An Amateur Fireman

Then once again he would have passed Master Barney.

The would-be detective was not brave save where he believed he had a decided advantage, and the fact that Seth seemed eager to avoid an encounter gave him great confidence in his own abilities.

He stepped up menacingly, brandishing his fists directly under Seth's nose, and Dan cried sharply to his partner:

"Why don't you knock his head off?"

"He don't dare to so much as raise his hands, except he's up 'round Ninety-four's house, where he thinks some of the firemen will back him!" Sam cried derisively as he redoubled his efforts to provoke the amateur.

Seth's cheeks were flaming red, and he clenched his fists until the knuckles were white, in the effort to restrain himself.

If he had been alone there is every probability he might have forgotten his determination to avoid such encounters, for the would-be detective was doing all he could to provoke a quarrel; but Dan Roberts, understanding full well why his partner remained inactive when the temptation to strike at least one blow was very great, took it upon himself to put an end to the scene.

Sam was standing directly in front of Seth, brandishing his fists, and indulging in such epithets as "coward" and "sneak," when Dan sprang forward suddenly, striking the bully a blow under the ear that sent him headlong into the gutter.

Then, after looking quickly around to make certain there were no policemen within ear-shot, he leaped upon the discomfited detective, seizing him by the coat-collar in such a manner that it was impossible for Sam to raise his head.

"You're awful keen on havin' a row, an' I'm goin' to give you the chance! You knew Seth wouldn't put up his hands, because he don't count on havin' any black marks against him when he goes into the Department; but I ain't figgerin' on anythin' of that kind, an' can stand a little bit of a bad name for the sake of servin' you out."

"Come on, Dan, come on! Don't make a row here, 'cause in the first place Sam Barney ain't worth it, an' then again you mustn't get up a name for fightin'."

"I reckon that dressin' this chump down won't set me off very bad, an' I'm willin' to take the risks. Now stand up and show what you can do!" he added as he released his hold of the detective's collar.

Sam made no effort to rise, nor did he so much as reply.

"You was terrible sharp for a row with Seth, 'cause you counted on his not mixing up with sich as you. I'm a good bit smaller than he is, an' am ready to give you all the fightin' that's wanted. Come on, and be funny same's you was a minute ago."

"I ain't got any row with you, Dan Roberts," Sam muttered.

"What's the reason you haven't got as much of a one with me as you had with Seth? We're partners, an' he never said half the rough things about you that I have."

"Leave me alone, or I'll yell for the perlice!"

"I thought you wasn't achin' terrible bad for a fight," and Dan flourished his fists precisely as Sam had done while trying to provoke Seth. "Yell for the perlice, will yer? I've a precious good mind to give you a couple of black eyes, only that I hate to hit a feller who don't dare to put up his hands."

"Come on, Dan, don't spend your time with him!" Seth cried. "He won't fight, an' never would. There wouldn't been any bluff made if he hadn't known I'd promised myself not to get the name of bein' a bruiser."

Dan did as his partner suggested, and the would-be detective remained quietly in the gutter until the two were half a block away, when he arose and cried vindictively:

"I'll get square with you fellers yet! We'll see whether Seth Bartlett swells 'round headquarters much longer!"

"Don't say a word," Seth whispered as Dan half turned to make some reply. "All he wants is to get me into a row, an' it'll please the chump too well if we chin with him. I'm sorry you let yourself out."

"I ain't. I reckon that much of a fight won't count very hard against the Third Avenoo store, for I'll earn jest as big a pile of money to-morrow as if I'd let him make his bluff; but it might er been different with you."

Seth was by no means pleased with the outcome of this affair, although he did not say as much to his partner.

It seemed as if he had acted a cowardly part in allowing Sam to insult him, and then remain passive while Dan took up the quarrel.

He was positive he ought never to fight simply to please a bully, but equally confident that he was not manly to stand still while a fellow like Sam Barney imposed upon him.

It was a matter which he could not settle satisfactorily in his own mind, for whatever course he might have pursued seemed to be wrong.

"I'll see what Mr. Davis thinks about it," he said to himself, and then added to Dan, "It was mighty good of you, old man, to give Sam one clip for me; but I can't make out whether I ought'er stood still or put up my hands."

