THE BOY SCOUTS OF THE LIFE SAVING CREW

BY SCOUT MASTER ROBERT SHALER

AUTHOR OF “BOY SCOUTS OF THE SIGNAL CORPS,” “BOY SCOUTS OF PIONEER CAMP,” “BOY SCOUTS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY,” “BOY SCOUTS ON PICKET DUTY,” “BOY SCOUTS OF THE FLYING SQUADRON,” “BOY SCOUTS AND THE PRIZE PENNANT,” “BOY SCOUTS OF THE NAVAL RESERVE,” “BOY SCOUTS IN THE SADDLE,” “BOY SCOUTS FOR CITY IMPROVEMENT,” ETC., ETC.

NEW YORK HURST & COMPANY PUBLISHERS

SterlingBoy Scout Books

By Scout Master Robert Shaler

Bound in cloth Ten titles

You can purchase any of the above books at the price you paid for this one, or the publishers will send any book, postpaid, upon receipt of 25c.

HURST & CO., Publishers 432 Fourth Avenue, New York

Copyright, 1914, by Hurst & Company.

CHAPTER I. OUT ON THE TRESTLE.

“We’re almost there now,” said Alec Sands as he steered the big touring car around a curve in the road and out upon a long stretch of hard, smooth, well-oiled clay. “Unless I’m mistaken, that white church spire over there beyond the fringe of palm trees marks the end of our journey. I really didn’t know it was going to be such a long run, or I’d have told Bronson to send some lunch with us.”

“Wish you had!” Chester Brownell exclaimed, leaning back in his seat in the tonneau. “I’m almost starved!”

“I reckon we can make up for it to-night,” added Billy Worth, who sat in front beside Alec. “This Santario is quite a place, isn’t it, Alec?”

“I think so,” answered young Sands. “From what I’ve heard, I guess it’s a sizable town now, though only a few years ago it was a mere village inhabited by fishermen. Someone discovered that the soil two miles inland from the village was suited for raising oranges, so he bought up several acres and planted an orange grove. Since then others have followed the leader, and now the village has grown so large that the oldest inhabitant can hardly recognize it.”

The three young tourists who were speeding along at a good thirty miles an hour, were all members of a troop of Boy Scouts whose summer headquarters were located at Pioneer Lake, “up North.” Alec Sands, the captain of the Otter patrol, and Billy Worth, a member of the Wolf patrol, had been prominent in many of the contests held at Pioneer Camp. Chester Brownell of the Otters was less well known to the boys of the troop, but Alec had come to know him at Hilltop School and had found in him a promising athlete.

At this time the boys were far away from the scene of their earlier adventures, being on a visit at the winter residence of Alec’s parents—Palmdune, a splendid mansion near a picturesque old town on the Florida seacoast.

It was early spring and the weather had not yet begun to be oppressively warm. Indeed, the nights were still cold with frequent threats of frost,—that dread enemy of the budding orange groves. Alternating with days and nights of mild stillness were intervals of semi-storm, of rough winds that swept the low-lying shore and menaced coastwise shipping with the danger of being blown landward upon the numerous sandbars and keys.

Like other towns and villages in that part of the country, Santario had thrived all winter on the influx of wealthy Northerners who were accustomed to spend “the worst months of the year” there. And now these pleasant resorts were just beginning to slide back into their usual grooves of inactivity, and to have the quiet, unruffled appearance which was most familiar though not most welcome to their oldest inhabitants. Claynor, the nearest railway station to Santario, was the town where the three boys had spent that day. The place was rich with interesting historical associations, and they had enjoyed visiting it. Its little museum contained many relics not only of the earliest Spanish colonists but also of the later wars with the Seminole Indians under their great chief Osceola. At present the boys were returning, late in the afternoon, to Palmdune, where Alec hoped to have another guest for the Easter vacation.

His expected guest, who had not yet arrived, was Hugh Hardin, formerly leader of the Wolf patrol at Pioneer Camp. After some hesitation on Hugh’s part, owing to the fact that he and Alec had not always been on the best of terms in the past, Hugh had persuaded himself that to decline Alec’s invitation without sufficient reason would be both ungracious and unfriendly, and so he had accepted it in the same spirit with which it was given. As a matter of fact, Hugh had done so gladly, for he had a genuine liking and respect for his rival, Alec Sands, and he had usually been the first to regret and to make amends for their previous unpleasantness. On his journey down South, Hugh was even now eagerly looking forward to the visit, while at the same time his three friends, bowling along the highway in the big touring car, were discussing his arrival.

