It was in vain for the firemen to explain that Jack had nothing whatever to do with the accident; the chief refused to be convinced.
The order concerning Jack, however, was not obeyed, for how could they part with their old friend Jack?
The driver was right in his opinion of the new horse. He certainly _was_ skittish, and before long a second accident came. This time the order to get rid of Jack must be obeyed, and the question arose what to do with him.
Mr. Ledwell being the kind of man to whom everybody in trouble appealed, Reordan at once sought him and told him the story. “We can’t have old Jack killed,” he said, “because he is one of us!”
“Of course you can’t,” replied Mr. Ledwell, “we must find a good home for him.”
“You see, sir, Jack has been in the business so many years he wouldn’t feel at home anywhere except in an engine-house, and if we gave him to any other company the chief would find it out, and ’twould be just as bad. I don’t see what we can do. The poor fellow would grieve himself to death if he wasn’t in the Fire Department.”
“And so he shall be,” replied Mr. Ledwell, heartily. “There is an engine in the town where I live in the summer, and I’ll write and ask them to take Jack. They will be sure to do it.”
Reordan’s face brightened. “It would be very kind of you, sir, and just like you. After Jack got used to it, he’d be sure to feel at home, and the men couldn’t help liking him.”
“Of course they will,” replied Mr. Ledwell, “and we shall look after him too. Sam will make it his special business to see that he is well cared for.”
So Jack’s fate was settled, and, with a heart even sadder at parting than were those of the firemen, he was taken to his new home. Boxer was quite desperate in his grief, and wanted to make an assault on every one at once and settle the matter in that way; but gentle-hearted Jack accepted his fate with the same fortitude that had led him to follow through the thickest of the fire the fortunes of the firemen he so loved.
JACK’S new home was in a sea-coast town about an hour’s journey by rail. A baggage car does not afford much opportunity for seeing the country. Even if it did, Jack was not in a mood to enjoy it, for if ever there were a homesick dog, Jack was one. When the train stopped at Seaport and Jack was released, the wind was blowing fresh from the ocean, and the sun was shining brightly.