Amateur Fireman

by William Henry Giles Kingston

  CHAPTER XI.

  SAM'S RETURN.

  It was nearly eight o'clock on the evening of the day Seth paid hisfirst visit to headquarters and he was greeted warmly by such of the menas were on the lower floor.

  "Where's Mr. Davis?" he asked.

  "He had twenty-four hours' leave an' ain't likely to flash up beforeto-morrow noon," Jerry Walters replied. "How did you get along atheadquarters?"

  "That I ain't quite so certain of," Seth replied doubtfully.

  "Why not? Anything gone wrong?"

  "No; but it don't seem as though the men up there had very much to sayto me."

  "Found you plenty of work, eh?"

  "Oh, yes; there was enough of that."

  "A little too much, I reckon, if it kept you till this hour."

  "I was told that I should knock off at six o'clock, but then I hadn'tfinished the job I was workin' on, an' so stayed till it was done."

  "How did 'Lish Davis swell 'round?"

  "I didn't see anythin' of him after we got inside. He told a man therewho I was, an' two or three of 'em hunted 'round to find work for me."

  "Well, how do you like it so far's you've gone?" Jerry Walters askedwith a smile, and the remainder of the company gathered around to hearthe reply.

  "I'd like anythin' that was givin' me a show of gettin' into theDepartment. Of course it ain't so pleasant in the house doin' all kindsof work as it is out of doors layin' still when you want to, or talkin'with the fellers."

  "Then you don't feel like backin' out yet?"

  "No sir-ee! I'll never feel like that. Look here, I've got to be up atseven o'clock to-morrow mornin', an' why couldn't I shine your bootsto-night?"

  "'Cause then is the time for you to rest, Amateur. Don't bother yourhead about our boots being shined, for we'll tend to that part of it. Ireckon there'll be as much work at headquarters as you can comfortablydo, so there's no need to come 'round here except to make a friendlycall. Of course we're expectin' to see you pretty nigh every evenin'so's to have a report of how things are goin'; but so far's yourblackin' our boots, that's all nonsense, and if 'Lish Davis was herethis minute he'd tell you the same."

  "But I want to do it, an' Mr. Davis promised me I should, 'cause it'llmake it seem as if I was tryin' to square up for what all of you havedone for me."

  Jerry Walters tried to persuade Seth that he had better not attempt todo so much, particularly at the outset; but it could readily be toldfrom the expression on the boy's face that he was not convinced, and Mr.Walters refrained from making further efforts in that line.

  After answering a few more questions and promising to visit theengine-house on the following evening, Seth, feeling even more tiredthan he looked, set out for home, and Mr. Walters said to his comrades:

  "That kid will work himself down to skin an' bones for the sake oftryin' to show he's thankful for the lift we've given him, and as formaking his way into the Department, why, there ain't a ghost of a showthat he'll fail."

  And every member of the company appeared to share Jerry's opinionregarding the matter.

  When Seth arrived at Mrs. Hanson's he found Bill Dean and Dan makingready to retire, and the latter cried in a joyful tone:

  "I'm mighty glad you've come, Seth. Bill an' me was jest figgerin' thatthey'd fixed it up to have you sleep there nights."

  "There wasn't anythin' said about that, and I reckon they don't wantboys 'round," the amateur fireman replied gloomily, and Bill asked insurprise:

  "Why, what's the matter, old man? Ain't gettin' discouraged so soon, areyou?"

  "I reckon it'll be all right after a spell, an' I wouldn't want any ofNinety-four's men to know that I wasn't jest as chipper as a sparrer;but things are different up there from what they are down here. Theyjest set you to work an' let you keep hummin' without sayin' a word. Idon't believe a single one of 'em has spoke to me since Mr. Davis wentaway."

  "What you been doin'?"

  "Cleanin' windows; an' I tell you they're so big that one of 'em makesconsiderable work. I hung on to it till I'd finished all on that floor,even though they told me to go home at six o'clock."

  "What are you goin' to do to-morrow?"

  "I don't know. Anythin' that comes up, I s'pose."

  "Didn't they give you any lessons in the school?"

  "I haven't even seen it yet. There might have been a hundred men 'roundthere practisin' for all I'd know, 'cause I was in the front of thebuildin'."

  "Why, I thought you'd go right to work learnin' to be a fireman," Dansaid in surprise.

  "Mr. Davis never allowed anythin' like that. He said after a spell,when I'd showed 'em I could 'tend to business, I might get a show; butyou see, it ain't anyways certain that they'll do what Ninety-four's menhave been countin' on. I've got to take the chances, you know, and workmy way in."

  Both Dan and Bill were disappointed by this report. They had fanciedcertain tasks might be required of Seth; but firmly believed he would begiven instructions at once.

