More soldiers kept arriving. They were mostly National Guardsmen, though one company of Regulars was on the train.
Some doctors were being taken along, and a quantity of medical stores, for sickness had broken out, it was reported. A large supply of tents was being shipped, for many of the sufferers had been driven from home by high water, had been forced to flee to the hills, where they were camping in the open. And tents were much needed for shelter, for, though it was Summer, there was considerable rain, and this made it very uncomfortable for the refugees, especially the women and children, to stay out unprotected.
All these scenes Joe and Blake took with their moving picture camera. Now and then they moved up or down the big depot, to get varied views. Sometimes they would film a pathetic scene, as when a little girl, who had evidently read about the relief subscriptions, brought her bank filled with pennies.
“Here, Mr. Soldier-man,” she said, to a bearded Regular. “I’ve got a dollar an’ nineteen cents saved up, and I want you to take it and buy some little girl a pair of rubber boots, so she can wade in the water, and not get drowned.”
“All right,” cried the soldier, as he wiped away something that glistened in his eyes, and blew his nose unnecessarily hard, it seemed. “All right, little one. I’ll take care of your money for you.”
“And don’t forget to buy the boots!” cried the tot, shaking her finger at him to impress it on his mind.
“I won’t,” he promised, and as he stood looking at the penny-bank, rather uncertain what to do with it, Blake filmed him, as a conclusion of the little scene.
“I wonder if I oughtn’t to make the kid take back this money?” the soldier said, speaking to the boys. “Maybe her folks wouldn’t like her to give it away.”
“I guess they wouldn’t mind,” remarked Blake, with a smile. “Anyhow, she’s gone now,” for she had quickly slipped away in the throng.
“But what am I to do with the stuff?” asked the bewildered trooper.