CHAPTER XIX

ON THE WAY

How the motor boys got into their clothes they hardly knew at the time, and afterward there was so much to talk about that they did not go into those details.

Jerry echoed Ned’s cry with:

“Lively, fellows! We’ve got to get down there in jig style, and put her out in the river!”

“We’re with you!” exclaimed Bob, whose recent injury was now only in evidence in a small bandage around his head.

“And be careful of yourself!” cautioned Ned.

Out of their rooms, the doors of which opened one into the other, the boys rushed, half dressed. It was no time for ceremony, and the fact that the fire was so near the hotel had aroused most of the guests.

Many of them were running about as though the place itself were on fire, but sufficient notice had been given to quell any possible panic. Those going out did so for the reason that they wanted to view the fire.

That the blaze was a large one was evidenced as soon as the boys reached the street, for they could see the reflection in the sky of the ruddy, leaping flames.

“Some fire!” gasped Ned.

“That’s what!” responded Jerry. “Come on!”

Some of the fire apparatus of Waydell was already at the scene, and other engines were on the way. The place boasted of three, and it was soon seen that all would be needed.

“And more, too!” panted a half-dressed man who rushed along with the boys. “I reckon they’d better telephone over to Lafayette, and get what apparatus they can. It’s going to be a hummer, all right!”

And, as Jerry, Ned and Bob turned a corner, and sped down a street that led to Silver River they saw that the blaze was in a large lumber yard, adjoining the house where their boat was stored. The piles of dry boards were rapidly being licked up by the advancing flames. While the boathouse had not yet caught it was evident that it soon would go, for the wind was driving the tongues of fire in its direction.

“It hasn’t caught yet,” panted Bob, as he raced on beside Jerry. “False alarm for us!”

“Not much!” snapped the tall lad. “We’ve got to get busy. It’ll go up in short order.”

“That’s what!” agreed Ned.

So hot was the blaze, and so fiercely was it eating up the lumber that the firemen made no attempt to save the board-piles that had already caught. They were devoting their energies to saving the surrounding property.

There was a big crowd already on hand, and it was growing larger every minute. The boys managed to push their way through, after some hard work, gaining a place where they could see the fire more plainly. And as they gained a vantage point they saw that which made them cry out in alarm.

For the side of the boathouse, nearest the lumber yard, which side had been smoking from the heat, now burst into flame.

“Look!” cried Ned.

“There she goes!” supplemented Bob.

“Come on, fellows! That’s our cue!” yelled Jerry. “We’ve got to get our boat out!”

The crowd, surprised by the sudden turn of the fire, gave way for a moment, and this presented to the boys just the advantage they wanted. There was an opening through which they slipped, running on toward the blazing boat house.

“Hey! Come back here!” called one of the firemen, for fire lines had been stretched.

“Don’t mind him!” advised Jerry. “We know what we’re about!”

And he and his chums ran on, unheeding.

As they reached the doors on the shore side of the structure another fireman, hurrying up with an axe called to them:

“What are you doing here? Get back! You’re not allowed here!”

“We’re going to get out our boat,” said Jerry sharply. “It won’t take a minute to run it out of the boathouse now, and we don’t want to stand by and see it burn.”

“That’s right,” the fireman agreed. “I’ll help you. No use standing on ceremony.”

He gave a glance at the doors. They were locked and there was no time to look for the key.

“Stand aside!” the fighter of the flames called. The boys drew back, and, with a few blows of his axe, the man shattered the fastening of the door.

“There you go!” he cried, as Jerry, Ned and Bob rushed into the structure. The flames without, shining in through the shattered door, made it light enough to see. Their boat, as yet, was unharmed, but already the flames were eating through the thin side of the boathouse which had first caught.

“Lively, boys!” yelled Jerry. “You and Bob cast off the mooring ropes, Ned, and I’ll start the motor. Lucky she’s in shape to run.”

“We’ve got to open those other doors, Jerry!” Ned cried, pointing to those which were on the river side. They were big, double ones, swinging on hinges instead of raising up like a window sash.

