Part 5 (1/2)

While he waited for the repair wagon, Bob managed to get the boys lined up in all directions, where they could mount guard over the danger zone.

Then he stood guard with the rest, and they succeeded in keeping all teams and pa.s.sers-by from running into danger till the repair men came.

It seemed a long while before the clatter of hoofs and the rumble of heavy wheels told him the rescue party was coming at last. He jumped with surprise when the repair wagon dashed around the corner and pulled up beside the curb, for there beside the driver sat Sure Pop, the Safety Scout! Puzzled by Bob's long stay and hearing the gong as the wagon hurried up, he had decided to come along.

Ten minutes later the live wire was back in place, the repair crew had clattered off again, and a little band of mourning Indians and cowboys had carried poor Tige's body over to his master's back yard, where they buried him after a solemn funeral service. Only a dog--but the tears they dropped on his little grave were very real and sincere, for he had been a jolly playmate and a loyal friend.

Bob was very sober as he walked home with Sure Pop. ”Wish I could have saved Tige, somehow!”

The Safety Scout laid his hand on the boy's shoulder. ”Bob, you did just right. You remembered the 'three keeps' this time--you kept wide awake, kept cool, and kept your mind on one thing at a time. No Scout could have done more. If you had risked touching that wire, it would have cost a good deal more than the life of a dog, I fear. It's important to know what _not_ to do, sometimes. Robert Dalton, I'm proud of you!

Here--you've earned it this time, sure pop!”

He reached down into his pocket, pulled out the Safety b.u.t.ton, and fastened it in Bob's coat lapel. The boy flushed with pride as he lifted the magic b.u.t.ton to his ear. And never had words thrilled him more than those which greeted him now--for two of them were new words which his own quick wits had earned:

”_Safety First!_” whispered the b.u.t.ton, clear and sweet as a far-away bugle call. ”_Good Work!_”

_Safety first--not part of the time, but all the time._--SURE POP

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

ADVENTURE NUMBER SEVEN

BETTY EVENS THE SCORE

All through supper time Betty schemed and plotted.

”I certainly am proud of the way Bob won his,” she said to herself. ”But I've never been behind Bob _yet_, and that magic b.u.t.ton's going to be twins before tomorrow night, _somehow_!”

The hot summer sun woke her early next morning, and she hurried downstairs to be through breakfast before Sure Pop came for the day's adventures.

”Where do we go today?” she asked Sure Pop an hour later, dancing up and down and looking wistfully at Bob's new Safety b.u.t.ton.

”Sorry, friends,” said the Safety Scout, ”but I can't be with you today. I'm due for a little outside scouting duty--something you twins aren't quite ready for yet.”

”Oh, say!” Bob's face fell. ”What are we going to _do_ then, all day alone?”

”Do?” laughed the merry Colonel, waving them goodby. ”Why, you'll be out scouring the neighborhood for new adventures, I fancy. And as for Betty, if I'm any mind reader, she has something up her sleeve sure enough!”

Sure Pop was right, as usual. Bob fussed around the yard awhile, managed to open a box of crockery out on the back steps for Mother, and soon rambled off to see what new adventures he could find in the name of Safety First.

Betty spent most of the morning in the kitchen, helping Mother. As soon as Bob was off again after lunch, she began to roam about the yard, eyeing everything like a hawk. Soon Mother saw her picking up the boards Bob had pried loose from the box and scowling at the ugly nails that stuck up where little feet might so easily be stabbed by their rusty points. These she carefully bent down with a big stone.

”That's one on Bob, anyway,” said Betty to herself, and went on looking around the yard.