Endurance Test; or, How Clear Grit Won the Day

by Burt L. Standish

  CHAPTER XI.

  A LOUD CALL FOR HELP.

  A BELL began to ring wildly near by.

  "That's over to the place where the bull belongs; sure the row ain'tthere, Elmer?" asked Ty, as he hurried on the heels of the leader.

  Elmer paused to listen again.

  "No," he said, positively, "most all the racket is over yonder in thedirection of the Brady house. You can hear the women screaming, too.Come along again, boys! They've heard the racket over here, and thatbell's to call the men in from the fields."

  "Sounds just for all the world like what I've read about an Injun attackin the good old pioneer days," declared the panting Landy, who had toexert himself more than any of the others in order to keep up with theprocession.

  "Theemth like I thmell thmoke!" remarked Ted.

  "I reckon you do, because I've been getting it for the last halfminute," Elmer threw over his shoulder as he ran on.

  "That means a fire!" cried Ty.

  "It generally does," Elmer added, dryly.

  "What if the Brady house is going up in flames?" ejaculated Ty, again.

  "It would be a bad job," remarked Elmer; "but not quite as hard on themas if it happened in the dead of winter, with the thermometer down tozero."

  "But it's always a hard job fighting fire in such steaming hot weatheras this September spell!" Landy observed, as he dug for hishandkerchief, so as to wipe his red face, which was beginning to reekwith perspiration.

  "There, I saw smoke over the trees; it's a house afire, as sure asanything, boys, and the Brady one at that!" declared Ty.

  None of them doubted it now, since all the indications seemed to pointthat way. They kept up their forward rush, hoping to at least be able tolend a helping hand in the way of getting some of the furniture out;because that is generally all that can be done at a country blaze, whenthere are no fire engines to respond to the call for aid.

  They were rapidly overtaking several persons who seemed to be hurryingin the same direction they themselves were bound. Two of these werewomen, and the other a very old man, whom the excitement had stirredinto unwonted action.

  "What is it?" asked Elmer, as he was passing the three.

  "The Brady house must be afire!" answered a young woman, who seemed tohave her wits fairly well in hand.

  None of the boys stopped, though Landy's tongue was almost hanging fromhis mouth because of the exertion on such a hot morning. They continuedto bound along steadily, and expected to come in sight of the burninghouse at any moment now.

  As they burst out from the cover it stood before them. Smoke was comingfrom windows and doors in heavy volumes; and evidently the fire musthave managed to get considerable headway before being discovered.

  A number of women were running excitedly up and down doing nothing toaid in saving property, or subduing the flames. Several men werepresent, and seemed to be wholly engaged in carrying out some of thefurniture belonging to the parlor. A small cabinet organ had been rolledover on the grass, and then they added heaps of books to the wreckage.

  "Why don't they try and save the house, Elmer?" asked Ty, as they sawwhat was going on.

  "I don't know, unless it's because they have no leader, and nobody isable to tell what to do," replied the other.

  Elmer was taking the scene in with eyes that nothing escaped. Even whilehe was running forward toward the fire he saw that there was afair-sized stream close to the barns. His attention was directed to itchiefly because of a flock of big white Pekin ducks that were flappingtheir wings, and adding their loud quacks to the general excitement.

  "If we only could find plenty of buckets, something might be done!" hecalled back over his shoulder, never stopping an instant in making forthe building that was threatened with destruction.

  "I see three right now by that pump!" cried Ty.

  "Plenty more in the barn, Elmer!" added Ted, who saw what the other hadin his mind, and thought it worth trying.

  "There's a lot of tin milk buckets hanging on that fence!" called Landy.

  "Go for 'em, fellows!" ordered the patrol leader. "Gather all you canfind, and begin to fill 'em at the brook. I'll see if these ladies won'tstand in line, and pass them along."

  "Hurrah for the Hickory Ridge Fire Brigade!" shouted Landy, fully filledwith the novel idea.

  Each of them made a bee-line for the buckets in sight, and, gathering upall they could lay hands on, immediately started for the water, where agreat dipping began, to the intense amazement and consternation of theducks, which could not understand why these strangers should try toempty their favorite little stream without asking their permission.

  Meanwhile Elmer must have managed to explain after a fashion what hepurposed doing. He had already coaxed two of the women to stand ready totake the buckets as they came along, and these were shouting to theothers.

  "More buckets! Try in the barns for some!" called Elmer, as, seizing oneof the first that arrived, he rushed up to where a tongue of fire hadsuddenly darted out of a window, like a snake that was striking, andsent the contents of his receptacle through into the room.

  Now something a little more like sense seemed to seize upon thosepresent. All they needed was a leader, some one capable of givingorders; and it would be surprising how much could be accomplished.

  The men stopped trying to save the furniture. If the building could bekept from burning to the ground the things it contained might have achance of being spared. They rushed away to the barn, as though knowingwhere horse buckets were to be found; and Elmer knew that he had foundseveral willing allies in his battle with the flames.

