“Yes,” added Arthur, “an aeronaut in one case, and the owner of a dancing bear this time. They say extremes meet, and I guess that’s so with us. But it makes no difference who’s in pain and trouble, a scout has got to stand by him; isn’t that right, Hugh?”
“Every time,” replied the scout master promptly. “I find that this man has broken a bone in his left leg. I can feel it grate when I press it, even if it hasn’t come through, like some do when the fracture is extra bad. But he’s been trying to stand on it, and drag himself up here, only to fall back again and again, so that it’s pretty badly inflamed by now. Want of attention has hurt him more than the original break. I’m going to fix that leg as best I can, and wrap it up with the fresh surgeons’ tape I happen to be carrying with me.”
There was really no “happen” about it, for Hugh always made it a point to carry a small supply of that useful bandage tape with him all the time. It is one of those things which when required at all is needed badly. On several previous occasions the scout master had found cause to thank his forethought in thus going prepared for emergencies. Boys take so many desperate chances in their rough play that they are in constant danger of meeting with some accident.
The man seemed to understand that he was in the hands of Good Samaritans, though it doubtless hurt him keenly when Hugh worked; he stifled many a groan, he gritted his teeth, and managed to keep from fainting under the strain.
“There, that’s all done, and as good a job as anything I ever tackled,” Hugh finally declared, as he arose and stretched his cramped limbs. “And now the next thing is to get him up out of here. Suppose both of you try taking him by the shoulders while I look after his legs. I know how to handle him with as little pain as can be done. We can move him a little way, and then rest, till we’re up on the level again. Ready, boys?”
The others understood what Hugh had in mind. They had practiced carrying a helpless person in some of their “first aid to the injured” lessons; and hence were quite competent to attend to their end. Hugh knew that the wounded man was in for more painful experiences, but then there was no other way of getting him out of that deep gully.
Resting as many as half a dozen times, the three scouts finally reached the level ground again. All of them were panting heavily, for the man was no light weight, and climbing the steep side of the ravine under such conditions was a much more difficult task than they had found when descending.
“And now what?” asked Billy as he looked to Hugh to lay out a plan.
“We must make a litter or stretcher, just as we’ve done more than a few times when practicing this game of carrying a wounded comrade,” the scout master told them.
“That would be easy enough if only we had some sort of hatchet along,” Arthur declared, “but you see, none of us dreamed we’d need such a thing. Now, I’ve got an old one hidden near where my wireless masts stand up on the top of Cedar Hill, if only you’d wait till I could go there and back.”