“If we take the car out again to-morrow to drive over to Claynor to meet Hugh, we’ll take some grub with us,—you can bet on that!” said Alec. “I thought there was some kind of an inn at Claynor, but we found only that clam-and-oyster parlor!”

“Gee, what a joint!” exclaimed Billy in an aggrieved tone. “Bucking broncos wouldn’t have dragged me into it!”

“Me, neither,” Chester added with ungrammatical emphasis.

“I had a letter from camp to-day—from Buck Winter,” he continued. “We left so early I didn’t have time to show it to you fellows before we started. Buck says Tom Sherwood has been elected temporary leader of our patrol, Alec. Hope he’ll be as good a one as you were, old scout.”

“Thanks!” responded Alec, laughing. “How much do you want for handing me that one, Chet? Can you change five cents?”

“At this moment,” replied Chester, “I couldn’t change a—Hello! look at that!”

As he uttered the words, he leaned forward, pointing over Billy’s shoulder. Alec, after one quick glance, threw out the clutch and jammed on the emergency brake with such suddenness that Chester, caught unprepared, tumbled back upon the seat. Before he had recovered from this jolt, he saw Alec and Billy jump out of the auto and run swiftly through the tall grass toward a railway track close to the road. Leaping from the car he followed them at full speed.

The track at this point made a long curve preparatory to crossing a narrow trestle over an inlet of the ocean, scarcely a hundred yards distant from the spot where they had left the car. Not quite halfway across the trestle, a girl, carrying a basket, was advancing, hurrying over the ties, and behind her trotted a big shaggy dog. The three lads had sprinted forward over a sandy embankment toward the track because they heard, in the distance behind the girl, the sudden shrill whistle of a locomotive and the rumble of an approaching train.

The girl also heard it, glanced back over her shoulder, and with a shriek of terror, flung the basket aside and fled onward as fast as she could run.

As the young Scouts dashed to the rescue, the ominous rumbling grew louder and louder; the rails began to hum; then, with another warning blast of the whistle, the freight train appeared around the bend and thundered toward the long bridge.

Billy was the first to reach the end of the trestle toward which the girl was coming rapidly. Running forward, leaping from one tie to another, he realized how precarious was the footing, how easily one misstep might hurl anyone into the depths below. Between the ties underfoot he caught glimpses of the flashing green water swirling around the upright piles as the tide flowed in, and, looking up, he could see the strained, desperate expression on the girl’s white face.

“Don’t lose your nerve!” he called to her. “You’ll get across all right.” He was not so confident as he appeared to be, but he knew instinctively that she needed encouragement. “Come on, come on; but take care!” he shouted. “We’re going to flag that train.”

Alec was close at his heels. Stripping off his coat and waving it frantically, he overtook Billy just as young Worth, bounding forward, almost collided with the girl and caught her outstretched hands in his own. Some little distance behind them, Chester stood at the end of the trestle, gazing with horror-stricken eyes at his friends and wondering what was the best thing he could do at this crisis.

“Oh!” he groaned despairingly. “They’ll never stop it! They’ll all be killed!”

Without waiting to see what progress Billy and the girl were making as they turned and ran, Alec bounded forward for several yards, and stood in the middle of the track until the train was almost upon him. Then, with quick decision, he leaped to one side and flung himself down on the ground.

The train passed him amid a whirl of dust and sand and small stones, and in another minute it was out upon the bridge. Car after car thundered past, with a deafening rumble of wheels. There was a sudden shriek and a jar of the brakes being applied, but before the engine had come to a standstill it had almost crossed the trestle.

Alec sprang to his feet before the train stopped. He looked wildly around and back to the place where he had last seen Billy and the girl. They had disappeared!

“What has happened?” he wondered, in a stupor of dread. “Did the train hit them, or did they jump off the trestle into the water? I must go back and find out! Oh, there’s Chester at the other end of the bridge. He’s waving his arms and shouting.”

Alec wheeled and ran back swiftly down the track and out on the trestle. The train blocked his way, but he climbed up a small iron ladder at the rear of the last car, ran along the roofs of the cars, and dropped to the ground just behind the tender, on the left side of the track. There, stretched out flat on one of the ties, he peered over, and his eyes met those of Billy Worth, full of the strain of waiting, upturned to his face.