"Don't bother your head about it," Master Roberts replied carelessly. "That chump detective won't fool 'round us any more, an' we're well rid of him. Of course he'll do a pile of blowin' an' tellin' how he'll get square with us; but his talk ain't anythin' more'n wind."

This assurance did not content Seth. Now his only desire was to go home; but Dan had no idea of curtailing his enjoyment because of the encounter, therefore the amateur felt in duty bound to do as he wished.

That night Jip's friends were informed of what 'Lish Davis had said, and while the majority regretted the necessity which kept Master Collins a prisoner, all agreed that perhaps it might not be well for him to escape the consequences of his act too easily.

When Seth returned from headquarters on the following evening, with the report that Mr. Fernald had continued his instruction in gymnastics, he learned that Dan had, thanks to the lawyer employed by Ninety-four's men, been allowed to hold a long and private conversation with the prisoner.

Jip was still very penitent, and declared he deserved all the punishment which the law might inflict upon him; but at the same time it could readily be seen, according to Master Roberts's statement, that he was wonderfully relieved by the hope 'Lish Davis held out.

"From what the lawyer told me," Dan said when detailing to his partner all that had occurred during the interview, "it'll be quite a spell before Jip comes up for trial an' so long as he stays in jail I can't see but he's gettin' the best of it. Three square meals every day, an' at night a bed better'n he's had since he could remember."

"But he's locked in, an' that's what makes it hard to stand up under," Seth suggested, whereupon Dan cried with no little warmth:

"I'd be willin' to let 'em lock me up nights for the sake of havin' it as easy as it is for Jip. Nothin' to do, an' livin' off the fat of the land."

"I reckon after one day you'd be willin' to take less, an' have a chance to go where you pleased," Seth replied so emphatically that Master Roberts did not consider it wise to continue the argument.

During the three days which followed the amateur fireman worked so hard to win the approval of his teacher that Mr. Fernald finally told him he was trying to do too much, and cut down his tasks nearly one half, an act which won for him the unqualified approval of Ninety-four's crew.

It was on the morning of the fifth day after Jip Collins's arrest, and just as Josh Fernald was bringing Seth's lesson to a conclusion, that one of the employés entered the gymnasium with a letter, and cried in a loud voice:

"Does anybody here know a fellow by the name of Seth Bartlett?"

"That's me," the amateur replied after a moment's thought: "but I don't reckon I've got a letter, 'cause there's nobody who'd write to me."

"Here's what the address says," and the young man held the envelope in such a manner that both the boy and his instructor could see the superscription:

"Seth Bartlett, fireman up at headquarters, New York."

Seth made no attempt to take the missive until Mr. Fernald asked quite sharply:

"Why don't you take it? There's no other of that name here so far as I know."

"I never had a letter, an' it can't be for me."

"You're the only Seth Bartlett in the building, and it must belong to you," the messenger said impatiently, whereat he threw the missive toward Seth and went his way.

Not until Mr. Fernald had peremptorily ordered the boy to open the letter in order to see if it was intended for him, did the amateur as much as touch the soiled envelope; but after having torn it open the expression on his face told that the writer was not a stranger.

This is what Seth read in ill-formed letters, many of them occupying the depth of two lines, some in written and others in printed characters:

"Seth Bartlett, fireman up at headquarters.

Deer Seth:

"Sam Barney struck this town the other day, an' borrowed a dollar off er me. You know my folks stopped here on the way to Baltimore, an' I've been tryin' to earn a little money so's to see me threw. I'm in Philadelphy, an' Sam cum over here with a big stiff 'bout how you an' Bill Dean had cent him to hunt for Jip Collins. He was broke an' ced if I'd let him have money enuf to git home you or Bill would pay it back. It's been most a week sence he was here an' I ain't heard from you. Why don't you send the good dollar I put up to help you along. I'm livin' at 1451-1/2 Filbert Street an' want my stuff.

"Yours till deth shal part us,"Joe Carter."

"So the letter is for you, even though you never received one before?" Mr. Fernald quietly remarked as Seth, having read the lines after considerable difficulty, refolded the paper and returned it to the envelope.

