CHAPTER V.

A CREDIT TO THE UNIFORM.

“Looks as if he might be hurt pretty bad, too,” said Billy Worth, as the crowd pressed forward, and approached the twin tents of the scouts.

“First thing we have to do is to keep them back as well as we can,” declared Hugh. “Whip that rope around the stakes, boys, and then stand guard over the opening you leave.”

The scout master had prepared for just such an emergency as this. He knew that in case of a serious accident, if the patient were brought to the camp, a morbid curiosity to see what was going on was apt to bring an enormous mob surging around the tents.

That is one of the most serious difficulties to be encountered whenever there happens to be an accident in the public streets of a city; and so fiercely do men, women and boys struggle to see what is going on that they often have to be entreated to fall back in order that the patient may get air.

“Bring him right in this tent,” said Hugh to the men who were carrying the man, who was groaning with pain; and then turning to the pressing crowd the scout master continued: “Please don’t push so hard. The tent is open, and some of you can see what is going on. Keep back, and give us a chance to do something.”

That appeal awoke the spirit of fair play. Immediately one man called out:

“Yes, give the boys a chance to show what they can do! Everybody keep back, and stop that rough house business. Here, help me hold ’em, Crowther; give the scouts a show for their money. Get back, do you hear; what d’ye want to push like that for?”

He used energetic measures for enforcing his demands; and as he happened to be a big brawny man those who had been squeezing forward so as to gain a view of the proceedings ceased their efforts.

Hugh was satisfied. He saw they had gained friends among the watchers, and that the danger of the tent being almost torn from its moorings by the press of the rude crowd was a thing of the past.

Accordingly he turned and joined Arthur, who was already bending over the groaning man with professional eagerness.

“How bad is it, do you think, Arthur?” asked Hugh.

“I’m not sure, but he seems to have a broken arm, and one of his ankles has been sprained, for it’s swelling fast,” replied Arthur, who had apparently made a surprisingly quick examination.

“A pretty bad combination,” remarked Hugh. “Here, Dale, you and Billy get that shoe off in a hurry, but don’t be any rougher than you can help.”

In the meantime Hugh started to assist Arthur. The man had been laid on the cot with which the hospital tent was supplied. They lifted his head and shoulders a little.

“Try and stand it the best you can, sir,” said Hugh, endeavoring to give the suffering man confidence. “We want to draw your coat off, and then cut the sleeve of your shirt so we can get at the injured arm.”

Now had it been a bearded doctor who said this the man might have bolstered up his courage, and stopped giving utterance to his anguish; but when he saw that the speaker was only a boy he shut his eyes and groaned again.

The coat came off, and then Arthur deftly cut the sleeve of the man’s shirt. He had no sooner rolled this up out of the way before they saw that the fracture was a pretty serious one, coming above the wrist, and apparently being of a compound nature.

Arthur did not hesitate. He seemed to have the instincts of a true surgeon in his nature, for grasping the injured arm he made a few deft movements with his strong nimble fingers, and then taking the splints which Hugh had picked up from the little chest in which they kept their medical supplies he began binding these to the arm with swift, certain strokes.

Those in the crowd who were able to watch the operation were astonished by the business-like way in which Arthur and Hugh went about it all.

Meanwhile the other boys had removed shoe and sock and rolled up the leg of the man’s trousers. His ankle was swollen, and beginning to turn a dark blue.

“Get the tin basin and pour cold water over the ankle to keep the swelling down all you can, Dale,” said the scout master, giving one glance that way.

Dale was already doing this, for he knew that with a sprain the application of ice or cold water is the first remedy to be considered. At the best such an injury is a serious thing, and often takes months to fully heal. Many persons have declared they would prefer to have a clean break of a bone than a bad sprain.

“D’ye mean to tell me them boys know anything about fixin’ up a broken bone?” one man was heard to say, with an expression of scorn in his voice. “Why, I’d think it was a man’s work, an’ a skillful surgeon’s at that, to set a bone. In my mind it’s an outrage to let boys meddle with serious things like that.”

“Hold on, neighbor,” said the big man who had stood there as a bulwark, keeping the jostling, thoughtless, curious crowd back by main force, “where have you been the last year or so? I reckon all the Rip Van Winkles ain’t done away with yet. Wake up, and get ’quainted with what’s goin’ on these days. Kids ain’t just the same as when you and me was young; they’re shamin’ a whole lot of us old codgers by the way they do a heap of things.”

“That’s all right,” asserted the other, doggedly, “but when it comes to meddlin’ with broken bones I say it’s a surgeon’s job, and no boy should be allowed to put his finger in the pie. Why, like as not he’ll make that arm crooked for life. What can these here scouts know about surgery, tell me?”

