CHAPTER XXX
A FRIEND INDEED
It was a shocking sight, and for a minute or two Dick Halliard and JimMcGovern did not speak.
Tom Wagstaff had been cut off in the beginning of his lawless career,and his dead body lay at the feet of his former companion inwrong-doing, with whom he had exchanged coarse jests but a short whilebefore.
It was as McGovern declared, and as the reader has learned. When thePiketon Rangers heard the rush of the flood, each broke from the tent,thinking only of his own safety, which was just as well, since neithercould offer the slightest aid to the others.
We have shown by what an exceedingly narrow chance McGovern eluded thetorrent. But for the hand of Dick Halliard, extended a second time tosave him from drowning, he would have shared the fate of Wagstaff. Theparticulars of the latter's death were never fully established. Heprobably fled in the same general direction as McGovern, withoutleading or following in his footsteps, since his body was carried tothe same shore upon which McGovern emerged. His struggles most likelywere similar, but, singularly enough, he knew nothing about swimming,which, after all, could have been of no benefit to him, and heperished as did the thousands who went down in the Johnstown flood.
Terry Hurley overheard the exclamation of McGovern, the roar of thetorrent having greatly subsided, and he called out to know the cause.Dick explained, and the sympathetic Irishman instantly quelled thedisposition to joke that he had felt a short time before.
The boys were not slow in observing that the water was falling. Whenthey first laid down the body the current almost touched their feet.In a short while it was a considerable distance away.
"I believe he was an old friend of yours," said Dick, addressing hiscompanion, who was deeply affected by the event.
"Yes," replied McGovern; "him and me run away from home together."
"Why did you do that?"
"Because Satan got into us; we both have good homes and kind parents,but we played truant, stole, fought, and did everything bad. Bob Buddcame down to New York some time ago, and we made his acquaintance; wewere fellows after one another's heart, and we took to each otherright off. We showed Bob around the city, and then he made us promiseto come out and visit him. It was his idea to form the PiketonRangers."
"I don't know as there was anything wrong in that," said Dick, whofelt for the grief of his companion and was awed by the fate that hadovertaken the others; "camping out is well enough in its way, and Iwould do it myself if I had the chance."
"It isn't that which I mean; it's the way we have been going on sincewe have been together. I daresn't tell you all the bad we did, DickHalliard."
"Never mind; don't think of it."
"I am going home as soon as I can; this will break up Tom's folks, forthey thought all the world of him."
"It is bad," said Dick, who saw how idle it was to try to minify thedreadful incidents; "but sad as it is, it will not be entirely lost ifyou do not forget it."
"Forget it!" repeated McGovern, looking reproachfully in his face; "itwill haunt me as long as I live."
"I have been told that people often feel that way when great sorrowovertakes them; but," added Dick, seeing his companion was grieved byhis words, "I do not believe it will be so with you."
"I have run away from home before, but I think this was a little theworst, for my father had everything arranged to send me to college,and I know his heart is well-nigh broken."
"Not so far but that you can mend it by doing what you say you mean todo," said Dick, thinking it wise to emphasize the truth alreadyspoken.
McGovern made no reply, but stood for a minute as if in deep thought.Dick was watching him closely and saw him look down at the inanimateform at his feet. He sighed several times, and then glancing upquickly, said in an eager voice:
"Dick Hilliard, I wish I was like you."
The words sounded strange from one who had been so reckless of allthat was right, but never was an utterance more sincere--it camedirectly from the heart.
"Don't take me for a model, for you can be a great deal better than I;you tell me you have good parents; all you have to do is to obeythem."
"You seem to doubt my keeping the pledge," said McGovern, looking withcurious fixidity in the countenance of Dick.
"I believe you are in earnest now, but what I fear is that you havebecome so accustomed to your wild life that you will forget thislesson."
"Well," sighed the stricken youth, "that must remain to be tested; allthat I can now do is to ask you to suspend judgment, as they say."
"You can give me your hand on it, Jim."
It was a strange sight, when the two boys clasped hands on the bank ofthe subsiding flood, with the lifeless body at their feet, and one ofthem uttered his solemn promise that from that hour he would strive tofollow the right path and shun the wrong one.
But that pledge, uttered years ago, remains unbroken to this day.
