CHAPTER XIV
THE FIRE
"You fellows have certainly made wonderful progress," Mr. Giles said toFly that evening as he sat on the porch of their residence with his wifeand son. "That man Hawke is a wonder. I'm as proud as anybody of thatfine aeroplane, and mighty proud that my boy helped in building it."
"You ain't any prouder than I am," said Fly, while his mother strokedhis red locks affectionately. "Hawke says he thinks I'm going to make agood flier. Gee, won't it be great to be up in the air sailing aroundlike a bird!"
"I'm a little afraid of accidents," said Mrs. Giles, who had beensomewhat worried about the safety of the venture, but had not wished todampen her son's enthusiasm.
"Oh, leave that to Hawke," exclaimed Fly confidently. "He's going tomake the first flight, although I wouldn't be afraid to go with him.Besides, we've got to get that sheep stealer. Herb's dad has been mightygood to us. We fellows are just crazy to find out what that killingthing is anyway. Gee, you ought to hear the way he howled the night Herbgot hurt!" Even now, Fly thrilled at the memory of the experience.
"Hello," he broke in, as Dunk appeared some yards from the house. "Comeon over."
"I'm tired," sighed Dunk, as he sat down beside Fly on the stoop, "but Ican't think of going to bed, I'm so excited over that plane."
"To-morrow we get it in the hangar," began Fly, "then the engine andthen, whoopee, up she goes!"
Fred, Jerry and Carlito strolled by at that moment, and, when they hadjoined the pair on the porch, made the same complaint as Dunk.
"I'm a little cut up over that old Indian, too," pondered Carl. "Iwouldn't be afraid to meet him single-handed, but when a redskin gets toplotting things behind his paint, watch out!"
"Oh, don't worry about that," protested Dunk, who did not understand aswell as Carl the malicious nature of a semi-wild Indian. "He's just alittle bit cracked, that's all."
"Sure," corroborated Jerry. "The bunch of us wouldn't do a thing to himif he got actin' funny."
Carl had apparently dismissed the subject, however, for he was throwinghis knife with a dexterity that only an Indian could have displayed. Hisaction invited competition, and soon there was a lively contest inprogress. Mr. and Mrs. Giles withdrew and left the boys to their game.
"Say, what's that?" exclaimed Dunk suddenly, in a voice of alarm.
"Smoke," yelled Jerry, jumping to his feet.
"Fire in the machine shop!" fairly screamed Carl as he started off on arun.
"The aeroplane!" gasped Fly.
"Get your buckets, quick!" ordered Fred, the coolest one of the bunch.
The boys ran to the side of the old barracks, just south of the machineshop, where the buckets were kept, yelling "Fire! Fire!" at the sametime.
As they turned the corner of the barracks sharply they unexpectedlybumped into the mysterious red man, who was crouching and feeling hisway along the wall. They were too excited to attach any importance tothe occurrence at the moment, and the Indian was soon making swiftly forthe open prairies to the west.
Aroused by the commotion, people were now running from all directions,and in an incredibly short time there was a good-sized crowd at thescene of the fire.
Carl had gone immediately to the shop. "Get a hose," he shouted to someidly gaping Greasers and soldiers who stood looking at the smoke whichpoured from the cracks of the doors and windows.
"Bring some buckets," he ordered to another group.
Carl made for the double doors, where a soldier was struggling to throwthem apart.
"Here, keep those shut," he commanded. "Do you want to eat the place upwith drafts?"
"We must keep it away from the plane," gasped Hawke, who had arrived asecond before.
The small brigade had formed a double chain from the well to the machineshop. One line passed the filled buckets and the other returned themempty. Soldiers and Greasers were put to work.
"It's in the front," Fred announced.
Immediately Carl smashed in a front pane with his fist, for the windowwas locked on the inside.
"Shove that hose in here," said Fred, as the soldier came up with asmall garden hose which gave forth a shallow spray of water.
Carl smashed in the companion window, and started to get inside.
"Here, hold on, Carl," protested Hawke. "That won't do."
But Carl shook him off and sprang through.
"Hand some buckets to me," he said. Fly, standing at the well, filledthe buckets, passing them on down the line until they reached Carl, whothrew them on the flames and then handed them back.
Hawke leaned through the window and tied a wet handkerchief over Carl'smouth and nose.
It had now grown quite dark, and there was little evidence of the firefrom the outside of the building, except for the smoke which pouredthrough the windows and cracks of the doors.
After a few minutes Carl sprang out of the window.
"It's eating its way toward the center," he announced hurriedly,snatching the handkerchief from his face. "We'll have to take a chanceon getting the plane out. Keep fighting though."
Fred took up his position outside and they fought the fire as best theycould through the open windows. Hawke, Jerry and Carl went to the sidedouble doors.
Captain Crawford and Mr. Giles arrived at this time, and took turnsrelieving the boys, whose arms were aching from swinging the heavybuckets.
While the structure was of substantial brick, and the equipment of themachine shop consisted mostly of iron and metal and little combustiblematerial, a large amount of debris had been piled in one corner of theshop, awaiting removal, and this burned quickly, giving the fire a goodstart. The one thought in the minds of the boys was to keep the flamesfrom getting back to the aeroplane.
