“Oh!” said Tom.
“Ah!” said Ralph.
“That makes the thing look different,” added Loren. “I supposed that they were made up of the same material we used to find in the old volunteer organizations.”
“By no means. They are all rich and intelligent men. They own valuable property here, and by taking an interest in their fire department, they get their insurance at much lower rates than we do in the city.”
The near approach of the column put a stop to the conversation. First came the drum-major, a big six-footer, with a high bear-skin cap, which made him look a great deal taller than he really was, and behind him the band, which discoursed as fine music as any body wanted to hear. Then came the hook and ladder company, two hundred strong, marching four abreast and drawing their heavy truck after them without the least apparent exertion. Next came a steam fire engine, drawn by men instead of horses, after that a hose cart, followed by a small company of about twenty young fellows in black dress-coats and white trowsers and caps, who pulled along something that looked like a skeleton road wagon, loaded with Babcock fire extinguishers.
“That’s a little the queerest looking turn-out I ever saw,” Tom remarked. “They couldn’t do any thing toward putting out a fire. I suppose they are more for show than any thing else.”
“Wrong again,” said Mr. Farnsworth. “They have done good work, and the citizens, in recognition of their services, presented them with money enough to build an engine house for themselves, and furnish it in fine style.”
Next came the soldiers, veterans, every one of them, and behind them a company of oddly uniformed youngsters, whose movements were governed by the blast of a bugle instead of the word of command. They must have been the ones the guests were waiting for, for when they came in sight, and, following the movements of the military company, executed the maneuver: “Platoons right front into line,” which they did with as much soldier-like precision as the veterans themselves, the gentlemen on the veranda cheered them lustily, while the ladies waved their handkerchiefs and bombarded the ranks with bouquets, which were deftly caught by the boys, and impaled upon the ends of their long bows.
“Now, then, can any body tell me who and what those fellows are?” exclaimed Ralph.
“They are the Mount Airy Toxophilites,” replied Mr. Farnsworth.