CHAPTER XX. LOTS OF EXCITEMENT.
After all that excitement, Tubby could not immediately tear himself awayfrom his chums.
"Why, seems as if all the sleep had been chased out of my eyes!" hedeclared, as he once more composedly sat down; and of course a generaldiscussion took place in connection with their past experiences withJared Applegate.
In the end they had to fairly pry Tubby away from that chair, and put himout of the door, in a friendly scuffle; he protesting to the last that ashe had no expectation of getting a wink of sleep that night, there was noneed of hurrying.
"Why, it's half-past eleven right now," Andy told him. "We'll be a nicelot of blinking owls to-morrow unless we hit the hay in a hurry. You comeback when you promised, and join the bunch. Good-night, Tubby!"
With that the door was closed, and of course the unwilling Tubby foundthere was no use trying to change the program; so he headed for theelevator, smothering a tremendous yawn by the way.
He made his appearance promptly on time when morning came, and theystarted for the Exposition grounds in a squad, all of them filled withlively anticipations of another great day of sight-seeing.
Of course the most anxious one of the company was Hiram. His business hadnot as yet come to a focus, and he was not at all certain how it mightturn out. The others did not wish to hurry him unduly, for they knewHiram to be very set in his ways; but at the same time they gave himplain hints that he would be unwise to wait too long.
"They're expecting me any day now," Hiram had explained in answer tothese remonstrances, "and I'm just keepin' 'em on the fence, you see.When I kinder guess the time's ripe I'll drop in on the company and tell'em who I happen to be."
"Hiram means he's engineering a sort of climax," explained Andy; "but therest of us will be as mad as hops if he pulls the thing off withoutgiving us a chance to see the fun."
"You wouldn't be so mean as that, I hope, Hiram?" pleaded Tubby.
"What d'ye take me for?" the other had exclaimed, in seeming indignation."Guess I ought to know what my duty to my chums is. You'll all have frontseats on the band wagon when the music begins. Consider that as good assettled, Tubby. I'm having an extra big chair fixed for you, too, soyou'll be comfy."
Tubby beamed his gratitude, and as they had arrived at the turnstile bythat time the subject was dropped.
It was decided that they should keep together, for a while at least,though anyone could see that Hiram was wild to hurry over to where theGolden Gate Aviation Supply Company had its headquarters adjoining thefield where the airships gave frequent exhibitions.
The crowd had not begun to make itself felt as yet, so that they foundsplendid opportunities to inspect numerous things that attracted theirattention in some of the many immense Fair buildings.
An hour was spent among the pictures in the art building. Rob enjoyedthis, for he was very fond of paintings, and at some future date he meantto put in a whole morning here.
Tubby soon tired of it, and as for Hiram it seemed to be pretty much of abore. One whose heart and mind were wrapped up with all sorts ofinventions could not be expected to content himself gazing upon works ofart; they were too tame for his spirit; what Hiram delighted in was thewhirr of machinery, the clack of the aeroplane propeller, and kindredobjects that meant real _work_ for him.
Just how it happened that about the middle of the morning they foundthemselves once more treading the devious ways of the Amusement Zoneneither Rob nor Tubby nor Hiram could somehow understand. They dimlysuspected, however, that the artful Andy must have managed to coax themin that quarter under a specious plea that he wanted to show themsomething wonderful.
The first thing they knew they were seated in chairs on the movingplatform, and viewing the scenery along the stretch of the Panama Canal,which had a very realistic look for those who had been there themselves.
Each chair had a dictaphone attachment connected with the arm, and byapplying this in the proper manner to their ears the occupants wereenabled to hear a description of each section of the great ditch as itwas reached.
Taken in all, it was a novel experience, and one they enjoyed very much;though in the end it required the strength of the other three scouts todrag poor Tubby out of his chair, which happened not to have beencapacious enough for the standard requirements of the fat boy.
"Honestly," said Tubby, in explanation of his sticking so tight, "Ibelieve some skunk went and put a piece of shoemakers' wax in that chair;and I feel that I'm lucky to have saved the seat of my new khakitrousers. If it had been the old ones there's no telling what might havehappened."
"H'm! a poor excuse is better than none, they say," muttered Andy; "butseems like instead of calling these chairs comfortable they might haveadded that they were the 'Fat Man's Misery.' But forget it, Tubby; you'resafe and sound again, breeches and all. Come on and see what there is inthis Bedouin Camp. The camels look like it ought to be a heapinteresting."
The others were not as much taken with the show as Andy. To him it wasall real, and breathed the atmosphere of the desert and the traders'caravan; but Rob saw how much was tinsel and make-believe, and reallysuspected that some of the so-called Arabs talked among themselves inpretty fair English.
It happened that shortly after they had issued from this concession, andHiram was commencing to show signs of uneasiness, as though wanting to beoff, something came to pass that for the time being made them forgettheir plans.
"Hey! what's all that running about over there?" suddenly exclaimed Andy."Mebbe there's goin' to be an Oriental elopement or a wedding? Let'shurry over and get in line to see!"
"More'n like a dog-fight," grumbled Hiram; "for I've noticed that in someof these squalid villages of foreigners they have some ugly yellow curshanging around, which I should think the Fair people wouldn't stand for."
All the same, Hiram ran as fast as his mates to see what was going on.They made a discovery before they were more than half way to the spot.Indeed, the loud outcries borne to their ears, as well as the smoke thatcame from a building where the signs indicated that a celebrated Egyptianfortune-teller could be consulted, made this very manifest.
"Whee! it's a fire!" gurgled Tubby, who was puffing very hard in hiseffort not to be left in the lurch by his more agile companions.
