“Oh, girls, what shall we do?” asked Grace Laning, after the first dreadful alarm was at an end.
“Perhaps we had better jump overboard,” suggested Nellie Laning. “I don’t want to be burned alive!” And her wide-open eyes showed her terror.
“Don’t jump yet,” said Dora Stanhope, as bravely as she could.
“Oh, girls, we’ll be burned to death! I know it, I feel it!” wailed another seminary student.
“We are near Brill College,” said another. “Let us cry for help!” And then commenced the screaming that reached the players on the ball field and others near the water’s edge.
In the meantime, the captain of the steamer, aided by his men, was doing all in his power to subdue the flames. But oil when on fire is a hard thing to fight. The blaze was close to the engine room, and presently both the engineer and the firemen were driven from their posts. Then the steamer became unmanageable and drifted on the mud shoal, as already mentioned.
“We’ll have to get out the small boats,” cried the captain. But even as he spoke he knew that the small boats were of no avail, for they had not been used since the Thistle had been put into commission, three years before, and they were dried out, and would fill with water as soon as unshipped. Life preservers were to be had, and a few of the girls were thoughtful enough to supply themselves with these.
“Crowd her, Stanley!” cried Dick, as the launch headed straight for the burning steamer.
“I’ll give her all she will stand,” responded the owner of the launch, and he turned the lever down another notch. The revolutions of the flywheel increased, and the water was churned up in a white foam at the stern.
“Look out, back there, that you aren’t swamped!” yelled Stanley to Tom and Sam.
“We’ll look out!” was Sam’s answer. “Only hurry up, that’s all!”
As the launch and the rowboat it was towing neared the burning steamer the college students gazed eagerly at the forms on the forward deck of the Thistle. Nearly all of the seminary girls were still screaming, and some were waving their arms wildly.
“Help! help! help!” was the cry wafted over the water.
“We are coming!” yelled Dick. “Don’t jump overboard unless you are good swimmers!”
“Dick! Dick!” screamed Dora. “Oh, Dick!”
“Dora!” he answered.
“Oh, Tom!” came from Nellie. “Please take us off!”
“Sam, you are just in time!” added Grace.
“We’ll get you off—don’t worry!” cried Dick. “Just wait till we can bring the boats alongside and then—”
He was interrupted by a mad yell from one of the men on the steamer.
“Hurry up and leave!” yelled the man in terror. “We can’t get at the boilers no more and I guess she is going to blow up!”
CHAPTER III
COLLEGE BOYS TO THE RESCUE
“Oh, Dick! do you think the steamer will really blow up?” gasped Sam, as the two small boats ranged up beside the larger vessel.
“Perhaps—if they can’t get at the boilers to let off steam,” was Dick’s answer. “But they ought to have safety valves.”
“Maybe the man is so excited he doesn’t know what he is talking about,” put in Tom.
Fortunately the Thistle was not a high boat, but broad and shallow, so the rail of the vessel was but a few feet above that of the launch and the rowboat.
“Come, Dora, and Nellie and Grace!” called out Dick. “We’ll help you down.” He turned to Stanley. “Can you hold her?”
“Sure! But what are you going to do?”
“Climb up to the rail and help them down.”
“I’ll do the same!” cried Tom. “Steady the rowboat, Sam!”
In a few seconds Dick and Tom were at the rail of the Thistle. All of the girls who had been out for a picnic were in a bunch, and many of them were still screaming for help. But Dora and the Laning girls were now quiet, realizing that aid was close at hand. Another gasolene launch was coming up, dragging behind it nearly every rowboat Brill possessed.
It did not take Dick long to assist Dora over the rail and into the launch, and Nellie and Grace and several other girls followed. In the meantime Sam rescued a teacher and two girls. By this time the other launch was at hand, with the additional rowboats, and in a very few minutes all of the passengers of the Thistle had been transferred. In the excitement one of the college boys and one of the seminary girls fell overboard, but the other Brill lads promptly came to the rescue.
“Let us land the girls on the shore and then try to save the steamer,” suggested Dick.
“That’s the talk!” cried Stanley.
“Be careful—if she is ready to blow up!” warned Spud. “I don’t want to be blown into the middle of next year!”
“She won’t blow up!” cried the captain, who was still trying to direct his men as to what to do. “Don’t you hear the steam going off?”
“Then we’ll do what we can for you,” answered several of the college youths.
One after another the small boats landed on the shore, which was but a hundred yards away.
“Sam, you stay with the girls,” said Dick to his youngest brother. “They may want you to do something for them.”
“Oh, Dick, don’t get into trouble!” begged Dora, and bent her tender eyes full upon him.
“Don’t worry, Dora.”
“And, Tom, you be careful, too,” added Nellie.
“I will, Nellie,” he answered.
Both of the gasolene launches, with eight of the college boys on board, returned to the Thistle. The thick smoke of the burning oil was still rolling up the companionways and hatchways. But, with the deck cleared of passengers, the crew had a better chance to fight the flames.
“Captain, what can we do?” demanded Dick, as he climbed on deck, followed by Stanley and by Allen Charter, who owned the second launch.
