CHAPTER VI
THE FIRE
"Gee whiz! I'm glad I don't have to do this every day," said Tom, as hestood, ruefully regarding his trunk, whose lid refused to close byseveral inches.
"I'm jiggered if I see why it should look like that. Even with thefellows' things, it isn't half as full as it was when I came from home,and it didn't cut up like that."
The Easter holidays were approaching, and "the three guardsmen" hadreceived a most cordial invitation from Mr. Hollis to spend them withhim at his home.
Feeling the strain of the baseball season, the fellows were only tooglad of a short breathing spell and had gratefully accepted theinvitation. They were looking forward with eager anticipation to thevisit.
They would not need very much luggage for just a few days' stay, so, asTom owned a small steamer trunk, they had decided to make it serve forall three. The fellows had brought their things in the night before andleft Tom to pack them.
Tom had heard people say that packing a trunk was a work of time, andhad congratulated himself on the quickness and ease with which thatparticular trunk was packed; but when he encountered the almosthuman obstinacy with which that lid resisted his utmost efforts, heacknowledged that it wasn't "such a cinch after all."
After one more ineffectual effort to close it, he again eyed itdisgustedly.
"I can't do a blamed thing with it," he growled, and then catching thesound of voices in Dick's room overhead, he shouted:
"Come on in here, fellows, and help me get this apology for a trunkshut."
When Dick and Bert reached him, Tom was stretched almost full length onthe trunk and raining disgusted blows in the region of the lock.
He looked so absurdly funny that the fellows executed a war dance ofdelight and roared with laughter, and then proceeded to drag Tom bodilyoff the trunk.
Landing him with scant ceremony on the floor, they proceeded to show thediscomfited Freshman that a trunk lid with any spirit could not consentto close over an indiscriminate mixture of underwear, pajamas, suits ofclothes, collar boxes, and shoe and military brushes--most of theselatter standing upright on end.
With the brushes lying flat, boxes stowed away in corners, andclothing smoothly folded, the balky trunk lid closed, as Tom, grinningsheepishly, declared, "meeker a hundred times than Moses."
This disposed of, and dressed and ready at last, their thoughts andconversation turned with one accord to the delightful fact that Mr.Hollis was to send the old "Red Scout" to take them to his home.
The very mention of the name "Red Scout" was sufficient to set all threetongues going at once, as, during the half-hour before they could expectthe car, they recalled incidents of that most glorious and excitingsummer at the camp, when the "Red Scout" had been their unending sourceof delight.
"Do you remember," said Tom, "the first time we went out in her, when wewere so crazy with the delight of it that we forgot everything else, andgave her the speed limit, and came near to having a once-for-allsmash-up?"
They certainly did. "And," said Dick, "the day we gave poor old BiddyHarrigan her first 'artymobile' ride. Didn't she look funny when thewind spread out that gorgeous red feather?"
They all laughed heartily at this recollection, but their faces grewgrave again as they recalled the time when, the brake failing to work,they rushed over the bridge with only a few inches between them anddisaster.
"That certainly was a close call," said Bert, "but not so close as therace we had with the locomotive. I sure did think then that our time hadcome."
"But," Tom broke in, "'all's well that ends well,' and say, fellows,_did_ it end well with us? Will you ever forget that wonderful race withthe 'Gray Ghost'? Great Scott! I can feel my heart thump again as it didthat final lap. And that last minute when the blessed old 'Red Scout'poked her nose over the line--_ahead_!" and in his excitement Tom beganforging around the room at great speed, but made a rush for the windowat the sound of a familiar "toot, to-oo-t."
"There she is," he announced joyfully, and, taking the stairs threesteps at a time, and crossing the campus in about as many seconds, theygave three cheers for the old "Red Scout," which bore them away fromcollege scenes with its old-time lightning speed.
Easter was late that year and spring had come early. There had been anumber of warm days, and already the springing grass had clothed theearth in its Easter dress of soft, tender green. Tree buds were burstinginto leaf, and in many of the gardens that they passed crocuses werelifting their little white heads above the ground. Robins flashed theirred and filled the air with music. Spring was everywhere! And, as thewarm, fragrant air swept their faces they thrilled with the very joy ofliving, and almost wished the ride might last forever.
At last, "There is Mr. Hollis' house, the large white one just beforeus," said the chauffeur, and, so swiftly sped the "Red Scout" thatalmost before the last word was spoken, they stopped and were cordiallywelcomed by Mr. Hollis.
