They were standing on the main street at a point where the stores and business houses had given place to residences surrounded by lawns and trees. Out of the houses there came rushing men and women and children, all in high excitement.

"Fire," cried some of the men.

"Where?" came back in a dozen voices.

But n.o.body knew accurately. Suddenly a man, hatless and coatless, came sprinting up the street.

"It's the 'cademy!" he was yelling, "the 'cademy's on fire!"

"The Academy!" gasped Rob, aghast at the thought that the private school which most of the boys enrolled as Scouts attended was in flames.

"It's up to us to do something and do it quick!" he cried the next instant. "Merritt, run as quick as you can to Andy's house. Tell him to sound the a.s.sembly. There's lots of work for the Eagles to-night."

A boy that Merritt knew was hastening by on a bicycle.

"Lend me your wheel for Scout duty, will you?" asked Merritt breathlessly.

The boy eagerly a.s.sented.

"I guess they'll need all the help they can get," he volunteered as Merritt sprinted off up the street, "my pop has been on the 'phone and they say it's a mighty bad blaze."

It seemed an eternity, but in reality it was only a few minutes before Merritt reached Andy's home. The little bugler was just rushing out as Merritt dashed up. They almost collided.

"Sound the a.s.sembly!" panted Merritt. "The Academy's on fire."

"Wow! Wait a second. I knew of the fire and was going to get hold of Rob for instructions."

Andy darted back to the house. He was out again in a flash and sounding the sharp, clear notes of the a.s.sembly call. Then came another urgent summons, the quick, imperative "fire call."

"There go the firemen on the run," exclaimed Andy, as several of the Vigilants dashed by the house. "Come on, Merritt; the others will all beat it to the fire-house at top speed."

"Rob's already there, I guess," panted Merritt as they ran side by side, balancing the bicycle. As they proceeded, Boy Scouts came from some of the houses and joined them.

"The Academy! The Academy's on fire," they shouted.

Against the darkening sky a red gush of flame leaped up suddenly.

"Come on, fellows!" implored Merritt. "It's going up like a pack of fire-works. We've got to hustle if we want to be of any use."

CHAPTER X.

A SCOUT HERO.

At the fire-house they found Rob and Tubby helping to drag out the antiquated apparatus which was the best that Hampton boasted. Glad enough of the aid of the Boy Scouts, the firemen greeted them warmly. They recalled a former occasion when the khaki-clad lads had been of signal service to them.

Accordingly, while some of the men hitched up a pair of bony old nags to the engine, and others got the fire lighted, the hose cart was rushed out and the ropes unraveled.

"Fall in, boys," shouted Rob.

They obeyed his order with military prompt.i.tude. The long rope was swiftly seized. Rob was in front, as became the leader of the troop.

"All ready!" came the cry.

"Heave!" shouted Rob.

Like one boy the Eagles bent to the work. Off they scampered down the street, Andy's bugle calling to clear the way. Men and women on their way to the fire scattered to right and left as the hose cart came lumbering along, drawn by its willing young escort at almost as fast a gait as horses could have dragged it.

"'Ray for the Boy Scouts," shrilled a small boy.

The excited crowd took up the cry as the hose cart went roaring by, speeding toward the sinister glow on the sky ahead of them.

A throng rushed behind it, making believe to aid greatly by pushing the lumbering vehicle.

Suddenly a terrible thought flashed across Rob's mind. The house occupied by the janitor of the school was undergoing extensive repairs and he and his family had been given temporary quarters in some rooms at the top of the school building.

The sudden realization of this sent a thrill shooting through the boy.

What if they were caught in a fiery trap, unable to escape?

"Oh, I hope they are all right," Rob found himself muttering half aloud as at the head of a line of straining boys he galloped along.

"Hey! Here comes the engine," went up a sudden shout from the crowd behind.

Glancing back Rob saw the engine, the pride of the Vigilants, coming careening down the street. Its whistle wailed in a melancholy fashion and from its stack there streamed sparks in sufficient volume to render timid folks apprehensive that another fire would be started.

"Pull out! Pull out!" cried Rob, as he saw it, "here comes the engine."

But there was no need to tell his followers that. Every boy in the village knew the old Vigilant and had seen it go screeching and lurching to a dozen fires. They rushed the hose cart up on the sidewalk as the engine came swinging nearer. It looked quite inspiring with its flaming stack, hissing jets of steam and thunder of horses' hoofs. The driver, Ed Blossom, was belaboring his steeds furiously.

Suddenly, out into the middle of the road darted a tiny little girl. In the excitement and confusion no one noticed her at first. She stood there apparently oblivious of the approaching fire engine for one instant.

Then, although she saw her doom thundering down on her, she still stood as helplessly as a tiny bird fascinated by a glowing-eyed serpent.

"Out of the way! Run! Run!" shrieked a dozen frenzied voices as several people perceived the child's danger.

"Great Scotland! She'll be killed," cried Merritt.

The engine was almost opposite the hose cart as the Scouts took in the scene, but with one spring Merritt darted right in the path of the heavy machine. It happened so quickly that no one quite knew what had happened until they saw a second figure in the path of the Juggernaut.

To s.n.a.t.c.h up the child was the work of an instant; but in that instant, as a groan from the horror-stricken onlookers testified, it looked as if Merritt's doom had been sealed.

Ed Blossom tugged frantically at his horses' bits and swerved them a trifle as he saw what was before him. As Merritt sprang backward with the agility of an acrobat, clasping the child in his arms, Ed succeeded in swinging just a little more. The horses grazed Merritt as they snorted and reared.

Suddenly there came a crash and a loud, tearing, ripping sound and the rear of the fire-engine was seen to collapse on one side. In pulling out to avoid running down Merritt and the little girl, Ed Blossom had quite forgotten, under the stress of the moment, the trees that grew on each side of the road. The hub of the rear wheel had struck one of these and the wheel had been torn off completely. If Ed had not been strapped to his seat he would have been hurled to the road.

A half hysterical woman fell on Merritt's neck and covered him with tearful thanks. Then she s.n.a.t.c.hed up the child and vanished in the crowd, leaving the Boy Scout free and greatly relieved that her grat.i.tude was to be spared him just at that time.

There was a quick hand-clasp from Rob, "Well done, old man." And then they all turned toward the wreck of the engine. Steam was hissing in clouds from the crippled bit of apparatus. Merritt heard someone say that the pump had been broken. He knew then that the engine was out of commission for that night.