Dick Halliard was thrilled by the scene, which will always remainvivid in his memory. Despite the sorrowful surroundings a singularpleasure crept through his being, for conscience whispered that he haddone a good deed in thus exhorting the wayward youth, and that it wason record in the great book above.
It was not the impressiveness of that silent form that so wrought uponthe feelings of the youths, but the recollection of the missing one,whose body they believed was whirling about in the fierce currents ofthe torrent that was speedily exhausting itself in the deeper parts ofthe valley, or perhaps was lodged somewhere in the lower limbs of atree, awaiting the morning for the shocked friends to claim it.
Considerable time had passed since the bursting of the dam, and thenews of the calamity spread rapidly. People began flocking hither fromthe neighborhood, and before long there were arrivals from Piketonitself. These gathered at the scene of destruction and viewed it withbated breath. Some brought lanterns, but the broad space where thewaters had reposed for so many years was clearly shown in themoonlight and made a striking sight.
The striking feature about the calamity, which, as we have stated, wasnever satisfactorily explained, was that the dam, which looked strongenough to resist tenfold the pressure, had not yielded in a singlespot, as would be supposed, but had been carried away almost bodily.That is to say, three-fourths of the structure was gone, itsfoundations being on a level with the bottom of the pond in theimmediate vicinity.
Perhaps the most probable explanation of the accident was that offeredby an old fisherman, to the effect that muskrats had burrowed underand through the dam until it had been so weakened throughout most ofits extent that when a giving way began at one point it was likeknocking the keystone from an arch. Its results resembled those oftenshown by the explosion of a steam boiler, when only a few fragmentsremain to show what it once has been.
Before long a party reached the place where Dick and Jim were standingby the dead body of Wagstaff. When it was proposed to remove it thesuggestion was made that it should not be disturbed until the arrivalof the coroner, who could be called by morning to view the body. Thispractice, as the reader doubtless knows, prevails in nearly everyportion of the country, and was adopted in the instance named.
Meanwhile Terry Hurley and his family, perched among the branches ofthe trees, were not forgotten. As soon as the waters subsidedsufficiently, parties waded out, and by means of ladders that werequickly brought, soon placed the homeless ones safely on _terrafirma_.
The haste of the flight had prevented the couple from doing much inthe way of bringing needed garments, and the children, who were intheir night clothes, suffered considerably. But they were now in thehands of good friends, who did everything possible. They were lookedafter, and it is a pleasure to say that no serious consequencesfollowed.
Captain Jim Budd, the indulgent uncle of Bob, happened to be away fromPiketon on the night of the great accident, but was expected back inthe morning. Fortunately no one was so thoughtless as to hasten toAunt Ruth with the news of her nephew's death, and therein she w
asmore favored than most people placed in her sad situation.
Dick Halliard made his employer his confidant as far as was necessaryconcerning Jim McGovern. The good-hearted merchant took hold of thematter at once.
Having obtained from McGovern the address of Wagstaff's parents, wordwas telegraphed them and their wishes asked as to the disposition oftheir son's remains. The father appeared that afternoon, and with thepermission of the coroner took charge of them.
Mr. Wagstaff proved to be a man of good sense and judgment. He toldMr. Hunter that his life purpose had been to educate and bring up hisfive children, with every advantage they could require. He and hiswife had set their hearts on preparing Jim for the ministry, but hiswayward tendencies developed at an early age. He was the only one ofthe family to cause the parents anxiety, and he brought them enoughsorrow for all.
This parent was one of those rare ones who saw his children as otherpeople saw them. His boy had been as bad as he could be, and thoughthe youngest of the three, no excuse was offered for him on thataccount.
"He has sown the wind and reaped the whirlwind," remarked the father;"he chose the wrong path instead of the right, and no one is blamablebeside himself."
Mr. Wagstaff manifested deep interest in young McGovern, when helearned what the young man had said to Dick Halliard. His father was aprominent lawyer in New York, who had cherished the same hopes for hisson as he, but he would not be controlled, and he, too, had run off toseek forbidden pleasures.
But the caller was touched by what he had heard as to the youth'schange of feelings. He sought him out, and was pleased with his talk.The same train which bore the remains of Wagstaff to New York carriedalso Jim McGovern on his way to join his parents who had known nothingof him for days.