“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?”