Chapter 6 SCOUTS TO THE RESCUE.

Feeling sure that the rest of the scouts, as well as Hiram, the overgrown country boy who worked on the farm, would be along shortly, Thad and Allan seized upon a couple of buckets, filled them at the watering trough near by, and hastened toward the burning building.

The farmer, partly dressed, was doing valiant work already, and his wife kept up a constant pounding of the pump, filling buckets as fast as the man of the house emptied them.

When the two scouts got to work things began to look more hopeful, though with the flames making such rapid headway it promised to be a hard fight to win out.

Thad wondered why the fire should have gained such a tremendous headway, but later on the mystery was explained, and he understood the reason. When kerosene is dashed around it offers splendid food for fire, once the flame is applied.

Now came all of the other fellows, eager to lend a helping hand. The farmer had been neighborly and kind, and his folks had helped to make a pleasant night for their unexpected but nevertheless welcome guests, and on this account alone Thad and his chums felt that they must do all in their power to save the house. Then again they were scouts, and as such had cheerfully promised to always assist those in trouble, whether friends, strangers, or even enemies.

They found all manner of vessels capable of holding more or less water. Bumpus even manipulated a footbath, although on one or two occasions he had to stumble as usual, and came very near being drowned in consequence, since he deluged himself from head to foot with the contents.

When such a constant stream of water was being poured upon the fire it could not make much headway.

"Keep her going!" yelped Giraffe, whose long legs allowed him to make more frequent trips back and forth than any of the others; "we've got her at a standstill now, and the next thing you know she'll cave under. More water this way! Everybody's doing it! Hi! Bumpus, don't upset that ocean over me; it's the fire that wants putting out, not me. Whee! look at that, would you; he smothered it with that deluge. Bully for you, Bumpus! Do it some more, boy! You're sure a brick!"

They worked like beavers, every fellow acting as though the success of the undertaking depended wholly upon his individual efforts. When the good woman fell back, completely exhausted with her efforts, the two girls nobly responded to the call, and pumped away as only sturdy country lassies could, filling the buckets that came their way as speedily as possible.

It was very lively while it lasted, and none of those who took part in that midnight battle with the devouring element would soon forget their exciting experience.

The fire seemed to be confined to the room in which it had started, so that the damage would not be extended, which was one satisfaction at least.

To the boys it was next door to a picnic. They just gloried in participating in such an exciting event as this, and some of them may even have felt a little disappointment because the battle with the devouring element promised to be of such short duration, though of course that did not mean they would have been glad to have seen further disaster overtake their friend the farmer.

Thad and Allan would not allow anyone to relax their efforts in the slightest degree, even when it became positive that they were quickly putting out the last of the fire. Until every spark had been properly extinguished there must lie no stoppage to the good work. A fire is only put out when there is no longer any danger of its awakening to new life when one's back is turned.

Finally the work was done, and they could rest themselves. The man had gone into the kitchen and started a blaze in the stove there, for the night air seemed chilly, and none of them was dressed any too warmly.

"Well, this old tramp promises to make a new record along the line of excitement for our crowd, and that's a fact!" declared Step Hen, as he took a drink of cold water, for his recent exertions had "warmed him up inside," he remarked.

"I should remark it did," added Giraffe; "and who can say what lies ahead of us yet? One thing follows another like a procession. But I'm glad we happened to be here at the right time, so we could help save the farmhouse. These people have been mighty kind to us, and it's nice to be able to pay 'em back."

"Say, Thad, I hope now we didn't have anything to do with that fire?" remarked Davy, who lowered his voice as he spoke, as though unwilling to have anyone outside of his comrades hear what he said.

"Well, I reckon we had a heap to do with extinguishing the same, anyhow," Giraffe told him; "but what do you mean, Davy? Don't act so mysterious, but blurt it out."

"Are you sure you didn't leave any fire where you cooked supper, Giraffe, that could have been scooped up by the rising wind, and carried to the house up here? That's what's bothering me."

"Don't let it worry you a whit any longer then," Thad told him promptly; "because Allan and I made sure to examine the fireplace, and we found that Giraffe, like a true scout, had thrown water on the last spark. It was cold and dead. So you see, Davy, we couldn't have had anything to do with its starting."

"Then what happened?" asked Smithy, who evidently did not know that he had a ridiculous long black smooch down one side of his face, or he would not have looked so well satisfied, because Smithy still cared a great deal for his personal appearance, and sometimes even brushed his hair on the sly when in camp.

"We'll have to find that out from the farmer," said Thad.

They looked in the kitchen where the owner of the house had last been seen, but he was not there. Just then they heard him calling them.

"Come in here, boys!" he kept saying; and presently they located the voice as coming from the living room, where the fire had been confined, thanks to their energetic labors.