  In fact, Dan had told his roommate several times during the day that heexpected to see Seth an enrolled member of the Department within a fewmonths, adding in support of such belief:

  "When that feller tackles anythin' he goes right through with it, an' ifhe ain't big enough now he's got the nerve in him to grow terribly. Itseems like he does everythin' he starts for."

  Now that Seth appeared despondent his comrades believed it their duty tocheer him, and during half an hour or more they set about such task inearnest.

  It seemed to them as if he was already growing more cheerful when theshrill whistling of a peculiar note was heard several times repeated,apparently on the sidewalk in front of the dwelling.

  "That's Teddy Bowser!" Bill Dean exclaimed as he leaped to his feet. "Hewanted to come up here to-night, but I told him he mustn't, 'cause ifthe fellers hung 'round I'd lose my show for a tony lodgin'."

  "Go down and see what he wants," Dan suggested. "I don't believe we'dbetter let him come in, for there are three of us here now, an' MissHanson might think she was havin' too many fellers 'round for sixtycents a week."

  Bill descended the stairs swiftly but noiselessly, returning in lessthan five minutes with a look of consternation upon his face.

  "Say, Sam Barney's got back!"

  "Got back!" Seth cried in astonishment and dismay. "Why, how'd he raisethe money?"

  "That's what Teddy didn't know. He said Sam flashed up 'bout an hour agolookin' as chipper as you please, an' with cash in his pocket. He'stumbled to our racket, an' is promenadin' 'round town sayin' he'll catchJip Collins before to-morrow night."

  The three boys gazed at each other in perplexity, and fully a momentelapsed before the almost painful silence was broken.

  Then Seth said interrogatively:

  "Of course Teddy knew what he was talkin' 'bout?"

  "Oh yes, he hasn't made any mistake, 'cause he saw Sam and heard himblow 'bout what a swell time he had in Philadelphy."

  "He couldn't have been there very long."

  "I don't understand it," and Bill plunged his hands deep in his pocketas he looked gloomily around. "I thought when we shipped him off thatwe'd settled the detective business, an' now it ain't any dead certainthing he won't run right across Jip Collins, 'cause the poor fellerthinks Sam's so far away there's no danger of meetin' him."

  "Where's Teddy?" Dan asked.

  "Down on the sidewalk."

  "What's he waitin' for?"

  "I told him he'd better hold on a spell, 'cause we've got to do_somethin'_, fellers, an' perhaps he can help us."

  "But if Sam's here with money in his pocket, how shall we stop him fromworkin' up the case?" Dan asked helplessly.

  "First off we must tell Jip," Seth replied promptly. "To-morrow mornin'you an' Bill will have to see what can be done with Sam. It won't do tolet him keep on the way he was goin' before we sent him off."

  "I reckon you can't stop him if he's set on doin' it, an' he likely willbe now he finds you're in the Department, 'cause
he said he was goin' tobe an out-an'-out detective long before you ever dreamed of gettin' afireman's job."

  "If he only knew how little of a fireman I am he wouldn't feel very bad'bout it," Seth said with a sigh, and then added more cheerily, "Comeon, fellers, we must find Jip, an' not stay out too late either, elseMiss Hanson will raise a row."

  The three went down the stairs softly, crept out on the sidewalk as iftheir own lives might be in jeopardy if the slightest noise was made,and there met Teddy Bowser.

  "Oh yes, I saw him," Teddy said in reply to Seth's question. "He's beenswingin' himself 'round Grand Street big as life for more'n an hour;says he had a great time in Philadelphy, an' ain't certain but he'll goover there to live after he gets Jip in jail. Sam must have struck somemighty soft snap, 'cause when he left this town he had only sixteencents to his name."

  "Do you s'pose he could find any one chump enough to lend him money?"Dan asked musingly, and Seth said almost sharply:

  "It won't pay for us to stand here tryin' to figger how he's fixedthings, 'cause we must be back mighty soon, and it may take quite aspell to find Jip."

  "I reckon it will," Teddy added emphatically. "I hunted all 'round theferry for him."

  "Why, how did you know where he was?"

  "The fellers told me. I didn't think it was a secret."

  "It ought to have been," and Seth looked more distressed than before."If all hands know, it won't take Sam Barney a great while to find out."

  "He was talkin' 'bout it when I left; said there was no need of goin' tothe ferry till mornin', 'cause he could put his hands on him when hewanted to. Some of Jip's chums must have gone back on him, an' Iwouldn't wonder if I knew who. You see, Denny Macey was tellin' 'roundthat if Jip didn't ante up the dime he borrowed two weeks ago, he'd maketrouble for him."