As they entered the hall they stood still, looked, rubbed theireyes and looked again. Then Tom said in a dazed way, "Pinch me,Bert, I'm dreaming." For there in a row on either side of the hallstood every last one of the fellows who had camped with them thatnever-to-be-forgotten summer. Bob and Frank and Jim Dawson, Ben Cooperand Dave and Charlie Adams, and--yes--peeping mischievously from behindthe door, Shorty, little Shorty! who now broke the spell with:
"Hello, fellows. What's the matter? Hypnotized?"
Then--well it was fortunate for Mr. Hollis that he was used to boys, andso used also to noise; for such a shouting of greetings and babel ofquestions rose, that nobody could hear anybody else speak. Little theycared. They were all together once more, with days of pure pleasure inprospect. Nothing else mattered; and Mr. Hollis, himself as much a boyat heart as any one of them, enjoyed it all immensely.
Glancing at the clock, he suddenly remembered that dinner would soon beserved, and drove the three latest arrivals off to their room toprepare.
Short as the ride had seemed to the happy automobilists, it had lastedseveral hours. Though they had eaten some sandwiches on the way, theywere all in sympathy with Tom who, while they prepared for dinnerconfided to his chums that he was a "regular wolf!"
It goes without saying that they all did ample justice to that firstdinner, and that there never was a jollier or more care-free company.None of the boys ever forgot the wonderful evening with Mr. Hollis.
A man of large wealth and cultivated tastes, his home was filled withobjects of interest. He spared no pains to make his young guests feel athome and gave them a delightful evening.
The pleasant hours sped so rapidly that all were amazed when the silverychimes from the grandfather's clock in the living room rang out eleveno'clock, and Mr. Hollis bade them all "good-night."
They had not realized that they were tired until they reached theirrooms. Once there, however, they were glad to tumble into theircomfortable beds, and, after a unanimous vote that Mr. Hollis was abrick, quiet reigned at last.
To Bert in those quiet hours came a very vivid dream. He thought he waswandering alone across a vast plain in perfect darkness at first, inwhich he stumbled blindly forward.
Suddenly there came a great flash of lightning which gleamed for amoment and was gone. Instantly there came another and another, one soclosely following the other that there was an almost constant blindingglare, while all the while the dreamer was conscious of a feeling ofapprehension, of impending danger.
So intense did this feeling become and so painful, that at last thedreamer awoke--to find that it was not all a dream! The room was nolonger dark and he saw a great light flashing outside his window pane.Springing from bed it needed only one glance to show him that the wingof the neighboring house only a few hundred feet away was in flames.
Giving the alarm, and at the same time pulling on a few clothes, herushed out of the house and over to the burning building. So quick washis action that he had entered into the burning house and shouted thealarm of fire before Mr. Hollis and his guests
realized what washappening. Very soon all the inmates of Mr. Hollis' house and of theneighboring houses rushed to the scene to do what they could, whileawaiting the arrival of the local fire engines.
In the meantime Bert had stopped a screaming, hysterical maid as she wasrushing from the house and compelled her to show him where her mistressslept. The poor lady's room was in the burning wing and Bert and Mr.Hollis, who had now joined him, broke open the door. They found herunconscious from smoke and, lifting her, carried her into the open air.
Nothing could be learned from the maids. One had fainted and the otherwas too hysterical from fright to speak coherently. One of the neighborstold them that the owner was away on business and not expected home forseveral days. He asked if the child were safe, and just at that momentthe little white-clad figure of a child about six years old appeared atone of the upper gable windows.
By this time, though the engines had arrived, and were playing streamsof water on the burning building, the fire had spread to the main houseand both the lower floors were fiercely burning. Entrance or escape bythe stairways was an impossibility, and the longest ladders reachedbarely to the second story windows. The local fire company was notsupplied with nets.
It seemed to all that the little child must perish, and, to add to thehorror of the scene, the child's mother had regained consciousness, and,seeing her little one in such mortal danger, rushed frantically towardthe burning house. She was held back by tender but strong hands. Shecould do nothing to help her child, but her entreaties to be allowed togo to her were heart-breaking.
All but one were filled with despair. Bert, scanning the building forsome means of rescue, saw that a large leader pipe ran down a corner ofthe building from roof to ground, and was secured to the walls of thehouse by broad, iron brackets. The space between it and the window wherethe child stood seemed to be about three feet. If he could climb thatleader by means of those iron supports, he might be able to leap acrossthe intervening space and reach the window.
All this passed through Bert's mind with lightning-like rapidity. Heknew that if he failed to reach the window--well, he would not considerthat.
Coming to quick decision, he ran forward, dodged the detaining handsstretched out, and before anyone had an inkling of his purpose, wasclimbing the ladder from bracket to bracket. More than one calledfrantically to come back, but with the thought of that despairingmother, and with his eyes fixed on the little child in the window, hewent on steadily up, foot by foot, until, at last, he was on a levelwith the window. Now he found that distance had deceived him and thatthe window was fully five feet away instead of three.
