CHAPTER XVII
TOUCH AND GO
The Black Eagle Patrol stared blankly at Nap.
"No train!" S. S. repeated dully.
"Not a sign of one." Nap had an irritating air of being pleased to actas bearer of bad news. "And the only possible automobile road on thisside of the hills makes it a six-hour trip. That's why the Seftonsstarted at seven this morning."
"I suppose," suggested Jump, somewhat nettled, "I suppose you are goingto say you're Waterlooed."
Nap shook his head with a superior smile.
"If you remember--I mean, if you've ever read about that campaign ofNapoleon's when he crossed the Alps--"
"No, I don't remember it and I never read about it," Bi said bluntly,"and I don't expect to read about it, either, unless some teacher makesme; but if you have an idea up your sleeve, shake it out."
"What's the plan, Nap?" Bunny queried patiently.
"Just this." Nap hid his disappointment at being cut short. "The R.A. & S. railroad runs through Harrison City, and the station is onlyabout a mile from the other side of the lake. I have telephoned allover, and here's what I found out: There's a train over there, leavingHarrison City at 10:50. Of course, the R. A. & S. doesn't run toBelden, but you can get to Deerfield on it, where there is a bus lineto Belden, sort of doubling back a ways, you see. If we make that 10:50train, we'll be at the ball park by two o'clock."
Bunny nodded. "Good work, Nap; that fixes us. Now, if Roundy can borrowthe launch--"
Roundy was sure he could.
"--we'll scoot across the lake, leave the boat at the yacht club there,hike the mile to the Harrison City station, and catch the train. Comeon; we haven't any time to spare."
It took only a few seconds to make sure that their services at thedeceased fire were no longer needed, and that Royal Sheffield'sautomobile would be safely stowed in the garage on Main Street. Onceassured on these points, the patrol struck out, at an alternate walkand trot they often practiced, by the shortest of short cuts to theboathouse.
It was astonishing how well things went, so far as getting started wasconcerned. The boathouse key was hanging conveniently in its place; thelaunch's gasoline tank was filled to the brim; the engine started offas promptly as if it were accustomed to acting that way, instead ofhaving what Roundy aptly called "cranky fits."
"We'll make it in a walk," announced Nap, consulting his watch. "It'sjust 9:57 now. We'll cover those four miles of lake in thirty minutes.That's 10:27. Maybe we'll waste five minutes landing and getting theboat taken care of; that will bring it to 10:32. And if we can't coverthe mile to Harrison City and get on the train in eighteen minutesmore, we ought to turn in our Scout badges."
The others nodded agreement.
"Somebody camping on Shadow Island," broke in Bonfire from his post oflookout in the bow of the boat.
"I don't see any smoke," Bi commented. "I don't see any tents, either.There's somebody standing on the shore, but there's a boat there, too.Chances are it's just a fisherman."
Bonfire pointed to a little gap in a maple grove.
"Do you see that line of washing to the left, hung between those twotrees? Did you ever hear of any fisherman who went over to ShadowIsland to do his washing?"
"I'm licked," Bi admitted. "Who is it? Are you enough of a SherlockHolmes to tell us from here?"
"I know who it is." S. S. joined the conversation. "It's two familiesfrom Harrison City, cousins of Marion Genevieve Chester. She told meso, and she's over there visiting them to-day."
Specs snorted. "I guess it won't break her heart if we pass right bywithout calling on her. She has about as much to do with us as she haswith a bunch of rattlesnakes, and that's not a whole lot."
"She thinks we still dislike her for being president of the studentassociation," Bunny observed mildly. "And she hasn't forgotten how Biallowed her to get scared at Molly's picnic. She just thinks we haven'tany use for her and wouldn't lift a finger to get her out of anytrouble."
"Marion Genevieve Chester! Wow, what a name!" mocked Specs.
The laughter that followed was a little uncertain. Seating arrangementsat school had made the girl, Bunny and S. S. all next door neighbors.To the surprise of these two Scouts, at least, they had found hersnobbishness mainly the outcome of a solitary childhood, a thin veneerthat was slowly but surely wearing off. Though her fancied superiorityto the other pupils had not yet vanished, the give and take of schoollife was gradually rubbing it away.
Smoothly, purringly, the launch clove its way toward the yacht club onthe far side of the lake, while Shadow Island, the scene of Bunny'sinitiation into the Black Eagle Patrol,[2] dropped astern.
"On the home stretch and running like a watch," Roundy declared. "We'llhave time to get there and play an inning of baseball before the trainstarts. We can--"
"Shipwreck ahead!"
It was Bonfire's cry that brought the passengers of the boat to asudden alertness.
"Tipped just now! Two of them in it! One of them stood up! There theyare!"
The little craft ahead was keel up, with two heads bobbing alongsideand two arms hugging tightly the side. Faintly, the light breezebrought cries of distress.
"One of them's a girl!"
"They're both girls!"
"What are they hollering for? They're all right if they just hang on.They can see us coming."
"You mean they're all right if they don't get panicky."
"Turn the engine loose, Roundy."
Roundy wiped a perspiring forehead. "The engine's doing all it canright now."
Bunny gave rapid-fire directions. "Roundy, if there's any rescuing todo, you're the prize swimmer; so you'll do it. S. S., you handle theengine and the steering gear. Everybody else, stand ready to help.Bring our starboard up as close to the boat as you can and hold itthere."
Shoes and stockings kicked off, Roundy leaned over the side. "If theyare all right, we can just pull them in; but if they are too scared,I'll jump in after them." He broke off to chuckle.
"What is it?"
"I'll eat my hat if the girl on the right isn't Marion GenevieveChester!"
