Chapter XX
The Struggle to Save the Town
Sim counted the figures that came trooping out through the opening where the smashed door lay a wreck. When he found that none were missing, a great load seemed lifted from his heart.
“Hurrah! it’s all working out as it should, and now we’ll see what Rob Blake’s plan is going to do for Wyoming!” he found himself shouting; although Sim was so greatly excited, he hardly knew himself what he said.
Ralph could be seen with the reel of wire in his possession. He was plainly unwinding it as he went, while Rob undertook to see that there were no kinks in the strands as they came off the barrel of the reel. Soon they were alongside Sim, who fell in step with the others.
The Fire Chief looked additionally anxious. He undoubtedly knew what tremendous issues were involved in this last effort to save the town. Gallantly had he and his followers battled with the destroying foe, but so long as that furious breeze held out, all their efforts would have been in vain. He knew that unless some such desperate remedy as this explosion came to the relief of the outclassed fire department, the fate of Wyoming was sealed.
He devoted himself just now to seeing that there were no stragglers close enough to the doomed building to be injured when the dynamite was exploded. Several men belonging to one of the fire companies could be seen nearby, trying to turn the nozzle of the hose they wielded so that a stream of water would fall upon the old building; for it was recognized that unless the conflagration could be halted at this particular spot all work was useless.
Chief Megrue shouted to them, and when he had by this means caught their attention, he beckoned wildly. Although they might not quite understand what his motions meant, at least they were accustomed to obeying orders without questioning.
Dragging their hose after them with an effort, they commenced to head toward the spot where the Chief stood. This promised to take time, for their load was heavy; and seconds just then counted considerably more than a new supply of hose meant to the imperiled town.
“Drop it, and come here as fast as you can run!” bellowed Chief Megrue, using his hands in lieu of a megaphone; for it seemed that he had lost his trumpet while hard pushed to escape from a fiery trap when caught in a building that suddenly burst into flames, giving him scant time to dash out again to safety.
The men looked as though they could not understand what he meant. They evidently disliked abandoning a length of perfectly sound hose when there seemed no absolute necessity for it. Again did the Chief shout at them, continuing his wild beckoning at the same time.
“Hurry this way! Drop that hose, and come as fast as you can! We are going to dynamite that building, don’t you understand, you fools?”
Perhaps that one word “dynamite” gave them their cue, for without any further hesitation the three men dropped the hose, which commenced to writhe like a snake as the force of the water passing through the brass nozzle turned it this way and that. So they started to run toward the Chief.
Meanwhile Ralph, assisted by Rob, had continued to move steadily away. The wire would allow of their proceeding to a safe distance, when the battery could be quickly attached, and a connection made.
Sim had now been joined by both Tubby and Andy. All of them felt their hearts beating tumultuously, for no one could do more than guess at the result of the bold plan.
One thing sure, they had not left the old building a minute too soon. Why, it was on fire even then, for Sim could see flames creeping along the roof. He wondered whether there would be any break in the wire sufficient to prevent the full current of electricity from passing along it when Ralph came to making the contact. If such a thing did happen, it would be much too late to try and remedy the defect, because after that time it must be sheer madness for any one to dream of entering the deserted factory again.
Surely Ralph and Rob must by now have gained a sufficient distance to be safe from any debris that might be thrown up into the air when the explosion came. Still, Ralph was the doctor in this instance, for he had had the experience in blasting out stumps and dislodging great rocks by the use of the dynamite.
Mr. Jeffords was there, too, watching his boy with eagerness. Then, besides, there were the trio of bedraggled firemen who had joined their chief at his command, all of them deeply interested in the success or failure of the scheme that meant so much for Wyoming.
The clamor all around them was just as boisterous as ever, for certainly nothing had occurred to tone it down. The citizens, facing complete destruction for their town, were hoarse with shouting; but their main thought now was to make sure of the safety of the women and children, who could be seen fleeing through most of the streets, awed by the terrible nature of the calamity.
Nevertheless, none of those who watched Ralph and Rob paid the least attention to these outside occurrences. The fire might roar, and the populace shriek in terror, but just then their undivided attention was given to the little drama being unfolded before their eyes.
Ah! Ralph no longer pushed on. Whether he had reached the end of his wire coil, or believed that it was useless to cover more ground did not matter. What did count was the fact that he and Rob were feverishly attaching the battery and switch to the wires, showing that they intended to test their hastily arranged programme without further delay.