"Yes, sir, an' it's from a feller in Philadelphy. I don't reckon you know who Jip Collins is; but this has got somethin' to do with his business."

As he spoke Seth unfolded the paper and handed it to his instructor, who, after deciphering it, quite naturally asked for an explanation.

"If you owe this boy money, send it to him at once, for people who do not pay their bills are in bad odor up here."

"I never borrowed a cent of him," Seth cried indignantly, and then he told Mr. Fernald the whole story.

The old instructor appeared to be amused by the recital, and when it was concluded asked if Seth wanted leave of absence to straighten the matter out.

"I'll have plenty of time after leaving here to-night; but what bothers me is that I may have a row with Sam Barney, 'cause I ain't goin' to let him swell 'round borrowin' money on my account."

"And in that you are perfectly right, my boy."

"He knows I don't dare to fight on the street, 'cause it may give me a black mark in the Department, an' that would never do, so I reckon he'll be mighty lippy 'bout it."

"Ask 'Lish Davis! I can't recommend you to create a disturbance, and yet it seems hard you should be imposed upon because of the situation. Whatever the driver of Ninety-four advises, you may do without fear of the consequences, for there isn't a more level-headed man in the Department, and it's only his lack of education that has prevented him from rising in the service."

"I'll see him to-night," Seth replied as he put the letter in his pocket, and then without further delay he set about his regular duties.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE SUBPOENA

Impatient though Seth was to talk with 'Lish Davis and his roommates concerning what had been done by Sam Barney in the matter of borrowing money on the account of others, he made no attempt to leave headquarters a single moment earlier than usual.

When the hours of labor had come to an end, however, he did not linger, and with a cheery "good-night" to Mr. Fernald, for by this time the teacher and his pupil were on excellent terms, he set off at full speed for Ninety-four's house.

Unless they were out on duty, this particular company, since Seth went to work at headquarters, could always be found on the lower floor of the building at about six o'clock in the evening awaiting the arrival of "their kid," and here Master Bartlett found them.

From the expression on his face all hands understood that something unpleasant had occurred, and 'Lish Davis asked in a tone of anxiety:

"What's gone wrong, Amateur? Haven't been getting into trouble with Josh, I hope?"

"Mr. Fernald is mighty kind to me; he says I shall go in the yard next week for half an hour each day, an' then you know I'll have a great chance to pick up points."

"Once he starts you in there the road is pretty straight up to a job in the Department. You look so kind-er peaked I was afraid something had gone wrong."

"Read that, an' then I reckon you'll think somethin' has gone wrong!" Seth exclaimed as he gave the driver Joe Carter's letter, unfolding the sheet that there might be no needless time spent in mastering its contents.

"Read it aloud, 'Lish," Jerry Walters cried, and the driver glanced toward Seth as if asking permission to do so.

"Go ahead, Mr. Davis. Of course everybody belongin' to this company has a right to know all about my business."

Davis did as he was requested, reading slowly as if enjoying the matter hugely, and interrupted now and then by exclamations of surprise or amusement from his comrades.

"Well, what do you think of it?" Seth asked angrily when the driver, having come to the end, remained silent.

"It begins to look as if your friend the detective could manage to take care of himself by hook or by crook. I can't see that either you or Bill Dean is bound by any such a transaction, unless you gave Sam permission to borrow money on your account."

"Of course we wasn't such fools as to do that! It's a reg'lar swindle, that's what it is, an' if I'd known 'bout it when Dan and me met him down-town, I'm 'fraid I'd punched his head, even if it would be fightin' on the street!"

"What's that?" Mr. Davis asked sharply. "Something been going on that we haven't heard?"

"I counted on tellin' you; but it seems as if there's always a bother to talk 'bout, so I waited a spell."

Then Seth gave a detailed account of the encounter with the would-be detective, and when he had concluded the recital 'Lish Davis looked around at his companions as if waiting to hear their comments before he expressed an opinion.

"You ought'er lit right out on him," Jerry Walters cried warmly. "He thinks you won't fight, an' will keep on makin' trouble for you till he learns that it ain't safe."