Hawke, Carl and Jerry had decided to open the double doors and go insidethe burning building. As the others were at the front fighting the fire,there was no one to protest, except some of the frightened Greasers whoinsisted that "You fellows'll get killed."
"Close those doors as soon as we get in," said Carl in answer to theirprotests. "And the minute we give the signal open them again."
"Don't lose any time opening them, either," warned Hawke. "We'll all beneeding air by that time."
"Jump in as quick as you can, Jerry," said Carl, as they slid the doorback just enough to make an entrance.
Once inside, all three dropped on their hands and knees, first tyingabout the lower parts of their faces handkerchiefs which they haddampened.
They crept, wriggled and crawled in the direction of the machine. Theair was stifling, and it was with the greatest difficulty that theycould breathe, but, groping in the smoke and darkness, Carl finally gothis hands on the truck.
Jerry and Hawke were quick to give him assistance, though none of themcould do much more than fumble, handicapped as they were by the smokeand heat and their awkward position. The truck was a frail affair, andit would have been slow work at best. Under present conditions, theperil of upsetting the plane and of damaging if not losing it in thefire trap, demanded double caution.
Speech was impossible, but the three rescuers were practically of onemind, all realizing the importance of the hazardous mission they hadundertaken, as inch by inch, they cautiously moved the plane nearer tothe closed door. Hawke slowly pushed from the rear, while Carl and Jerrycrawled on each side, steadying the machine with upraised arms. Theirposition was awkward and uncomfortable. After a few minutes it grewactually painful, their arms and bodies aching from the strain, and theyfelt themselves gradually growing weaker.
The fire had now about reached the center of the shop, and they couldhear the shouts of the boys and others, ignorant of their plight,outside. Jerry could hear his father's voice raised in command, now andthen, but, though he was gaining ground, the voices outside seemedgrowing fainter and fainter.
"Doctor Rivers has gone to Silver City with his machine to bring downthe fire department," said Captain Crawford, his shirt soiled and wetand his face grimy with smoke.
The bucket brigade had kept up a continuous fight, and had doneadmirably in keeping the blaze in check. The fire had had such a start,however, that it seemed almost impossible to save the building. Theywere all, therefore, very much relieved to learn of Dr. Rivers' actionand that help might soon be forthcoming.
"Maybe we can keep it under way until that time," said Fred, swinging abucket in his aching arms. Two reels of hose had been found about thefort, and these were being used by Dunk and Captain Crawford. Three orfour lanterns had been lit, but their pale light was scarcely needed,for the moon shone down full and bright, and this, aided by the light ofthe fire, which had eaten through the front of the building, made thefort as bright as day.
"Where's Carl?" suddenly asked Dunk.
"Jerry isn't here either," exclaimed Captain Crawford, hastilyinspecting the line of boys.
At that moment a soldier rushed up to the captain.
"Three of your fellows went into the shop quite a while ago," he shoutedabove the din. "They told us not to open the doors until they gave thesignal. Said they were going to get the aeroplane out. Seems they'vebeen there a long time."
The captain paled and dropped his hose, starting after the soldier on arun. After disposing of their buckets, which they put into the hands oftwo watching Greasers, Dunk and Fred started after them.
A loud toot was heard just then, and Dr. Rivers came dashing up, hismachine loaded with men from Silver City, the hose cart being attachedto the back of the automobile. The new firemen started to work at once,a great relief to the tired boys and men of the fort. A second after,Herb and his father galloped into the parade grounds.
"Throw open those doors," gasped the captain, when the party reached therear of the building. Fred and Dunk readily complied. The air pouredinto the interior, driving the smoke back and a sheet of eager flamesmounted to the ceiling.
Within a foot of the door, however, was the aeroplane. As Fred rushedinto the building he stumbled over the prostrate body of Carl, who hadmanaged to crawl as far as the door to give the signal but had lostconsciousness at the last moment. He was quickly dragged out into theopen air, while the captain, Herb, Dunk and Fly, throwing themselvesdown on all fours, crept after the other two. They located them not farfrom Carl, by the side of the machine, and all three were soon receivingcareful attention from Dr. Rivers.
Jerry and Hawke were soon revived, and taken to the Crawford residencewhere they were put under the care of Mrs. Crawford and Mrs. Windham.
Carl's condition gave some alarm. All efforts of the doctor to bring himto consciousness seemed fruitless. There was a great bump over his lefttemple, showing that he had hurt himself in falling, and the blow hadpartly stunned him.
At last, however, to the great relief of everybody, he opened his eyes.At first he looked bewildered at the anxious faces above him. Thencatching sight of a bucket which Fly held in his hand, he seemed torealize the state of affairs at once.
Suddenly, without warning, he jumped to his feet.
"I must get the money out of my room," he cried, lurching forward, butfell back again limp.
The boys looked from one to the other. For the first time since the firebegan they remembered that Carl's room was over the shop, and by thistime, was completely ruined.
Boy Scouts of the Air in Indian Land Page 14