With one arm around the girl, whose arms clung about his neck, and the other flung over one of the trestle rods under the track, Billy hung there straight downward over the water fully twenty feet below. Alec saw that Billy’s grip was weakening and that there was no time to lose.

Swiftly he twined his legs around the tie and lowered his body as far as he could. Then he stretched out his arms; but it was not enough; he could not reach the girl.

CHAPTER II. THE RESCUE.

“Can you lift her up a little, Billy?” he asked in a low voice.

“I’m afraid to,” Billy whispered brokenly. “If I move, I’ll—I’ll lose my—grip.”

“Drop, then! Drop into the water, both of you!”

“Don’t dare—she can’t swim—current’s too swift. Guess I’ll have to, though, or else——” He felt the girl’s arms loosen. “Hang on to me!” he said sternly.

“No, no!” cried the girl. “Let me go! I’ll try—try to swim. And you can drop after me and—and—pull me out! Let me go!”

“Wait!” shouted Alec. “Can you hold on a minute longer, Billy? There’s someone coming!”

Then came the sound of someone running over the ties, and Alec gave a little gasp of relief.

“Is that you, Chet?” he asked, without looking up or turning his head.

“Engineer,” answered a gruff but tremulous voice. “Here, let me help you.”

“Take hold of my feet, then,” Alec replied. “Lower me down another six inches so that I can reach them. Quick, now!”

The man obeyed promptly. While he was speaking, Alec had slackened his hold with his legs, and the engineer lost not a minute in catching his ankles in a firm grip. The next moment Alec held the girl in his arms, and he managed, by a great effort, to pass her to Chester, who had just run up to help.

“Now, catch hold again,” he said to the engineer as he leaned over the edge once more. “Get a good grip this time; Billy’s no lightweight.”

“Hi! what are you going to do?” yelled Chester, dropping down beside him. “Alec, let me take a turn! I can pull Billy up if——”

“Never mind me; I can climb up alone,” called Billy in a faint voice from under the track. And he swung sidewise until he could brace his feet against a cross-pile.

Slowly, with aching muscles, he drew his body upward; inch by inch he climbed, grasping the projecting ends of the ties. The strain on his tired arms was tremendous, his shoulders felt numb, his hands clutched wildly—slipped—and with a gasp, he lost his hold, and fell down, down, into the flowing tide.

A tremendous splash sent a shower of spray up into the faces of his friends. Blinking, they saw him sink, saw the clear green water close over his head, and after waiting breathlessly for several minutes, saw him bob up to the surface and strike out for the nearest point of land. They knew he could swim like a seal, but they feared that, weakened by the strain he had just undergone, he might fail to make any headway against the current. As it was, they saw that he would be swept beyond the point toward which he was struggling into a broader space of open water that looked very dark and deep.

Chester was just about to fling off his coat and shoes on an impulse to dive to the assistance of his friend, when he was checked by an outcry from the girl. Plucky and alert, she had quickly recovered her presence of mind, and now she ran along past the engine to the end of the bridge, calling:

“Carlo! Here, Carlo! Come here, boy!”

A deep-throated bark greeted her, and her companion and protector, the big dog, dashed to meet her, wagging his tail and showing every sign of canine joy at seeing her again. But without pausing to respond to his enthusiasm, she sped along the shore of the inlet until she came opposite where Billy was now floating with the tide, wisely resting before he continued his exertions.

Pointing toward him, the girl urged Carlo into the water. “Get him, Carlo, good boy! Go on! Go on! Get him!”

And the faithful animal seemed to understand at once what was required; at any rate, he plunged boldly into the water and paddled out straight as an arrow toward Billy.

Giving a cheer, Alec and Chester, followed by the trainman, ran over to the spot where the girl was standing. Meanwhile, Carlo had come abreast of the swimmer, who, seeing him, had turned over and was resuming his strokes. Billy was too tired to disdain the noble dog’s assistance, so he put out one hand and grasped Carlo’s collar. Using his other arm and his legs, he helped the big dog to tow him back to the embankment.

It was slow work, and the tidal current was merciless, but at last they reached shallower water where Billy could touch bottom. Releasing the dog, he waded to the shore and threw himself on the coarse grass.

“Billy, old scout, you’re a hero!” exclaimed Alec, bending over his breathless comrade.

“You bet he is, boys!” agreed the engineer. “Anything pluckier or cooler than the way he dropped over the side of the trestle, with the girl hanging onto him for dear life,—when they thought they wouldn’t be able to get ahead of the train,—I never saw in all my born days! And I’ve seen a good many nervy stunts, too,—including your hand-me-up rescue of the girl,” he added turning to Alec, whose face, pale with anxiety, flushed crimson at these words of praise.