"Don't listen to such advice, Seth," the captain added quickly. "You did perfectly right, and are to be praised for it, more particularly since the temptation must have been very great."

Then the men began what finally grew into a heated discussion, as to how the boy should have acted under such provoking circumstances, and not until it was brought to a close did 'Lish Davis give his opinion.

"I'm allowing that you can't afford to raise a brawl, Amateur," he said, deliberately. "If that imitation detective 'mounted to anything the case might be different, and though I'm free to say that every man or boy should defend himself when it's necessary, there's no wisdom in raising a disturbance while it's possible to walk on. The trouble is that too many of us are apt to think we can't get away from what appears to be a bad scrape without coming to blows; but in nine cases out of ten that isn't the truth."

"But what am I to do 'bout this money he borrowed from Joe Carter?" Seth asked as the driver ceased speaking.

"I can't see that you've got any call to disturb yourself. Write and tell the boy in Philadelphia that the imitation detective had no authority to borrow money in your name, and let that settle it."

This did not appear to Seth the proper course, for he felt that he was in a certain sense bound to prevent Joe Carter from losing anything by being thus confiding; but yet he would not have questioned the driver's decision.

"It's mighty aggravating, Amateur, I'm free to confess," 'Lish Davis added as he noted the expression on the boy's face; "but you must remember that the poorest way to settle a difficulty is by fighting. When you're where it's got to be done in order to save yourself from being hurt or robbed, then put up your hands like a man, first making certain there's no other way out. If it's all the same to you, I'm counting on toddling down to Tenth Street to-night."

"Do you mean that I'm goin' to school now?"

"I reckon the time has come when you may as well begin. Jerry Walters and me have made the trade, so after you've slicked up a bit, drop in here and we'll start."

"All right, sir," Seth cried as he hurried away to make ready for what he knew must be a trying ordeal. He understood that he was remarkably ignorant for one of his years, and had an idea that every pupil in the school would make sport of him.

When the amateur fireman arrived at his lodgings he found his roommates awaiting him, and in the fewest possible words made known Sam Barney's misdemeanor, producing Joe Carter's letter in proof of his assertion.

It can well be imagined that both the boys were angry and surprised by the information, and Bill insisted that all three set out at once in search of the offender.

"I've got to start in on school to-night, an' so I can't go," Seth replied mournfully.

"How long are you goin' to keep up sich a racket as that?" Dan asked, as if personally aggrieved because such a course was to be pursued.

"'Cordin' to the way Mr. Davis talks I'll have to stick at it till I'm a reg'lar fireman, an' perhaps a good bit after that."

"Then I'd give up tryin' to get into the Department!" Master Roberts replied emphatically. "I wouldn't do all that funny business if I never 'mounted to anythin' more'n a bootblack!"

"It's jest what you ought'er do, Dan, if you ever expect to own that Third Avenoo store."

"I'd like to know why?"

"Now, that's a foolish question. S'posen you got the shop this very minute, an' wanted to write a letter, or figger up how much anythin' cost? What kind of a fist would you make of it?"

Dan did not reply, but changed the subject of conversation by asking Bill:

"What er you goin' to do 'bout Sam Barney?"

"You an' me will hunt him up, an' by the time we're through with the chump he won't borrow money in sich a way ag'in, I reckon. Who'll write to Joe Carter 'bout it?"

"If Seth is goin' to school he ought'er do that much, 'cause it'll come right in his line of business."

"I'll do the best I can at it," the amateur fireman replied readily, and added as his friends turned to leave the room. "Now, don't have a reg'lar row with that chump. It'll be enough if you show him up to all the fellers as a reg'lar fraud, and then you won't stand any chance of gettin' into trouble with the perlice."

"We'll 'tend to the business in proper shape," Bill replied in a meaning tone, and Seth was not sadly disturbed in mind as he understood, or thought he did, that Sam Barney would spend a very unpleasant evening if these two acquaintances chanced to meet him.

When he was alone Seth set about making preparations for beginning his pursuit of knowledge, and the prospect before him was by no means pleasant.

'Lish Davis was awaiting his arrival when he reentered the engine-house, and immediately began laughing heartily at the expression on the boy's face.