“I don’t know,” answered the master of the vessel, almost helplessly. “That oil burns like fury.”
“Wouldn’t sand be good for the flames?” questioned Allen.
“Yes—but I ain’t got none—that is, not more’n a shovelful or two.”
“There is sand up at the boat dock!” cried Stanley. “They are going to use it for the new garage foundation.”
“Maybe we can haul the steamer up there,” suggested another student.
“We can try it,” answered Allen Charter. “What do you say, Captain?”
“I’m willing—if you can budge her.”
“She can’t be stuck very fast,” said Tom.
The college boys got into the two launches once more, and as speedily as possible ropes were fastened to the Thistle. Then the launches were started up and all power was turned on. At first the big vessel refused to budge.
“Don’t seem to be making any headway,” observed Frank Holden.
“Here we go!” cried Dick, and he was right. Slowly the Thistle moved off the mud shoal and commenced to turn. Then as slowly the vessel followed the two launches in the direction of the dock.
“We want sand!” yelled some of the boys on board. “Get the sand ready!”
The cries were understood, and by the time the Thistle was brought close to the dock, fully a score of boys stood ready with boxes and pails of sand to come on board. A gangplank was thrown out, and on deck hurried the sand carriers.
“That’s the stuff!” cried the captain, and his face brightened with hope. “Just give that sand to me and the engineer. We know where to put it.”
Boxes and pails were passed over with great rapidity, and the sand was taken below and thrown on the burning oil. It was hard and dangerous work and some of the men were all but overcome. While the work was going on Doctor Wallington arrived, followed by the college janitor and some others, all carrying fire extingu
ishers.
“Here, use these!” cried the master of the institution, and the fire extinguishers were soon brought into play. Dick got one and Tom another and with them succeeded in putting out the flames that had reached one end of the cabin.
All of the men and the boys worked like Trojans, and before long it could be seen that they were getting the best of the conflagration. The smoke was growing thinner and only an occasional spurt of flames showed itself.
“Hurrah! we’ll have it out soon!” cried Tom, enthusiastically.
“Yes, and I’ll be mighty glad of it,” muttered the captain of the vessel.
“I hope you are insured, Captain,” said Dick.
“I am—but a fire is always a loss, anyhow.”
“That is true.”
The boys and the men continued their labors, and inside of half an hour the fire was under control. Some of the men went below to make an examination.
“It’s mostly around the boilers,” said the engineer. “It’s a great mess.”
The hands of the Thistle continued to labor and in a short while the last spark of fire was put out. Then a tug was telephoned for to tow the vessel down the river to the town.
In the meanwhile Dick and Tom rejoined their brother and the girls. The students from Hope, with their teacher, had been invited to make themselves at home in the reception rooms of the college, and word of the disaster to the Thistle had been telephoned to the seminary. Word was also sent to the town, and a large number of persons came out to learn the extent of the disaster.
“The newspapers will make a spread of this,” was Tom’s comment. “We’d better send word home that everybody is safe.”
“Yes, do!” cried Nellie. “Mamma will be so worried when she hears about it.”
“Yes, we must send word at once,” added Dora. “Mamma can’t stand any excitement. She has had more than enough lately.”
“You mean because of this affair about the fortune, I suppose,” returned Dick. “It was an outrage for Tad Sobber to hold up the money the way he did.”
“Yes, Dick, but that is not all,” answered Dora. “I was going to tell you of something else the first chance I got.” She looked around, to see if anybody else was listening.
“About what, Dora?” he questioned, quickly.
“About old Josiah Crabtree.”
“Crabtree!” exclaimed the eldest Rover boy in astonishment. “What about him.”
The person mentioned will be well remembered by my old readers. Josiah Crabtree had once been a teacher at Putnam Hall and had caused the Rover boys a good deal of trouble. When Crabtree had discovered that the widow Stanhope was holding some money in trust for Dora, and also had quite some money of her own, he had done his best to get the widow to marry him. At that time Mrs. Stanhope had been sickly and easily led, and Crabtree had exercised a sort of hypnotic influence over her and all but forced her into a marriage. But his plot had been thwarted by the Rovers, and later on, Josiah Crabtree had been caught doing something that was against the law and had been sent to prison for it.
“He has been bothering mamma again,” went on Dora.
“Been bothering your mother! How can that be, since he is in prison?”
“He is out again. It seems that while he was in prison he acted so well that some folks took pity on him and got up a petition to have him pardoned. Now he is out, and almost the first thing he did was to call on mamma.”
“What did he have to say?”
“I don’t know, exactly. But I do know that mamma was greatly frightened, almost as much so as when Tad Sobber called and said he was going to get the fortune.”
“Did your mother think that Crabtree had reformed?”
“She wasn’t sure about that. What scared her was the fact that he called at all. She expected never to see him again.”
“Why didn’t she order him to keep away? That is what she ought to do.”
“I know it. But you know how mamma is, rather weak and not wanting to make trouble for anybody. She said she wished he wouldn’t call again, and she was greatly upset.”
“Then it’s a good thing you are going home soon, Dora. You’ll have to stay with her this summer.”