The crowd, standing breathless now, and still as death, saw him pauseand every heart ached with apprehension, fearing that he would be forcedto return and leave the little one to her awful fate. Eyes smarted withthe intensity with which they stared. Could he with almost nothing tobrace his feet upon, spring across that five feet of wall? He could noteven take a half-minute to think. The flames might at any second burstthrough the floor into the room in which the little child had takenrefuge. He dared not look down, but in climbing he had noticed that theflames, as the wind swayed them, were sweeping across the ladders. Hemust decide.
His resolve was taken, and he gathered his muscles together for thespring.
Now, Bert, you have need to call upon all your resources. Well for youthat your training on the diamond has limbered and strengthened yourmuscles, steadied your nerves, quickened your eye, taught you lightningperception and calculation and decision. You have need of them all now.Courage, Bert! Ready, now!
The frantic mother saw him gather himself together and spring to whatseemed to be certain death. His fingers grip the window sill, but, ashis weight drags upon them, they slip. Ah! he never can hold that smoothsurface--and many turn away their faces, unable to bear the sight. Butlook! he is still there. His fingers desperately tighten their grip uponthe sill, and now he begins to draw himself up, slowly, reaching insidethe window for a firmer hold. He has his knee on the sill--and a greatshout goes up from the crowd as he drops inside the window beside thechild.
But their relief was short-lived, for now the same thought seizedeveryone. How was he to get back? He could not return the way he wentup, for, even unhampered by the child, he could not make the leap backto the pipe. With anxious, despairing eyes, they watched the window fromwhich great clouds of smoke were pouring now, mingled with tiny tonguesof flame.
It seemed an hour that they had waited, but it was only a few momentsbefore the brave fellow reappeared at the window, with the child wrappedin a blanket, strapped firmly to his shoulders. Another moment and along woolen blanket dangled from the window sill, and with the agilityof a monkey Bert began to let himself down hand over hand. With beatinghearts into which hope had begun again to creep, the breathless peoplewatched him.
But surely the flames, sweeping now up and out from the second storywindow will shrivel that blanket and burn it through. But they do not,for though they wrap themselves fiercely about it, they seem unable todestroy it; and now his feet touch the topmost round of the ladder.Another moment and his hands are upon it also.
Now at last the crowd bursts into cheer upon cheer. Willing hands reachup and seize the now almost exhausted young hero, and lift him and hisburden to the ground.
The child, thanks to the blanket in which Bert had wrapped her, wasunhurt and in a moment was sobbing in her mother's arms, that happymother who, overcome with joy, could only strain her rescued treasure toher heart with murmured words of love and thanksgiving.
Bert's friends crowded around him with joyful congratulations, while Mr.Hollis, filled with rejoicing at his young friend's wonderful escapefrom death and with admiration for his fearless bravery, grasped him bythe hand, saying, "I'm proud of you, Bert, I'm proud of you! You're ahero."
Bert winced at that close grip and Mr. Hollis, looking down, saw thatthe hands were badly burned and hurried him from the scene, the admiringfellows closely following.
The mother with her child had been taken away by kind and sympatheticfriends, but not before she had thanked Bert with full heart for givingher child back to her.
No king ever held higher court or with more devoted or admiring subjectsthan did Bert while they waited at Mr. Hollis' home for the coming of adoctor to dress his burns. Nothing was talked of but the exciting eventsof the day and Bert's share in them. With faces still glowing withexcitement, they lived over again all the events of the early morning,and Bert had to answer all sorts of questions as to "How he ever came tothink of that leader pipe?" "What he would have done if the blanket hadburned through?" and a dozen others.
"Well," Shorty summed up, "Bert sure is a wonder," to which there was ahearty assent.
The arrival of the doctor put an end to all this to Bert's great relief,for he was much too modest to enjoy being praised.
The burns were found to be not very serious, but the pain added to thegreat physical exertion and the intense nervous strain had brought poorBert almost to the breaking point, and the doctor ordered him to bed.
Very gladly he settled down after so many hours of excitement with Mr.Hollis' parting words in his ears, "If I had a son like you, Bert, Ishould be very proud of him to-day."
He was drifting happily into dreamland when Tom poked his head insidethe door and said, "You've got to answer one more question before you goto sleep, old man. What charm did you work around that old blanket youcame down on from the window so that it would not burn?"
"Made it soaking wet, bonehead," came the sleepy reply, and Tomvanished.
Bert Wilson's Fadeaway Ball Page 6