“Are you all right, Billy Wolf?” queried Chester, alarmed at Billy’s silence.

“Yes, I’ll be—all right—in a few—minutes,” panted Billy, raising his head. As he did so, his gaze met that of the girl, and he saw that her dark blue eyes were filled with tears. “Oh, there you are!” he observed, smiling. “Not hurt, are you?”

“Not at all, thanks to you!” she answered, a little sob in her voice. “I—I tried to thank your friend, a few minutes ago, but I haven’t thanked you for saving——”

“Oh, that’s all right!” interposed Billy. “We’re only too glad that we happened to come along in time. Aren’t we, Alec?”

“Of course we are!” assented the other rescuer warmly. He patted Carlo’s fine head. “He’s a great old dog, isn’t he? Whew! Stop shaking water all over us, Carlo! Can’t you see Billy is wet enough already?”

“Down, Carlo!” commanded the young girl.

Carlo bounded away, barking joyously.

Billy stood up, dripping wet and shivering slightly, in spite of the warm afternoon sunlight. His hair was matted with sticky salt water, his clothes were soiled with mud and sand, but he laughed as he shook himself. Chester and Alec began to pat and thump him vigorously to quicken circulation.

“Take a few sprints up and down the bank,” advised Chester. “You’re chilled, Billy; your teeth are chattering.”

“Nonsense!” laughed Billy. “I’m all right.”

As if to prove this assertion, he began a wrestling match with Carlo, who had come frisking up to him. But this sport was interrupted by the departure of the engineer.

“Well, I must be getting up steam again,” said the man. “Good-by, all!”

After shaking hands all around, he walked rapidly back to his engine, and soon the big freight was on its way again, the various trainmen waving their hands in farewell.

“I must be on my way, too,” the girl said, breaking an awkward little pause which followed the last echo of the vanishing train. “I was going over to Santario, to see my father. He is the keeper of the Life Saving Station at Red Key,” she explained. “His name is Anderson,—Peter Anderson. Mine is Ruth.”

“We’re Boy Scouts,” replied Alec, feeling that some introduction was due. “This chap is William Worth,—we call him Billy, for short,—this is Chester Brownell, and I’m Alec Sands. We are on our way to Santario, too; we left our machine over yonder. If you like, we’ll be glad to give you a ride. Will you come? It’s getting late, the sun’s going down, and you’ll never walk all the way to Santario before dusk. Better come with us.”

His suggestion was offered in frank kindness and Ruth Anderson was quick to appreciate it.

“It’s very good of you to invite me,” she said. “Thank you very much! I’d love a ride. You see, I’ve never been in an automobile. I’ve been in a lifeboat, though; but that’s not exciting,—unless there’s a storm!”

“That’s something we’ve never done—gone out in a lifeboat,” Chester remarked. “I visited a station on the coast of Maine two summers ago, but I didn’t see the crew at work.”

“I’ve never even seen a Life Saving Station,” said Billy.

“I have it—a great idea!” exclaimed Alec. “Some day, soon after Hugh gets here, we’ll motor down to Red Key and——”

Ruth interrupted him with a silvery laugh. “Oh, that will be fine!” she cried gaily. “Dad will be so glad to see you-all and to thank you for all you’ve done for me to-day. And I’m sure you’ll like the crew over at Red Key; they’re the nicest, kindest, bravest fellows in the world! And they’ll like you, too; I know they will!”

CHAPTER III. COMING EVENTS.

Ruth’s spirits, considering the shock and excitement which she had experienced scarcely an hour ago, seemed to have risen wonderfully. And somehow her light-hearted gaiety was soon felt by the three courageous young Scouts who had shared her danger. As they all walked over to the waiting auto, chattering and laughing, even Billy forgot his sorry plight, though he was still “soaked and sticky,” as he said jocosely. Alec went to find his coat which he had cast aside, and, returning with it presently, he made Billy remove his wet one and put on the dry garment as well as the dust-robe which lay folded upon the seat in the tonneau.

“I’ll look like an Indian with a blanket,” said Billy, laughing.

“Never mind; please put it around you tight—like this,” urged Ruth, and forthwith she wrapped it shawl-wise around Billy, who immediately ceased to demur.

She was about to spring into the car, when she paused, one foot on the running board, and looked questioningly at Alec.