  "Don't let's stand here any longer," and Seth led the way at a rapidpace toward the ferry.

  Beyond speculating as to how the would-be detective had been enabled toreturn from Philadelphia, those who were seeking to do Jip Collins anadditional favor indulged in little conversation during the hurriedjourney across the city.

  As they neared the ferry each kept a sharp watch in the hope of meetingthe boy whom he sought, but when they stood at the very entrance of theslip no sign of Jip had been seen, and then the difficulty of the searchbegan to be apparent.

  Master Collins was a stranger in this section of the city, and theymight question a dozen boys without finding one who had so much as heardof him, therefore the quest was likely to be a long if not a vain one.

  "It'll soon be too late to do anything if we don't hustle," Seth saidwhen he realized all the possibilities against success. "Let each fellerstart out alone, and there'll be jest so many more chances of runnin'across him. We'll meet here by the ferry slip in half an hour."

  This plan was acted upon without delay, and each member of the searchingparty did his best to bring the labor to a speedy and final conclusion;but when at the expiration of the time set the four met once more,nothing had been discovered.

  "He's turned in," Bill Dean said in a tone of conviction.

  "If it's with that chum of yourn it ought'er be easy to find him."

  "He wasn't a chum of mine, an' I don't so much as know his name. It's afeller I've run across two or three times down-town, that's all."

  "Then I can't see but what we must call it a bad job, for there's nokind of use in foolin' 'round here any longer."

  "But if we don't find him now all Sam Barney's got to do is to walk overhere in the mornin'," Dan said mournfully, and Bill Dean criedemphatically:

  "I'll get ahead of that bloomin' detective if I have to set up allnight! You can count on my bein' right here at daylight, an' that's thebest anybody can do. You ought to get to bed, Seth, 'cause you've gotto turn out pretty early in the mornin'."

  That it was useless to remain in that vicinity any longer with the hopeof meeting Jip by chance, all understood, and mournfully they turnedtheir faces homeward, Teddy Bowser suggesting that he might be able todo the repentant firebug a friendly turn by delaying Sam a certainlength of time next morning.

  "I'll ask him to tell me about his detective work, an' you can bet hewon't lose such a chance, 'cause there's nothin' in this world he likesto talk about as well as himself."

  "All right, you do that, Teddy, an' I'll snoop over here," Bill added."Of course Seth can't take a hand in this work, on account of havin' togo to headquarters, but Dan will kind-er lay 'round anywhere, either tohead Sam off, or find Jip."

  Then Teddy Bowser took his departure for the night, and Mrs. Hanson'sthree lodgers returned to their room thoroughly distressed in mind.

  The greater portion of the night might have been spent by them indiscussing this new phase of affairs but for Seth, who said when hiscomrades began to hold forth on the subject:

  "You fellers can't do any good talkin'. I've got to get some sleep if Icount on bein' up early enough in the mornin' to do the work over to theengine-house an' get to my job at seven o'clock, so s'pose you quietdown and give me a chance?"

  This was no more than a reasonable request, and soon Mrs. Hanson'slodgers were enjoying their needed repose, despite the troubles whichhad come upon them.

  Seth, whose last thought had been that he must waken early, opened hiseyes just as the day was dawning, and aroused his comrades.

  "You fellers must turn out if you count on helpin' Jip this mornin', an'I'm goin' to get right off. Seems to me it would be a good idea if Billwas at the ferry right soon."

  "I'll start now," Master Dean replied, and, since their plans had beenfully arranged the night previous, there was nothing to prevent Sethfrom going at once to Ninety-four's house.

  The watchman on duty admitted him with a reproof for trying to crowd toomuch work into one day; but made no further objection when the amateurfireman declared that he should "feel better if he did the shinin' thesame's ever."

  Not a man was awake save the one on duty, when, his work finished, Sethhurried toward headquarters.

  When he arrived it lacked twenty minutes of the time set for him tobegin work, and the first person he met inside the building was agray-haired man wearing such a uniform as did Jerry Walters, the driverof Ninety-four, and all Seth's particular friends.

  "What are you doing here?" the official asked in a not very friendlytone.

  "I began to work 'round this place yesterday noon," Seth replied in anapologetic manner.

  "Oh, you did, eh? You must be the kid 'Lish Davis made so much talkabout."

  "I am the boy he got the job for, sir."

  "Well, what are you doing here so early? Seven o'clock is the hour."

  "Yes, sir; but I don't s'pose it can make much difference if I'm here alittle before time, 'cause then I'll get more done, don't you see?"

  "And you were figuring on that same thing when you stayed here untileight o'clock last night, eh?"