“Oh! hurry, hurry, please!” groaned Tubby, speaking to himself, of course, but in so doing voicing the feeling that held sway in every heart; for the building was rapidly being clutched in the ever extending fingers of the fire, and would soon be such a mass of flames that to wreck it might do more harm than good.
“It’s all ready!” whooped Sim, as he saw by the actions of the two boys that they had succeeded in making the attachments.
Then Ralph pushed Rob forward. It could be seen that he meant to force the scout leader to press the button that would complete the work. Even in that dreadful moment Ralph did not forget that it had been Rob’s brilliant idea, after all, and to his chivalrous mind it seemed only right and proper that Rob’s hand should be the one by means of which Wyoming might be saved.
Rob did not hesitate. This was no time for expostulation. He proceeded to do as the other urged him. Those who stood by held their breath with awe, watching the old deserted factory the while, as though everything depended on the result of Ralph’s efforts.
They saw the building give a distinct shiver. Then the very earth under them actually rocked as if an earthquake had taken place. Tubby was thrown down, and the rest had more or less difficulty in keeping on their feet, such was the concussion of air as the dynamite went off.
They also heard a heavy roar, and then, wonder of wonders, the old building seemed to collapse, to fall down like a house made of cards. There was a horrible series of crashing sounds; some remnants even fell close by the boys, though luckily none of them received the slightest injury. Then, as the smoke shifted and the dust clouds settled, they saw a great gap where the deserted factory had stood.
The Fire Chief was awake to the possibility of the debris presenting a new peril. He immediately gave orders to the three men to make their way forward, and if the hose were still in condition for use to turn the nozzle toward the wreck.
Then he hastened away to fetch up others, so that all efforts might be concentrated on that one section. The fight for the rest of the town must be made then and there. Already a heavy blow had been struck to beat back the fire; and if only it could be held to the other side, the valuable plants might yet be saved.
Soon men came rushing along. An engine turned a corner and stopped before a hydrant, with men jumping this way and that in the endeavor to get connections with the least possible waste of time.
The explosion must have terrified most people who heard it, since they could not but believe it meant the destruction of some mill. It is wonderful, however, how news is flashed along from mouth to mouth during such scenes of excitement as this; and, doubtless, when people learned that the shock came from a desperate effort to confine the fire to the side of the town where it had started, their hopes would take a new bound upward.
“Will it force its way across in spite of everything, do you think, Rob?” asked Tubby, solicitously, as he stood beside the patrol leader, and watched the working fire-fighters battling so manfully.
“I hope not,” he was told, in a reassuring tone. “You can see how they’re trying to soak the wall of that nearest factory so it can hold out against the heat when the test comes. Besides that they are getting more water on right along. Here comes another company, and from the way the people keep cheering them I reckon they must belong in another town, and have been rushed here by special train.”
It afterwards turned out that Rob had actually hit the truth when he made this guess. Word of the dreadful imperiling catastrophe that had come upon Wyoming must have been flashed to neighboring towns by telegraph, as well as an appeal for assistance. Such a call is never allowed to pass unheeded in American communities, and just as soon as they could get the right of way a special train with the engine and firefighters aboard had been dispatched, with the order to “burn the rails” in making speed.
There was need of every available man and machine. The wall of fire had by now arrived at the gap, and gave positive signs of being disposed to leap across in order to complete its work of destruction. Men fought madly to restrain it. Those who held the various lines of hose pushed forward until their faces were scorched by the heat, but in spite of all this they persisted, and would not be denied.
“They’re holding it there, mark you!” shrilled Ralph in the ear of Rob Blake, as all of them stood watching these exciting happenings, their hearts almost in their throats, so to speak, such was the weight of their anxiety.
Rob was encouraged. He began to believe that after all the devoted firemen were going to come out victors in their fierce battle with the element that had started in to ravage the whole town of Wyoming.
He bent most of his attention on the buildings close by, for if one of them suddenly burst into flames it would mean that the worst that could happen was about to commence.
Vainly did the flames dart forth, fanned by that still raging wind, and endeavor to reach the buildings that had been cut off from their grasp by the destruction of the old factory. The more they tried, the greater the efforts of those who held the water nozzles continued. Wherever a certain point was threatened there would be a concentration of splashing fluid, and the enemy retreated, baffled again and again.
Rob noticed presently that each time the fire made this attempt to cross the divide it seemed to grow just a little weaker. He knew that the fuel by means of which it was maintained was being devoured at such a rate that, given time, the efforts of the Department would prove successful. Even now matters had reached such a stage he believed the worst to be over; and that victory was in the air.