Ned Wilding's Disappearance; or, The Darewell Chums in the CityChapman, Allen
General
Ned Wilding's Disappearance; or, The Darewell Chums in the City
Chapman, Allen
Adventure stories; Boys -- Juvenile fiction; High school students -- Juvenile fiction; New York (N.Y.) -- Juvenile fiction
His three chums heard him as if in a dream, but they comprehended.
"One, two, three!" cried Frank.
Then, above the noise of the gale, above the shrieks of the women and
girls, above the hoarse calls of frightened men, arose the yell, given
with all the power of the lungs of the four boys:
"Ravabava--Havabava--Hick! Hick! He!
Dabavaba--Nabahaba--Snick! Snack! Snee!
Why do we thus loudly yell?
'Tis for our school: old Darewell!"
Never had the call been given under such circumstances. Never had it
sounded more strangely. Never had it been more welcome.
For an instant there was a silence following the yell. It had momentarily
drowned the cries from the panic-stricken ones. Before there was a chance
for a continuance of the panic that had been halted, if only for an
instant, Bart cried:
"There's no danger. Wait until the lights are turned on!"
In another moment Frank had reached the switch and the place was
brilliant with the gleam from scores of incandescent lamps. The rush
had been stopped, for, as the crowd looked about, they saw there was no
immediate danger.
In one corner of the auditorium there was a gaping hole in the roof,
where the top part of the tower had crashed through. The floor in that
section was covered with bricks and mortar, and several seats were
crushed, but the audience had crowded up front and no one was hurt.
A moment later some of those in charge of the entertainment hurried to
the platform and made an announcement.
A hasty investigation showed, it was said, that the tower had fallen
mostly outward instead of toward the school, which accounted for only a
small part of it hitting the roof. Had the entire pile of masonry
toppled over on the auditorium there might have been a great loss of
life. As it was the main school was in no danger, but, for fear the
structure might have been weakened it was decided best to dismiss the
audience at once.
"That wind must be pretty strong," observed Bart as he and his chums,
with Alice, Jennie, and some of the other girls, got outside.
"Oh! It certainly is!" cried Jennie as she stepped from the doorway.
"I'm being blown away."
The wind had caught her long cloak and whipped it up around her
shoulders so that it acted like a sail. Jennie was being fairly carried
along the street.
"There's your chance, Fenn!" cried Frank. "Rescue a maiden in distress."
Fenn did not stop to reply to his tormenter but caught Jennie by the arm
and helped her to straighten her garment.
"Noble youth!" exclaimed Bart. "You shall be suitably rewarded."
They all laughed, rather hysterically, it is true, at the nonsense talk,
but it was a relief to their over-strained nerves for the shock of the
accident had been a severe one.
They passed along and, as they got beyond the shelter of the school the
full force of the wind was felt. It was almost a hurricane, and it was
all they could do to walk along.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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