The excitement can be easily imagined in that always thronged section ofthe Exposition grounds. Scores of persons, many of them turbaned Arabs,Turks with red fezzes on their heads, or other foreigners were rushingthis way and that, all wildly shouting, and wringing their hands asthough they expected that a dreadful misfortune threatened that part ofthe Amusement Zone.
The gayly-dressed fortune-tellers were apparently up against a hardproposition. They could pretend to tell what the future held for others,but apparently had not been able to foresee such a common everydayoccurrence as their booth taking fire.
No one seemed to be thinking of trying to do anything. The authorities ofthe Fair had provided arrangements for such accidents, and in due time,doubtless, the fire company would dash upon the scene, ready to pour astream of water on the flames.
But seconds count when fire is seizing hold of flimsy curtains andwoodwork. A minute or two in the commencement of a conflagration meansthat it may be smothered before it gets a firm clutch on the building.
Rob possibly remembered what had happened on that Long Island bay at thetime he and Andy saved the naphtha launch owned by old Cap. Jerry.
Just then he discovered a couple of local scouts hurrying up. They weresmall lads, and might hardly know what was to be done in such anemergency. Rob seized hold of the first one.
"Tell me, do you know where the nearest fire extinguisher is fastened; Iremember seeing some around the grounds here?"
No sooner had Rob put this question to the small scout than his facelighted up eagerly.
"That's the ticket!" he exclaimed, shrilly. "I knew there was something afellow ought to do! Why, yes, there's one rig
ht back yonder, mister. Allyou got to do is to grab it off the stand and get busy. I know whereanother is further on!"
With that he darted off, followed by his companion. Rob had not evenwaited to hear all that was said. He had his eye on that littleextinguisher immediately, and was leaping toward it, followed by the gazeof his admiring chums.
Why, it seemed almost no time at all before the scout leader had wrenchedthe extinguisher loose. His first thought was that luck favored himbecause lo! and behold it chanced to be one of the same pattern he alwayscarried aboard his little motorboat, to provide against a catastrophe byfire.
Thus armed and equipped, Rob started into the small building from whichthe dense clouds of smoke issued, and amidst which tongues of angry flamewere to be seen.
Andy, Hiram and Tubby followed close on his heels. They had nothing withwhich to fight the fire, but somehow seemed to consider it a part oftheir duty to back their energetic leader up to the full limit of theircapacity.
It was, after all, nothing of moment, once Rob got the little streamstarted on the flames. The fire had not gained sufficient headway to makea stubborn resistance of it, and inside of three minutes Rob had itentirely subdued.
"Back out, fellows; it's all over!" he managed to exclaim, though halfchoked by the penetrating smoke.
Just as the scouts came out, and by their smiles assured everybody thatthere no longer remained a spark to endanger the neighboring flimsystructures, the fire squad came hustling up. Of course there was aperfect mob gathered by this time, and Rob found it hard work to try andmake his way through.
The man in charge of the fire-fighters hunted the scouts up and insistedon shaking hands with them, a procedure that many in the crowd copied,greatly to the displeasure of Rob, though Tubby and the others did notseem to mind it in the least.
One alert young fellow, who announced that he was a reporter on a SanFrancisco daily, tried his best to get an interview with Rob, whopositively declined to say anything except that they were scouts fromLong Island.
As this persistent newspaperman kept after them, and was seen in eagerconversation with Tubby in the rear, it might be taken for granted thatthe fat scout was of a different mind from Rob. Trust Tubby to "blow thehorn" good and strong, especially when he could sing the praises of onehe cared for as much as he did for Rob Blake.
"Seems like things keep on happening wherever we go," said Andy, afterthey had finally managed to shake off the last of the curious crowd, andretreated to another part of the Zone.
"It's lucky for some people that such is the case," asserted Tubby,promptly. "If we hadn't happened to be around I reckon thatfortune-teller's place would have been burned to the ground. Some time wemay be sorry we bothered with it. They're all a lot of fakes, say whatyou will."
Andy chuckled audibly at hearing that remark.
"You mustn't mind Tubby, fellows," he said, pretending to whisper, thoughhe knew the fat scout could hear every word plainly; "ever since thattime we were down at Coney Island, and a woman seeress there told him hehad a glorious future as the world's most famous fat man, Tubby has beensore on the craft. Now, that same wise woman told me I was going to bethe greatest traveler since Livingstone's time. She read my longings andaspirations, and I often think she could lift the curtain and see intothe future."
"Aw! you're silly if you believe a single word they say!" burst outTubby, with wrath and indignation; but in less than two minutes he was asamiable as ever; the unpleasant incident was forgotten; for Tubby couldnot stay out of humor long, and as Hiram was accustomed to saying,"trouble and anger slipped from Tubby just like water does from a duck'sback!"
More people were coming as the morning progressed, though the crowdswould not begin to compare with those that the afternoon and eveningwould bring; when the band concerts were an added attraction, withnumerous other events going on in every direction, until one would wishthey could have a thousand eyes and ears so as not to miss anything.
Rob was tired of the scenes in the Amusement Zone, and ready to suggestthat all of them make a change of base, though he knew it would not be aneasy task to tear Andy away from the sights his heart yearned to keep incontact with.
"There's one of the yellow curs we saw in that Indian village," remarkedTubby; "and some boys are plaguing the life half out of him by throwingsticks, and trying to round him up. He must have broken loose from theenclosure where he was confined, and don't know how to get back again.Look at the way he acts, will you? They'd better go slow, or he'll biteone of those sillies! Oh, look at him snapping, will you, Rob? Makes methink of the mad dog that ran through our town last----"
"Stop that talk, Tubby!" ordered Rob, sternly; but apparently it was toolate, for some one gave a shout, and like magic the cry was taken upuntil dozens of frightened voices sent it rolling along the street of theZone:
"Mad dog! mad dog! run for your lives, everybody!"