Even Mr. Sanders appeared to be as alarmed as his younger companions. At
all events he was swiftly leading the way, and as the boys were running
down the stairway two or three steps at a time it was necessary for him
to move rapidly in order to keep his place at the head of the line.
There had been a sudden flash of light that apparently had filled the
building. No sound had accompanied the strange sight although the air
was heavy with the suffocating odor of burning powder. The light
apparently had been flashed in every room at the same moment. The
twittering of the chimney-swallows abruptly ceased after one shrill
outburst of alarm.
Before the party arrived at the foot of the stairway the blinding flash
was repeated. The house now seemed to be filled with the penetrating
odor and even the lantern did not fully serve to light their way.
"Keep together, boys," called Mr. Sanders in a low voice. "We must all
make for the front door and get out of this place as soon as possible."
In spite of their alarm, Fred in his own mind was questioning whether it
was the heavy odor in the room or the desire of Mr. Sanders to gain a
place of safety outside the building that had caused such a precipitate
flight. At all events no one delayed, and in a brief time all five were
running rapidly across the field, Mr. Sanders still holding the lantern
and leading the retreating party.
Before they arrived at the road, however, they stopped and looked behind
them. The old house now was wrapped in darkness. Not a sound came from
the mysterious dwelling. The blinding flashes of light that had been
seen apparently were ended and only the reflection of the moonlight from
the few windows that still were left in the house produced an unusual
sight.
In silence the Go Ahead boys and Mr. Sanders waited for a repetition of
the sight which had startled them. Not a sound came from the place, and
although the boys waited several minutes the strange lights were not
repeated.
"I'm inclined to think," said Mr. Sanders thoughtfully, "that it will be
better for us to go back and continue our investigations. What do you
say, boys?"
"We agree," spoke up Fred glibly. "We might as well run this matter down
now as at any time. What do you think those flashes were, Mr. Sanders?"
"From the odor I think likely they were made by setting off the powder
which is lighted when a flash-light picture is taken."
"It does seem so, doesn't it?" said John quickly. "But where did such
powder come from? Who lighted it?"
"That's what we must find out," said Mr. Sanders dryly.
Meanwhile the party was returning to the building and had covered half
the distance when they all stopped abruptly as George exclaimed,
"There's a light there now! Can't you see it? It's up in the corner of
the eaves."
A moment later all declared that they could see the flames to which
George had referred, but as they resumed their walk John said abruptly,
"That's more than a flash-light, that's a fire! I tell you, fellows, the
old Meeker House is on fire!"
Instantly every one stopped but only a brief delay was required to
confirm the startling statement. The flames by this time had burst
through the roof and it was evident that unless help speedily was
obtained the house which had stood nearly two centuries was doomed.
There was no further waiting now and quickly all five were running
toward the blazing building. This time, however, Mr. Sanders was not
leading the party. The boys speedily outdistanced him and as soon as
they arrived within the yard they discovered that two other men were
already on the ground.
By this time the fire was under strong headway. The timbers of the
dwelling house, old and dry, were burning almost like tinder. Sparks
were flying from the blazing roof and the flames were steadily mounting
higher and higher.
Across the field from the opposite road forms of men approaching the
building could be seen, and the wild cry "Fire!" "Fire!" was heard on
every side.
There were no buckets or pails to be found in the dwelling, as was
speedily discovered when the doors were burst open. Near the kitchen
door was the old well, which had been used in former generations. A
well-sweep was there, but the heavy weight which had been used to
balance the bucket was gone and it had been long since the water in the
depths below had been disturbed. In desperation, however, the entire
party sought to find some means of stopping the fire.
Some of the men who now had arrived started swiftly across the fields
toward houses that could be seen in the distance. There was a vague
thought that they might obtain pails and ropes that would enable them to
quench the flames. By the time the men returned, however, the house was
doomed.
Fascinated by the sight, the boys withdrew from the spot and watched the
blazing dwelling as the flames leaped and roared and crackled.
"There goes the chimney!" exclaimed Fred in a low voice, as a pile of
bricks fell crashing into the depths.
"I wonder what became of those chimney-swallows," suggested John.
"I guess those that could fly are gone and those that were too young to
fly are already burned," said Grant.
"How do you suppose that fire started?" inquired George.
As no one had a ready solution his question remained unanswered. The
boys now, however, were rejoined by Mr. Sanders, who explained that it
was perilous as well as useless to attempt to fight the flames longer.
The most that could be expected was to prevent the flying embers from
setting fire to fences or to buildings that were not far away.
"It's a pity," said Mr. Sanders slowly, "that the old house had to go in
this way."
"And it never gave up all its secrets either," added Fred. "We were just
on the point of finding out, when the whole thing goes up in smoke."
"I fancy that what you call 'secrets' will all be explained. My thought
is that the two men, whom we found here when we came back across the
fields, can tell more about the origin of the fire than we think."
"Who were the men?" inquired George.
"I don't know either of them," answered Mr. Sanders. "To me they looked
like tramps."
Startled by the unexpected statement the boys stared blankly at one
another and then as if moved by a common impulse they turned and
advanced among the spectators who now numbered at least three score.
"Isn't it wonderful," suggested Grant, "what a crowd you can get and in
such a little while even out in the country, if anything unusual is
going on? I wouldn't have believed that a blast on Gabriel's trumpet
could have brought twenty people here in an hour and yet in less than
twenty minutes there's a crowd. Where do you suppose they came from?"
"That fire can be seen a long distance," explained George, "and there's
nothing like a fire to get a crowd. There's the tramp!" he abruptly
added, nodding, as he spoke, toward a man who could be seen on the
outskirts of the assembly.
By common consent all four boys instantly ran to the place where the man
was seen.
As they approached, however, the tramp, for George's statement proved to
be correct, apparently became aware of their coming and instantly
departed.
To the boys it seemed that he had moved around to the other side of the
burning building but when they sought him there he was not to be found.
"What do you suppose it all means?" inquired John blankly. "He acted as
if he didn't want to see us."
"Probably he didn't," suggested George. "That's his right."
"It may be and it may not be," retorted John. "I don't believe he will
stand very long on the order of his departure."
"Why not?"
"Probably he could tell more about how the fire started than any one in
the crowd."
"What do you mean?" demanded George as the three boys stopped and stared
into the face of their friend.
"I don't know just how much I do mean, but we all know that the tramp
used the old Meeker House as a sort of headquarters, or at least that he
used to stop there nights, and it may be that he was here when the fire
first started."
"Of course he was," spoke up John. "Don't you remember that he told me
that if we would come over to the house after dinner, we would see
something interesting?"
"Well, all I can say is that we came and that we certainly found
something interesting," said George dryly, as the falling timbers
crashed into the fire and great showers of sparks fell all about the
waiting boys.