  "No, sir; I stayed 'cause I wasn't through washin' all the windows onthe second floor, an' didn't want to leave the job half done."

  "Well, in the future you'd better go home when the clock strikes six,the same as others do. What task have they set for you this morning?"

  "Nothing as yet, sir."

  "That's because you did your work too well yesterday. I suppose theyallowed you had enough to last through the balance of this day."

  "It would be a pretty poor kind of a boy who couldn't do more'n washthat many windows in a day an' a half," Seth replied laughingly,fancying that this man's gruff manner was no indication of bad temper,but rather the reverse.

  "They tell me you're counting on being a fireman one of these days?"

  "Yes, sir," Seth replied promptly and decisively.

  "You seem to be pretty certain of it."

  "So I am, sir, 'cause I'll get there after a time if I work hard."

  "You will for a fact, my son, if you believe it as firmly as you seemto. How much have you seen of the building so far?"

  "I've only been in th
e room where I was workin' yesterday."

  "Come up into the gymnasium with me. I'm running things in that quarter,an' it might be we can work you in with better profit there, than atwindow-washing."

  It was as if Seth's heart gave a great bound just then, for in thegymnasium was begun the first of the fireman's lessons, and if he shouldbe so fortunate as to be set at work there it seemed that advancementmust necessarily be rapid.

  Even though he had had less reason of wishing to be occupied in thisportion of the building, he could not but have been delighted when heentered the well-appointed place, and he gazed around in what was verylike an ecstasy of joy until suddenly aroused by the voice of this newacquaintance.

  "Do you think you could keep things in proper shape here? There's plentyof work to be done, and at present we are getting none of the best."

  "I'd like to have a chance to try, sir."

  "Very well; I'll see to the red tape of the business down-stairs and inthe meanwhile do you set about doing whatever you think is necessary. If'Lish Davis wasn't mistaken, I'll see to it you get all the instructionin this portion of the building that you can stagger under, and it maybe we'll put a little more muscle into you 'twixt now and the next fewmonths."

  Then, without having specified what it was he wished Seth to busyhimself with, the gray-haired man turned to leave the gymnasium, when hesuddenly stopped and asked sharply:

  "Have you been to breakfast?"

  "No, sir; I was told that I'd get my grub here."

  "Then why didn't you 'tend to it when you first came in?"

  "'Cause I met you, sir."

  "I suppose you hadn't thought you might be needing something to eat?"

  "It would have been no great matter, sir. I've got along until noon agood many days without anythin', an' can do it again."

  "There's no need of that here, my son. Remember to get your meals ontime, for regularity of habits,--although that will become a luxury ifyou are ever made a fireman,--regularity of habits is quite as necessaryfor the strength and building up of your body as any exercise you cantake here. So far as possible eat at the same hour each day; go to bedearly, get up early, and at all times see to it that your body isproperly cared for. When did you have a bath last?"

  "It's been quite a spell since I went in swimmin', sir."

  "Well, you can begin the day with that. Use plenty of cold water, and Ireckon the towels are coarse enough. Then get your breakfast, come uphere, and go to work."

  "At anything special, sir?"

  "Whatever you see that's needed to be done."

  Then this employer, who had given him such good advice, walked quietlyaway, and Seth was left to find the bathroom as best he might.

  During this day Master Bartlett worked as industriously as ever; butwith better heart than while employed about the first task set him atheadquarters, for he had reason to believe there was at least one in thebuilding who would lend him a helping hand, and the future seemed muchbrighter than it had twenty-four hours previous.

  This new friend, who was spoken of as "Josh" by those who seemed to bebest acquainted with him, and by others as "Mr. Fernald," apparentlygave no heed to the boy, and Seth did whatever seemed to him mostnecessary, although there were many times when he was tempted to stop inorder to watch the men at their exercises, until half-past five in theafternoon, when the man whom he was beginning to look upon as a friendsaid sharply:

  "Get your supper, now, Seth Bartlett, and to-morrow morning see to itthat you have breakfast before coming up here."

  Seth wanted to say good-night to Mr. Fernald; but doubtful as to howsuch familiarity might be received, he departed in silence, turningaround as soon as he was in the corridor where none could see him, towave his hand in adieu.

  Supper had been eaten, and he was on the sidewalk outside ofheadquarters just as the whistles were blowing for the hour of six.

  "I'll have a chance to stop a good while in Ninety-four's houseto-night, an' there may another alarm come so's I can go out with heragain," he said to himself, and at that instant Teddy Bowser appearedfrom around the corner of the building and cried excitedly:

  "Dan Roberts an' Bill Dean sent me up here to tell you that Sam Barney'shad Jip Collins 'rested this afternoon 'bout three o'clock."