There was an eager second of straining.
"It's Marion Genevieve, all right, and she's so scared she doesn't knowher stylish name."
"Bring us up close, S. S. Graze it if you can."
No doubt remained that one of the two girls clinging to the upturnedboat was Marion Genevieve Chester. But while her companion savedstrength by holding quietly and allowing the water to support as muchof her weight as possible, Marion Genevieve not only exhausted herselfby screaming, but in addition wasted her muscle reserve by strivingvainly to pull herself higher out of the water.
The launch was now within twenty feet. It slowed down.
"Better be ready to go overboard, Roundy. Always the chance of anaccident, you know."
Bunny had hardly given the warning when, with a last frantic cry, thegirl threw up two wild arms and splashed back into the water.
"Go over, Roundy!"
Before her head could sink beneath the surface, the Scouts realizedthat something had happened to Roundy Magoon. Kicking wildly with hisleft leg, he had drawn back from the rail to the cockpit.
"Roundy!"
Marion Genevieve's pale face, washed over by a tiny ripple, slippedbeneath the water.
Snarling as though a wild beast had attacked him, Roundy snatched atthe coil of rope that Nap had accidentally kicked into his path. Withhis fingers, he tore at the hemp line that had snarled about his ankle.
The girl was above water again, coughing and spluttering and gropingfor some tangible support.
"_Roundy!_"
And then, quite without command or plan, the balance of the Black EaglePatrol, plus little Prissler, took his place.
Bunny was over first, with Bi, Jump and Specs close seconds. Napfollowed, hard pressed by Bonfire. Then S. S. and Prissler, and, lastof all, the freed Roundy.
Swiftly, surely, they cut their way to the helpless girl, wi
th Bunnyin the lead. Catching her dress near the back of her neck, he held herface clear of the water till, by clasping both hands under her chin, hewas able to swim slowly on his back and tow her to safety.
Jump and Nap swam alongside; Bonfire was lending a hand to the othershipwrecked miss; Prissler, who was obviously not as much at home inthe water as the others, wisely put back for the launch; while S. S.,ploughing through the water like a fish, was already clambering aboard,ready to start the engine. Bi, Roundy and Specs joined forces in towingthe upturned craft toward the power boat.
The rest was comparatively simple. The Scouts made no work at all ofclimbing back into the launch; and, with feet well braced, Bi and Specseasily lifted the two girls over the side. Marion Genevieve sank downon the leather cushions, weak and faint, though frightened rather thanharmed. The other girl, who introduced herself as Marion Genevieve'scousin, was able to laugh good-naturedly.
"We stood up in the boat," she said, "because we wanted to changeseats. And--well, that's all!"
"It may be all as far as you are concerned," thought more than oneScout, "but we're going somewhere in a hurry, and now we'll have totake you back to Shadow Island and tow that capsized boat, to boot."
But nobody was impolite enough to say this aloud.
Whatever Bunny wished to do, it was plain that he had no choice inthe matter. Though Marion Genevieve was not dangerously ill or faint,she kept up a moaning for her mother that could not be disregarded.Roundy, still a little disgruntled over his mishap, turned to thepatrol leader, who nodded toward Shadow Island. With a line fast to theswamped boat, the launch engine started and they began to move slowlytoward the shore line. It seemed to every boy that hours were beingwasted, but nobody complained.
Not till she was once more on dry land did Marion Genevieve seem tocome fully to herself. Then, while her relatives were still trying tothank the patrol, she suddenly remarked, "Why--why _all_ of you arewet!"
"Couldn't help it," said the cheerful Specs. "We all dove off the boatand forgot to take our umbrellas."
There were several emotions trying to express themselves on MarionGenevieve's face, but all she managed to say was, "I--I thank you--allof you! I'm very, very grateful."
"Oh, that's all right, Marion Genevieve," Specs laughed.
The girl's glance wavered. She picked at her wet dress. "I--Please!"she said imploringly. And then it came out, as if it wrenched her verysoul. "My name isn't Marion Genevieve," she told them. "It's Mary; mymiddle name is Jennie. I was called after two aunts of mine."
She was staring straight at Bunny now. He felt his cheeks redden. Itwas a hard position in which to put a fellow, he told himself, andprobably he'd say the wrong thing. But when he spoke, it was honestlyand naturally.
"I think Mary is a nice name," he said.
The girl's low "Thank you!" meant a good deal more to the Scouts thanthey were able to understand just then. Afterward, Specs tried to putit into words.
"She said it," he told the others, "as if she was sorry she had beenso--so snippish to us, and as if she wanted us to forget and make upand--and everything. I'll bet you Mary's going to be a regular girlafter this. I like her about twice as much as I ever did before."
But this was afterward. At the moment, the Scouts merely nodded in anembarrassed manner and set about the task of shoving the launch intodeep water, despite an almost irresistible appeal from the campers towait for a treat of strawberries and cake and lemonade.
"Well," remarked Roundy, when Shadow Island once more lay astern, "I'mglad we were there when we were needed. Just the same, I'm afraid we'velost out. I'll talk to the engine, but we can't go any faster than justso fast."
"There's time yet," Bunny insisted; "there must be time yet."
Far and faint across the two-mile stretch of water came the sound ofa bell. It pealed from the tower of Harrison City's big church: fourchimes--half-past ten.
Two miles of water and a mile of land to cover in twenty minutes! TheScouts looked despairingly at the steadily throbbing engine.
"It can't be done!" muttered Roundy. "It can't be done!"
FOOTNOTE:
[2] See "The Boy Scouts of Black Eagle Patrol."
Boy Scouts of Lakeville High Page 18