“A whole lot, as you’ll learn if you take the scales off your eyes and look into what they’ve already done. These very scouts here have saved some of their comrades from drowning. They likewise took care of those strikers that were shot down last summer when they had that fight with the guards over at the cement works; yes, and the Red Cross surgeon wrote our paper here that they did their work like veterans. If I ever have the bad luck to get thrown out of a buggy and have _my_ leg broke I’ll be tickled to death if some of these scouts happen along and take hold of _me_.”

These words were greeted with a cheer by the crowd, for many local people were now present, and surely they ought to know what Hugh and his comrades of Oakvale Troop were capable of accomplishing.

The skeptic may not have been wholly convinced that the boys were capable of doing the things that as a rule needed the skilled hand of a surgeon; but at least he had the good sense to keep still. That vociferous cheer may have told him that those around had faith in the scouts.

He continued to watch every move that was made, and no doubt the confident manner in which all the boys went about their several tasks began to have its effect on his disbelief. They certainly were showing all the signs of knowing what they were about, and that stood for a good deal.

The man had stopped groaning now. He even brightened up, for after the bones had been brought together in their proper places, the pain was not quite so intense. Then again the way in which Arthur and Hugh were binding up his arm, after fixing the splints in place, may have had something to do with the return of his grit.

“What’s the extent of the damage, boys?” he asked, weakly.

“A broken arm, and a sprained ankle, sir,” said Hugh, cheerily; “but you’re in great luck not to have a broken neck in the bargain. We’ll have you fixed up so you can be moved. I guess you don’t live in Oakvale, sir, for you’re a stranger to me?”

“I live some ten miles off toward Somerville; but after that accident I’d hate to ride behind horses again while crippled like this,” said the man.

“No need, sir,” Hugh told him. “If you say the word we’ll send for the ambulance and you can go to the hospital; or if you prefer we can get a car to take you home.”

“I guess I’d better go to the hospital,” the wounded man said. “My wife, she died last spring, and I’ve only got an old man and his wife working on the farm.”

“All right,” returned the scout master. “Dale, will you call up the hospital and tell them to come and get a patient with a broken arm and a sprained ankle? Billy, wrap some soft linen around that sprain now, and soak it with the liniment. Then get another bandage around it, and we’ll loan him a cane. It so happens that he can use the arm he needs to support him when he limps.”

Dale hurried away, and quickly got the town hospital on the wire. When he came back presently he nodded to Hugh. “They’re on the way by now, I reckon,” he announced.

The man had put his uninjured arm through a sleeve of his coat, and the garment was then fastened so that it might not fall off.

“Well, I want to say that you boys have done a right good job tinkering with me,” he said, as they helped him sit up on the cot, and Dale procured the heavy cane that was lying handy. “After this I’m going to take more interest in the scout doings than I’ve done in the past. If being a scout can make boys think, and act like this, there must be a heap of good about the business.”

“You can just depend on it there is, Mr. Benson,” said the big guard, who seemed to know the injured man. “I’ve looked into the game, and let me tell you it’s going to pay a thousand per cent. for every effort put into it by the long-headed gentlemen who have the movement in charge. Ten and twenty years from now there’s going to be a heap better class of men around than you meet to-day; and all on account of these scouts.”

A few minutes later and there was heard the sound of a gong, and up came the Red Cross ambulance. The injured man was easily helped into the vehicle, while Arthur and Hugh explained to the young surgeon just what steps they had taken to relieve suffering, and render first aid to the injured.

“You couldn’t have done better,” said the medical man, patting Arthur on the shoulder, for he knew both lads well, and also understood the design of one of them to some day become a surgeon. “I’ll let you know later what I think of the way you fixed up his arm.”

The ambulance went off presently, with the man waving his one well arm back at the crowd, and particularly toward the boys who had performed their part so well in the tragic happening of the afternoon.

Slowly the crowd dispersed, and the scouts could find time to put things to rights again. Arthur was looking as pleased as though he were “a child with a new toy,” Billy remarked to Hugh, under his breath.

The big man lingered. He was plainly greatly interested in the boys, and asked a great many questions.

“That man you helped,” he told Hugh, “was a Silas Benson, who lives over toward Somerville. He’s one of the richest men in those parts, though folks call him close. But since his wife died I reckon there’s a change coming over Silas; and somehow I kind of think what’s happened to him to-day may set him to figuring that he might as well get busy living for somebody besides himself. You’re going to hear from him again, boy, mark my words.”

And they did, later on, when the rich farmer had recovered from his injuries. He wanted them to accept a reward, but was shown that scouts are not allowed to receive pay for their services; and in the end Mr. Benson was easily influenced to do something for the needs of the orphan asylum of Oakvale, which was overcrowded, and required a new wing built.

Some time after the excitement had subsided Walter Osborne, who had been busy in another part of the Fair grounds, came to the camp, and Hugh could see by the look on his face he had something on his mind that was giving him more or less concern.