“We’ll ram ’em!” Jerry shouted. “We haven’t time to try the axe on ’em!”

In fact, there was no axe to use, for the fireman, as soon as he had smashed open the shore doors for the boys, had set off to join his comrades.

The _Scud_ lay in the basin of the boathouse with her bow pointed outward, for she had been backed in after her final trial the evening before. And the basin was sufficiently long to enable her to get headway enough to gain considerable power.

“All ready?” cried Jerry to his chums, as he bent over the motor.

“All ready,” answered Ned. “Let her go.”

Jerry thrust over the switch of the self-starter. There was a whine of the generator, and then came the hum and throb as the motor itself started.

“Here we go, boys! Be ready to duck!” Jerry yelled, as he pulled on the gear handle, and the motor meshed in the cogs of the propeller shaft. There was a boiling and bubbling under the stern, and the powerful craft surged forward.

“Down in front!” Jerry cried, for Ned and Bob were standing in the bow as unconcernedly as though they were on a pleasure jaunt, whereas, in another moment, the boat would ram the locked doors.

The fire had now eaten a large hole in the side of the boathouse, so that the interior was well lighted. The boys could hear the crackle of flames, and the shouts of men mingled with the puffing of the steamers. The whistle of boats approaching to do battle with the flames from the river front, was also heard.

“Low bridge!” cried Jerry, as the bow of the _Scud_ rammed the double doors. There was a crash, and a splintering of wood, but the portals held, and did not swing open. The shock sent the boat back in the water, and the boys were almost thrown off their feet.

“Got to try again!” Jerry cried. He had put the propeller out of gear as soon as the boat hit, and now he reversed the screw. The _Scud_ drew back to the limit of the water in the boathouse.

Once more she came rushing at the double doors. It must be now or never, for by this time the interior of the structure was beginning to blaze.

“Crash!” went the bow, aimed full at the dividing line between the doors. And this time, weakened as they were by the previous assault, they gave way. The _Scud_ shot out into the stream.

“Hurray!” cried Bob. “We’ve saved her!”

“But it was a close call,” observed Jerry.

“And those other boats in there are goners,” remarked Ned. “Too bad!”

“Maybe we can save one or two,” suggested Jerry, for there were a number of fine motor craft in the place.

It was rather dangerous turning back, for the house was now half enveloped in flames. But the _Scud_ was under control, and the boys well knew how to handle her. Accordingly her bow was pushed back into the boathouse long enough for the boys to cast off the mooring lines of two other boats, which they shoved out into the river.

“Better pull out! It’s getting too hot here,” panted Ned.

“Guess you’re right,” agreed Jerry. He sent their boat out into the middle of the stream, and the cool night air was grateful to the boys.

From this vantage point they watched the progress of the flames. The fire would have to be left to burn itself out, for, after the lumber yard and the boathouse were consumed, there was no other material near for the flames to feed on. The firemen could do but little, as the conflagration was beyond control when discovered.

Some time after midnight the fire had nearly burned itself out, and the boys, finding another boathouse, where they could leave their craft, went back to the hotel. They found Andy Rush there waiting for them.

“Where have you fellows been? I was looking all over for you! Big fire!” panted Andy.

“We’ve been saving the boat,” said Jerry coolly. “What happened to you?”

And then it developed that they had forgotten all about Andy in the excitement. His room was farther down the corridor, and they had not remembered to call him.

“Huh!” exclaimed Andy, when explanations were made. “You might have called me!”

“There was excitement enough without you,” spoke Ned drily.

There was little more sleep for our friends that night, though they dozed fitfully. A careful examination in the morning showed no damage to the _Scud_, beyond a little paint scratched from her bow.

“That won’t delay us,” decided Jerry. Their baggage and stores were put aboard, a goodly supply of provisions was laid in, and, steaming up past the burned lumber yard, our friends were soon on their way by boat to locate Professor Snodgrass.