine days."