“Yes, we and the Lanings are going to stay altogether.”
“I wish we were going off on another trip together, Dora,” said Dick, in a lower voice. “Wasn’t our trip to Treasure Isle great?”
“Perfectly lovely—in spite of the troubles we had,” answered the girl.
“That’s the kind of a trip I am going to take again—when we go off on our honeymoon, Dora.”
“Oh, Dick!” And Dora flushed prettily. “How can you say such things, and in a crowd! Somebody may hear you!”
“Oh, I only want you to know—” began Dick, but just then Tom and Sam brushed up with Nellie and Grace, so the sentence was not finished. Dora gave him a meaning look and he held her arm considerably tighter than was necessary.
“Well, the picnic is off, and they are going to tow the steamer back,” explained Tom.
“And the young ladies are to be taken back to the seminary in the college carryall and carriages,” added Sam.
“What a shame!” murmured Tom innocently. “Now they are here I thought they’d stay till we went home.”
“Tom Rover! what an idea!” shrieked Nellie. “Why, we’ve got to go back for our last examination, and to pack.”
“Remember, we are to go East on the same train,” warned Dick. “Let me know just when you can start and I’ll arrange for the tickets.”
“We are to leave Hope on Wednesday,” said Grace.
“That will suit us,” answered Tom. “We might leave Tuesday afternoon, but it won’t hurt to stay here one night more.”
“It will give us time to rest up from the last day’s fun,” added Dick.
“Do you expect any fun on the last day?” questioned Dora.
“Do we?” cried Tom. “Just you wait and see, that’s all! We’ll turn old Brill inside out and upside down!” he added, with emphasis.
CHAPTER IV
WHAT FLOCKLEY HAD TO TELL
It was not long before the carryall of the college and several carriages were brought into use and in these the girls and their teacher were placed.
“We’ll see you Sunday!” called out Dick to Dora.
“Yes, we might as well go to church together,” added Sam; and so it was arranged.
“But about those messages home?” asked Nellie.
“We’ll send ’em—don’t you worry,” answered Tom. “We’ll go right down to Ashton now—on our bicycles.” And then the turnouts rolled away, and the students of Brill were left once more to themselves.
“Well, those girls can be thankful that the fire was no worse,” was Stanley’s comment.
“I reckon they are thankful,” answered Dick.
“They were mighty glad we came up with the boats,” said another student. “Some of them thanked us over and over again.”
“Huh! I don’t think the boats were needed,” muttered Dudd Flockley. “The water isn’t over two feet deep. They could have waded ashore.”
“The water is four to six feet deep and the bottom out there is soft mud!” cried Tom, “They’d either have to swim or run the risk of getting stuck in the mud!”
“Oh, Dudd is sore—because his hat was mashed,” cried another pupil.
“He’s sore because none of the girls thanked him,” added another.
“And he wasn’t thanked because he didn’t do anything,” said Spud.
“Aw! give us a rest!” muttered Flockley, and then walked away without another word.
“Say, did anybody notice William Philander Tubbs?” queried Will Faley. “He didn’t do much towards rescuing the girls, but when they got ashore he ran all the way to the college to get
a whisk broom, to brush them off!”
“Hurrah for Washtub! He’s the real hero!” cried Tom. “He thinks of the truly important things!”
“It was a grand spectacle—the thick black smoke pouring from that steamer,” came from Songbird. “I—er—I helped to get the sand. But even as I worked I couldn’t help but make up a few lines. They run like this:”
“All wrapt in flames, behold our craft!
She’ll plough the main no more!
Her gallant crew may well shed tears—”
“She’s burnt out to the core!”
finished Tom. “Only that isn’t true, for the Thistle wasn’t burnt to the core—in fact, the captain says she was burnt very little—thanks to the unswerving devotion of the gallant band of Brill fire-fighters who, undaunted by the terrifying perils of the horrible occasion succeeded, after almost superhuman endeavors, in quelling—”
“Great hambones! Tom’s sprung a leak!” interrupted Sam. “Tom, put on your low speed, or you’ll run away with yourself.”
“Ha, wretch! to interrupt such a superb flow of oratory!” cried the fun-loving Rover, in assumed grieved tones.
“As if you didn’t interrupt my poetry,” came ruefully from Songbird. “The next time I—er—recite I’ll see to it that you are not around.”
“Don’t do it, Birdie, I beg of you. I wouldn’t miss your verses for a quart of freckles.”
“Ashton—and the telegraph office!” sang out Dick. “Who is going along?” And the touch of hard feelings between Tom and Songbird was forgotten. Tom knew he had no right to interrupt the would-be poet the way he did, but—well, Tom was Tom, and he couldn’t help it.
The matter was talked over, and a party of nine was made up, including the Rovers and Songbird and Stanley. Soon the lads were on the way, having received permission from Doctor Wallington to be a little late for supper.
“We’ll return home by the Carlip Road,” said Dick.
“Right you are,” added Tom. He knew this would please Songbird, for the route mentioned would take them past the Sanderson farm, and the would-be poet would have a chance to see Minnie, the farmer’s daughter, with whom Songbird had of late been quite smitten.
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