  He saw that these men were the farmer himself, and his son, almost a manin size. The two farm hands were not to be seen; and this fact gaveElmer a strong idea that in truth they might have been responsible forthe fire itself. Sometimes when a robbery has been committed the thieveswill try to cover all traces of their work by burning the building.

  By the time those other women had arrived he believed he would haveenough on the ground to form a living chain between the brook and thehouse, so that the full buckets could be passed swiftly along from handto hand, and the empties returned after the same fashion for a freshstart.

  Inside of five minutes after the Boy Scouts arrived on the spot it was alively scene that was taking place. The smoke continued to pour out ofthe windows; but whenever a bit of flame showed itself, Elmer or Ty wasready to dash a bucket of water on the same.

  "Keep up the good work, fellows!" shouted Landy, who was filling thebuckets at the time. "She ain't gaining much, now; and every one thatcomes just adds to the fire brigade, so's to send the buckets alongfaster. I'm coming over to help fight soon as that farmer's boy getshere!"

  "Say, if only we had all our troop here, Elmer, wouldn't we make shortwork of it, though?" asked Ty, who was beginning to turn many shadesdarker because of the smoke that swept past him every little while.

  "We'll do it as we are!" answered the patrol leader, firmly; for hebelieved that they must soon begin to get the mastery over the hungryflames.

  Then Landy came staggering along, bearing with him a huge bucket, whichhe expected to dash personally on some place where it would do the mostgood. The farmer's boy had arrived to take his place at the brook, whichset him free for sterner duties.

  "Go for it, fellers!" he gasped; and then as a wicked looking finger offire darted out toward him he emptied the contents of his pail in thatdirection. "Plenty more where that came from. The crick'll hold out allright, if only we can get it up here fast enough. That's the way, Ty,soak it to the measly old thing. We're going to win out yet, see!"

  It was the right sort, of spirit to show at any rate; and afterwards hischums had only words of praise for Landy's conduct.

  "If we c'n only hold out long enough, we're just bound to knock this oldfire into a cocked hat!" Ty managed to cry out, as he seized anotherbucket, and turned to look for a chance to use it.

  Just then he noticed a small girl standing near by, sobbing as
if herheart would break. She seemed to be looking up toward the second storywindows of the house that was on fire, as though there might besomething that she longed to save up there.

  Ty was immediately thrilled with the thought that it might be a humanbeing. Nobody had as yet said anything about a missing person, whether achild, a very old man, or a woman; but this might come from the factthat such tremendous excitement held everybody in its grip.

  Ty had read about daring feats which lads no older than himself hadperformed at such critical times. Perhaps within his soul there burned adesire to outshine these heroes of fact and fiction; and do something tomake the name of Tyrus Collins go ringing down the ages, on the annalsof heroes who have risked their lives in order to save others.

  At any rate, as soon as he had emptied the bucket he was holding, hepassed it along to the nearest woman, and then whirled upon the littlegirl.

  "What's the matter with you?" he asked.

  She turned to him eagerly.

  "Oh, he'll be burned, my little baby, Bennie!" she wailed, wringing herhands as if in the greatest woe.

  Ty was thrilled by the words. Here then was the golden opportunity hehad long sought. A baby, she had said, forgotten in the mad rush andexcitement. And to him had come the chance to show of what metal scoutswere made.

  "Where is he--show me the window of the room!" he demanded in such astern tone that the child shrank back; but she managed to point upwardand say:

  "That window--it's the little room over the front hall! Oh, if you couldonly bring him out, mister; everybody's too busy to remember poor littleBennie!"

  That finished Ty. He heard the call to duty and was off. Still, he kepthis wits about him fairly well, and did not plunge recklessly into thebuilding.

  His first act was to take another look upward, so that he might locatethe window she had mentioned, and remember which it was when gropingabout the interior. Elmer was close by; but although he turned towardthe patrol leader at first, Ty changed his mind, fearing that he mightbe interfered with in his bold designs.

  No, if a rescue must be made, he would go it alone; and hence all theglory that was coming would be his.

  "Here, take that full bucket and follow me, Ty!" called Elmer, who saw achance to deluge a threatened point in such a way that the fire would befully beaten back in that quarter.

  He supposed the other was carrying out his suggestion, and did not knowany different until on turning he found himself face to face with Landy,who had quickly taken the place of the one called upon.

  "Where's Ty?" asked Elmer, as upon looking around he failed to discoverthe figure of his late assistant.

  "He's gone in!" declared Landy, seeming to be a little appalled bysomething he had witnessed.

  "Gone in where?" continued the other, hardly understanding what wasmeant.

  "He rushed right into the house like he'd lost his senses, Elmer;whatever do you think made him act like that?" Landy replied.

  The patrol leader looked aghast.

  "I'm sure I don't know," he replied, "unless he heard that some one wasin there, and might be smothered or burned. But it was a nervy thing forTy to do. I only hope he comes out again all right!"