"It ain't going to be half as bad as you're counting on, Amateur," the driver cried as soon as he could control his mirth, and then the two set out.

Mr. Davis had but one remark of importance to make during the journey, and that impressed Seth more than anything which had been said to him that day.

"If I'd spent half or even a quarter of my spare time while I was a boy, in study, instead of being only the driver of Ninety-four, I might be her captain at the very least. You may have got it into your head that firemen don't know anything except how to use an axe or handle hose; but it's a big mistake. If you want to keep on rising in the Department, you've got to have more book-learning than I was willing to get."

When they arrived at the school, 'Lish did not spend very much time in introducing his protégé.

"Here's the kid I was telling you about," he said, and then Seth was left to fight his own battle.

That going to school was not as hard as he had fancied was known at the engine-house when the amateur returned shortly after nine o'clock, for then he said with an air of relief:

"I ain't so certain but that I'll like it, after I kind-er get the hang of things."

"Course you will, Amateur, course you will; but it's bound to be hard work, and there don't seem to be much chance for play in your life the way we've mapped it out for you. All hands of us have been figgering how we'd kind-er let up on you, and it's been decided that you shall sleep here every Saturday night. What calls come in 'twixt the ending of the school business and midnight, you're to answer as if belonging reg'larly to the company."

Seth's eyes glistened with delight, and when he had gone to his room the driver said in a tone of satisfaction to his comrades:

"That kid is bound to make his mark in the Department some day, and we'll be patting ourselves on the head for having given him a show. Just think of a boy like him being tickled way up in G when you give him a chance to work at a fire! He was reg'larly born for the business."

When Seth arrived at Mrs. Hanson's he found his roommates awaiting his arrival.

"Didn't you find Sam?" he asked in surprise that they should have returned so soon.

"That's what we did; met him down by the post-office where there was a whole crowd of the fellers, an' by this time I reckon he don't think he's a terrible big man."

"What did he say 'bout givin' Joe Carter sich a yarn?"

"First off he tried to say it wasn't so; but when we flashed up the letter, it was all over, an' the chump couldn't so much as yip, 'cept to promise to pay the bill with the very first money he could scrape together."

"Then you didn't have any row?"

"Not a bit of it."

"I was 'fraid you might thump him, an' the perlice would jump in."

"We didn't reckon on bein' jugged jest 'cause of him," Bill replied, quietly. "Instead of fightin', Dan jest shoved him inside the post-office quick-like an' I let him have a couple of mighty good clips alongside the head. When he yelled, we lit out an' come up here. If it hadn't been that you're tryin' so hard to get into the Department, we might er had a row with the duffer; but seein's anythin' of the kind would give you a black eye, we kept quiet."

Dan and Master Dean both appeared to think they deserved praise for having been so cautious, and Seth did not believe it would be wise to reproach them for what had been done.

After this affair there was nothing out of the ordinary in Seth's life for ten days or more, except during the two Saturday nights he slept at Ninety-four's house, where on each occasion it was his good fortune to go out with the engine.

At headquarters Mr. Fernald pushed him along in the drill as rapidly as possible, and he was allowed to devote considerably more than two hours each day to the lessons.

At school he made as much advancement as could have been expected, and really came to look forward with pleasure upon his tasks there, for 'Lish Davis's remark as to the value of an education had not been forgotten.

Then came the day when he was summoned from the yard where he had been taking part in a drill with ladders, to meet a stranger who handed him a printed document, the meaning of which he failed to understand until Mr. Fernald explained that it was a subpœna, or, in other words, a command for him to appear in court on the following morning to give evidence in the case of the State vs. Jipson Collins.

The officer who brought the summons stated that he had served a similar document upon Dan Roberts a few hours previous, and cautioned Seth against failing to obey.

"I reckon they'll have to get along without me, 'cause I can't leave here," he replied, as if believing such an excuse must be accepted by any fair-minded judge.

Then it was Mr. Fernald explained the nature of a subpœna, and Seth was decidedly surprised at learning that he could, and probably would, be arrested if he refused to obey.

"There is no need of your coming here at all to-morrow," the old man said, "no matter how early you may get out of court. You're needing a holiday, lad, and I'm glad of an excuse for giving you one."