Another voice took up the refrain from a nearby house. Then a second joined in further off. The town was being slowly aroused; but meanwhile their feeble efforts did not seem to be holding the fire in check to any appreciable extent.
"Hark! there goes the alarm!" shrilled Buster, as the sudden clang of the fire bell awoke the echoes of the July night.
"Hurrah! we may save it yet! Here comes a feller on the jump!" gasped Bones, who had been making a human hinge of himself with constant dipping into the river, and then tossing the contents of his bucket on the furious flames.
There were now three of them, and the reinforcement counted heavily. The fire did not seem to gain so rapidly now. Eagerly Buster looked for the coming of others, who would lend willing hands. It was a thrilling moment in the lives of those two lads, fighting to save the highly-prized boats with which Columbia High expected to do herself proud on the coming day.
Others began to reach the scene. Everybody pitched in with a vim to do something. As many buckets as could be pressed into service were put to work. Some of the boys even made their way into the building to snatch the boats out.
"Take care, there's a hole in the middle of the floor!" shouted Buster.
Three fellows found it immediately, and were plunged into the water, to add to the confusion by their cries of terror.
"Here comes the machine!" arose the shout; and the fire engine horses appeared in view, galloping toward the scene of confusion.
Fully five score of persons were now on the ground, and willing hands took hold to put out the fire. Water was being dashed on the side of the building from all sorts of available utensils, even to a dishpan borrowed from the back door of a neighboring house.
Buster had rushed into the building as soon as he heard the shrieks of the trio who had gone down into the river. There was no great trouble in fishing the unlucky ones out of their bathtub.