As they pushed in there they saw that it was pretty much of a wreck; but as the farmer's wife had already told Thad they were fully insured, the result would be more of an inconvenience, and the loss of family treasures, than any great amount of pecuniary damage.

The farmer was standing at an old desk that was part bookcase. It had somehow managed to escape the flames that came upon most of the contents of the sitting-room.

"They got my little pile, all right," he started to say, as the scouts crowded into the damaged and blackened room, now several inches deep with water; "but I'm glad it wasn't very much. If this had happened three weeks ago I'd have stood to lose several thousand dollars, because I sold a patch of land, and had the cash overnight in this same desk, though I banked it next day."

Thad was immediately deeply interested. He saw in these significant words of the farmer an explanation of the mystery as to how the fire could have started.

"Do you mean to tell us that you have been robbed, sir?" he asked; and the old man nodded his head.

"I woke up, and thought I heard the low sound of voices downstairs here," he went on to explain; "so I got out of bed, after waking Nancy, picked up my gun, and came down the stairs. They creak like all get-out, and must 'a' told the scamps somebody was coming. Just as I got to the door I saw two men by the desk here, that they had forced open; and I guess they'd copped my little roll of bills about that time. Well, I was struck dumb at the sight at first, and then I remembered my gun; but before I could swing it up to my shoulder one of them swept the lighted lamp from the table to the floor.

"The flash that came blinded me, and I forgot all about the robbers in thinking about saving my house. Then Nancy she came down, and we got busy. All at once I remembered you boys in the barn, and Hiram, and I started to yellin' at the top of my voice, but pitchin' water all the while. That's how the fire started, you see; and we're sure beholdin' a heap to you boys for helpin' put it out as smart as we did. It looks tough, for a fact, but sho! it might 'a' been heaps worse."

"But the dog-what d'ye reckon they could have done to him?" asked Giraffe.

"It might be they pizened Toby," replied the farmer; "I wouldn't put it past that tough pair to do anything. But chances are the dog's off to the woods huntin' rabbits. He often runs away like that and stays all night long. If I tie him up he barks enough to set us crazy. I'll have to get rid of him, and find a better watchdog."

"Well, things are getting warmer right along, ain't they?" Step Hen wanted to know. "A fire was bad enough, but when you find out that it was started by thieves, and that they actually robbed the house first, it gets more and more exciting. Now the Silver Fox Patrol has done something along lines like that before; and mebbe we might again, given half a fair chance."

"I suppose the two men didn't wait to see what happened after they had knocked the lamp over, and the flames shot up?" remarked Allan, thoughtfully; and the farmer was quick to reply.

"They cleared out in a big hurry, because I didn't see anything more of the pair," he admitted. "But then they got what they came after, and that satisfied the rascals. And I don't reckon there's a single chance in ten I'll ever recover that fifty dollars, barring twenty cents, that I got for the last two loads of hay I took into town. But then my house is left, and we'll get some insurance to pay for repairs, so I'm not complaining. There's only one thing that makes me mad."

"What was that, Mr. Bailey?" asked Davy, deeply interested.

"That I was so stunned at sight of them fellers robbin' my desk I forgot I had an old Civil War musket in my hands. I had ought to've let fly, and knocked one of the pizen critters silly. I'll never forgive myself for bein' so slow to act."

Thad had his own ideas about that. Had the farmer fired that long-barreled musket at such close range he would possibly have killed one of the men; and whether such a tragedy would have been justified under the circumstances was and must remain an open question. If his life had been threatened of course the farmer would have done right to defend himself to the utmost; but Thad believed that had it been him he would have allowed the men to get some distance away before sending a load of shot at them, his object being to wound and not slay.

It was certainly good, however, to find that Mr. Bailey took things so philosophically all around. Some men would have been bewailing their misfortune, and never once seeing how much they had to be thankful for.

"Do you think you would know either or both of them again if you happened to set eyes on them, sir?" asked the patrol leader, with an object in view.

"I saw them faces as plain as I do yours, my boy," responded the farmer, soberly, "and I'm dead sartin I'd know 'em again. Why-whatever am I thinkin' about, to be sure? Say, you boys ought to know that you've got nigh as much interest in findin' them tramps as I feel. You wonder why I say that, do you? I'll explain it to you in a jiffy. Listen then. One of the thieves had red hair, and he was wearin' an old faded blue army coat with red lining in it. That's why!"

It seemed as though every one of those eight scouts drew a deep breath that had the sound of a sigh. They looked at one another, at first with wonder in their faces, and then Giraffe was heard to give vent to what he intended should be a joyous chuckle. The sound was contagious, for immediately broad smiles began to appear here and there, and there was a general hand-shaking as though the news were deemed important enough to make them congratulate each other.

It was a fact calculated to make them feel that the long chase had not been useless, when they thus learned so suddenly that the man they hunted had been almost in their power half an hour before.