“Let’s wrap his head and shoulders in this bathrobe,” panted Bobby. “Then you take his feet and I’ll take his head, and we’ll make a break to get through.”
Fred helped as directed, and closing their eyes when they neared the darting flames, they got through with their burden just in time to deliver Lee into the hands of Dr. Raymond and Mr. Carrier, who had come rushing in half dressed from the adjoining building. The half-unconscious boy was taken to a safe place and ministered to, and then Dr. Raymond and the teachers turned their attention to fighting the fire, first having made sure that all the pupils were accounted for.
By this time the flames had gained considerable headway, and had broken through the partitions into adjoining rooms. Hand grenades were brought into use, but could do little toward checking the fire. Then a bucket brigade was organized, and the boys worked like Trojans in passing the buckets from hand to hand. But the flames were not entirely extinguished until help arrived from the town. Then a powerful stream was turned on and the fire was speedily gotten under control.
It was after midnight before the danger was over, and much later than that when the fire company thought it safe to depart, leaving one of their number to guard against any renewal of the flame from the sodden and smouldering embers.
Then the boys, who were utterly fagged out by the excitement and the hard work they had been doing, had time to take an account of matters. Some of the rooms had been burned out altogether, including that occupied by Bobby and Fred. They had had time however to remove most of their clothes and personal belongings, but the other contents of the rooms were practically a total loss.
Personally they had gotten off with only trifling hurts and burns. Fred’s hair had been singed and Bobby’s hands had some blisters, incurred by that rapid rush through the flames, and some of the other boys had minor injuries, incurred chiefly in the effort to save their belongings. But none had perished and none had been seriously hurt, and in this they found ample reason for thanksgiving.
“Gee, Bobby, but it was lucky that you woke up just then!” exclaimed Shiner. “If you hadn’t, a lot of us might have been burned to death.”
“It’s lucky that I had that nightmare,” replied Bobby with a grin, and he narrated the details of his fight with the alligators in his dream. “If I hadn’t been shocked awake by that,” he concluded, “I’d have been as sound asleep as the rest when the fire broke out.”
“It was an awful plucky thing that you and Fred did when you went through the fire for Lee,” commented Mouser. “A little later and nobody could have got to him and he’d have been a goner sure.”
“I only hope it hasn’t set him back,” replied Bobby. “He wasn’t in shape to stand much excitement.”