Fairview Boys at Camp Mystery/Chapter 2
CHAPTER II
THE FIRST SNOW
The whole school was in excitement. From all the rooms the boys and girls were rushing out, not stopping for their hats or coats. Frightened teachers, and the excited principal, were trying to quiet them. For everyone felt sure the school building was going to fall, and all wanted to get out as quickly as possible.
"Now, boys, you may go!" said Miss Williams, when the girls were out of her room.
Some of the boys started, but Frank Haven, taking his place at the door, cried:
"No, Miss Williams, you go first!"
She gave him a glance that showed how much she appreciated his thoughtfulness for her, but she said quietly, though her lips trembled:
"No, Frank. I am like the captain of a ship. I will stay until the last. But, oh, do hurry out!"
Hearing this two other boys made a rush.
"That won't do!" cried Bob sharply. "You'll all get in a jam on the stairs."
"That's right!" exclaimed Sammy. "Form in line, as we always do at fire drill!"
"Good!" cried Miss Williams. "Ready! In line! March!"
Her sharp command had a good effect, and the boys marched out in order. Sammy and his two chums came last, and Miss Williams followed them. The rumbling and shaking of the building still continued, and now dense white clouds could be seen coming from the basement.
"She's on fire again!" cried Sammy, as he and his chums reached the yard safely.
"And she'll burn up!" added Bob.
The school yard was filled with excited children, the teachers urging them to get as far away from the building as they could.
"Is everyone out?" asked the principal. "Teachers, look at your different classes and see!"
This was done quickly.
"Oh dear!" exclaimed Miss Watson, teacher of the kindergarten. "Oh dear!"
"What is it?" someone asked.
"Johnnie Jones—he isn't here!"
At that instant, through a cloud of smoke in front of the window of the kindergarten room a face could be seen. It was that of Johnnie Jones.
"He's in there!" gasped his teacher.
"I'll get him!" shouted the principal. "Get the children farther off!"
"Now, let me get him—please?" cried another voice, and Jed Burr, the bully, who had apologized that morning, sprang forward and went back again into the buildfing which it was feared would fall at any moment.
"I can't let him do that!" murmured the principal. "I must go after both of them."
But before he could do this Jed came out again, carrying fat little Johnnie Jones in his arms.
"I got him all right!" shouted the former bully.
"You're a brave boy!" cried Mr. Tetlow.
Just then the janitor of the school came up out of the basement.
"It's all right!" he cried, through a white cloud of steam. "I have fixed it! I'll tell you all how it happened."
"Is the earthquake over?" asked Sammy.
"It wasn't an earthquake," said Mr. Hobb, the janitor. "Come here, and I'll tell you about it."
And while the frightened teachers and pupils are gathering back in their rooms, the danger being over, I will take a few moments to tell my new readers something about the boys and others who are to have parts in this story, and also something about the previous books in this series.
To begin with, I think you already know my three heroes—Sammy Brown, Bob Bouncer and Frank Haven. Though I have named him last in this case, Frank was generally the leader in anything he and his two chums did. Bob and Sammy thought there was no one in the world like Frank.
Sammy was rather more quiet, and his mother said more thoughtful, but if this was so, it was only because Sammy was always thinking up something to do. He was quite a reader, and liked stories of mystery, and buried treasure. He was always sure that some day he would find a hidden store of gold, or make some big discovery.
Bob Bouncer was a different sort of lad. He was full of fun, not to say mischief, and when he was around one had better look out that he did not find a funny note pinned to his coat-tail or else watch out that he did not discover a stone dropped into his pocket. But, though Bob played many jokes, they were not mean or cruel ones.
The three boys lived in the town of Fairview, on the shore of Rainbow Lake, a large body of water, in the centre of which was an extensive island.
The first book of this series was called "The Fairview Boys Afloat and Ashore; Or, The Young Crusoes of Pine Island." In that I had the pleasure of telling how the three chums went out on the lake in the Puff, a sailboat owned by George Haven, Frank's brother. They did not know much about boats, and the result was that the Puff was wrecked near Pine Island. The boys managed to get on this body of land, and there they lived, until rescued, in real Robinson Crusoe style.
In the second book, called "The Fairview Boys on Eagle Mountain; Or, Sammy Brown's Treasure Hunt," I related how the lads set off on a tour of discovery. Sammy Brown had come across some curious papers in his home attic, and was sure they told of hidden treasure. So the party set off for Eagle Mountain, and what they did there, and how the treasure hunt ended, you may read of in the book.
"The Fairview Boys and Their Rivals; Or, Bob Bouncer's Schooldays," is the name of the third volume. In that you can find out all about the many things Bob and his chums did; how they got the better of a mad bull, how they had fun in the woods, and how it was that Jed Burr came to be expelled. Then came the robbery of Mr. Haven's jewelry store, the fire in the school, and the finding of the jewelry down in the well, where the thief had thrown it.
And the fire, as I have related, was the cause of the school not being opened on the regular day in the term. Which brings us down to the present time.
"Was there a fire?" asked Mr. Tetlow, the principal.
"No, not exactly a fire," answered the janitor, "though the trouble was caused by a fire."
"And there wasn't any earthquake?" asked Sammy. He was rather disappointed, to tell the truth, that there had been nothing as big and sensational as an earthquake.
