Hugh Hardin was known to be a boy of action. When other fellows were stupefied by some sudden peril, Hugh was doing things.
So in the present instance. He saw the peril of the child even before Alec did, but without uttering a single word, Hugh darted forward as an arrow from the bow, or a hawk pouncing upon some bird.
It was all over in a flash. Alec and the others had started to jump forward, but they would have been too late to be of any real service. Hugh, however, darted in among the congested wagons and moving cars, and, snatching the frightened little child from under the very hoofs of a team, carried her across to the other side of the street.
There was considerable confusion, for drivers were shouting at each other and chauffeurs were trying to push their way past the congested crossing. Apparently they were more concerned with the fact that there had been a mix-up than because a precious human life had just been in jeopardy.
Alec, backed by the other two scouts, pushed out on the street and held up their hands to stop the traffic until the cluster of school children could cross. Some of the drivers seemed to think it a joke, being held up in this fashion by boys in khaki, and laughed good-naturedly at it; but others swore, and made threatening gestures with their whips.
Then, the children having crossed in safety, thanks to their protectors, Alec gave the signal for the wagons and cars to proceed with as much show of authority as any member of the traffic squad in a great city could assume.
The boys were “boiling over” with indignation, as Billy aptly expressed it, as they walked down the street toward the heart of Oakvale. More than ever, Hugh was now determined not to rest until something had been done toward an eradication of the numerous nuisances that infested the town.
“I’m going to attend that little, informal meeting to-night, boys,” he told his chums, “and unless I miss my guess something will be done. If only the women folks can stir up Mayor Strunk! I understand that several of the pastors will drop in during the evening, and it begins to look as though the last straw has been put on the camel’s back.”
“I only wish,” ventured Billy, wheezing still from his recent violent exertions, “that some of them had seen what happened just now, and how that poor little Anita Burns would most likely have been run over but for Hugh here. It was an object lesson that might have moved even such an old mossback as Mayor Strunk, or Chief Wallis, of the police force.”
“Wait!” was what Hugh told him, and a short time later the group separated.