"Nary an earthquake," went on Mr. Hobb, who was rather pale. "Indeed everyone had been greatly alarmed.
"But the building shook!" declared Nellie Somers.
"It certainly did," agreed Miss Williams. "I thought surely it was going to fall down."
"And I thought Jed was going to fall down with me," spoke up Johnnie Jones. "He shook me up and down."
"I couldn't help it," said Jed, with blushing face. "You're so—so fat."
"I guess I am," sighed little Johnnie.
"Well, Jed, it was one of the bravest acts I have ever seen," declared the principal, and Jed blushed with pleasure. It seemed that he wanted to make up for his mean tricks in the past by showing that he could be a hero when he desired.
"Now I'll tell you how it was," went on the janitor.
"Yes, do," urged Mr. Tetlow. "We don't want it to happen again."
By this time the excitement had quieted down. There was no more smoke, and there was no smell of fire.
"I had started up the new heating boiler to try it," explained the janitor. "We didn't exactly need steam on today, though it is a bit cold, and it looks like snow. But I thought I'd try the new steam plant, so I built a fire in the boiler.
"I left it going and went off to do some work in another part of the school, and I guess I forgot about the steam. Anyhow, all at once I heard the roar and the rumble, and I felt the building shake. I knew right away what had happened, and I ran down cellar. I didn't even stop to explain to anyone."
"Well, what did happen?" asked the principal.
"Why, the safety valve got stuck, and when the pressure got too heavy it wouldn't let the steam escape. So the pipes, all through the school, were filled and the pressure was so strong that they commenced to shake and tremble. That made the building vibrate, and the boiler began to rumble and roar, too.
"I was afraid it might blow up, so down I rushed and opened the safety valve that was stuck shut. That let out the steam, and the pressure in the pipes went down. And that's all."
"It was enough," said Miss Williams. "So that white cloud was steam, and not smoke from a fire?"
"Yes, ma'am," answered the janitor, "it was only steam."
"Is the safety valve all right now?" asked Mr. Tetlow.
"Oh, yes, indeed!" exclaimed the janitor. "I fixed it. I should have looked at it first, but it slipped my mind. I'm sorry."
"Well, it's all right, as long as no one is hurt," said the principal. "And now, as we have had so much excitement, I hardly believe that you children could do well with your lessons this morning. It is eleven o'clock now, so I will dismiss you all until this afternoon. Come back when you have had your dinners."
There were cries of delight at this, and the boys and girls hurried back into their classrooms, after their hats and coats, for the weather seemed to be getting colder.
Sammy and his two chums passed close to Jed Burr as they went in. Then Sammy did a kind act.
"Will you shake hands, Jed?" he asked of the former bully. "That was a fine thing you did."
Jed blushed.
"Aw, that was nothin'," he said. "There wasn't any danger."
"But you didn't know that," returned Frank. "I'd like to shake hands with you, too."
"So would I," added Bob Bouncer. "I guess we'll all be friends now, after this."
"I've turned over a new leaf," said Jed, when they had shaken hands with him. "I'm not going to bother you fellows any more."
"That's good," spoke Sammy, for Jed had been a sore trial to them, and to many other small lads of Fairview.
"And we'd be glad to have you around to our clubhouse whenever you want to come," added Frank, kindly.
"Thanks," said Jed, gratefully.
After Bob Bouncer had discovered Mr. Haven's jewelry hidden in the well, following the schoolhouse fire, the merchant had offered Bob a reward of a hundred dollars. But Bob's father would not let him take it, so Mr. Haven used the money in fitting up, in his barn, a fine clubroom and gymnasium for Bob and his chums.
Talking over the accident to the steam boiler, and making merry that they had had such a short morning session, the boys and girls hurried along on their way home. Sammy and his chums walked together, and, every now and then, Sammy would look up at the sky.
"What are you planning now?" asked Bob, giving Sammy a sly punch in the ribs. "Studying how to make an airship?" and he winked at Frank.
"Aw, let me alone," begged Sammy. "Can't I look at the weather if I want to?"
"Sure," agreed Bob. "But what makes you so serious about it?"
"I'm thinking it's going to snow," answered Sammy, "and I'm going to get out my sled, when I go home, to be ready for it. I've got to get the rust off the runners."
"Snow!" cried Frank. "It won't snow to-day."
But it did. Before school was out that afternoon the white flakes began coming lazily down, and the children, looking from the windows, felt merry at the prospect of a storm. Snow is so different from rain. Almost everyone is happy and jolly when it snows, but miserable when it rains.
"Say, it's going to be a good storm all right!" cried Sammy, as he and his chums came out of school when lessons were over for the day. "It's three inches deep now, and falling fast."
"Yes, we'll have to get out our snow-shoes if it keeps on," laughed Bob, as he slyly dropped some snow down Frank's neck.
"Ouch!" cried Frank, squirming about as he felt the coldness down his spine. "I'll wash your face for that, Bob Bouncer!"
He raced down the street after his fun-loving chum, but before he reached him he saw something that made him stop. This was the sight of an elderly lady walking carefully along, just ahead of him, through the snow. As Frank came up behind her her saw her fall heavily, and lay quite still in a heap on the sidewalk.
"Here you go, fellows!" cried Frank, to Bob and Sammy. "We've got to help her—come here!"