CHAPTER XXIV--THE END OF THE HOUSE
Even Mr. Sanders appeared to be as alarmed as his younger companions. Atall events he was swiftly leading the way, and as the boys were runningdown the stairway two or three steps at a time it was necessary for himto 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 thebuilding. No sound had accompanied the strange sight although the airwas heavy with the suffocating odor of burning powder. The lightapparently had been flashed in every room at the same moment. Thetwittering of the chimney-swallows abruptly ceased after one shrilloutburst of alarm.
Before the party arrived at the foot of the stairway the blinding flashwas repeated. The house now seemed to be filled with the penetratingodor and even the lantern did not fully serve to light their way.
"Keep together, boys," called Mr. Sanders in a low voice. "We must allmake 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 itwas the heavy odor in the room or the desire of Mr. Sanders to gain aplace of safety outside the building that had caused such a precipitateflight. At all events no one delayed, and in a brief time all five wererunning rapidly across the field, Mr. Sanders still holding the lanternand leading the retreating party.
Before they arrived at the road, however, they stopped and looked behindthem. The old house now was wrapped in darkness. Not a sound came fromthe mysterious dwelling. The blinding flashes of light that had beenseen apparently were ended and only the reflection of the moonlight fromthe few windows that still were left in the house produced an unusualsight.
In silence the Go Ahead boys and Mr. Sanders waited for a repetition ofthe sight which had startled them. Not a sound came from the place, andalthough the boys waited several minutes the strange lights were notrepeated.
"I'm inclined to think," said Mr. Sanders thoughtfully, "that it will bebetter for us to go back and continue our investigations. What do yousay, boys?"
"We agree," spoke up Fred glibly. "We might as well run this matter downnow 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 powderwhich is lighted when a flash-light picture is taken."
"It does seem so, doesn't it?" said John quickly. "But where did suchpowder 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 halfthe 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 ofthe eaves."
A moment later all declared that they could see the flames to whichGeorge 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, theold Meeker House is on fire!"
Instantly every one stopped but only a brief delay was required toconfirm the startling statement. The flames by this time had burstthrough the roof and it was evident that unless help speedily wasobtained the house which had stood nearly two centuries was doomed.
There was no further waiting now and quickly all five were runningtoward the blazing building. This time, however, Mr. Sanders was notleading the party. The boys speedily outdistanced him and as soon asthey arrived within the yard they discovered that two other men werealready on the ground.
By this time the fire was under strong headway. The timbers of thedwelling house, old and dry, were burning almost like tinder. Sparkswere flying from the blazing roof and the flames were steadily mountinghigher and higher.
Across the field from the opposite road forms of men approaching thebuilding could be seen, and the wild cry "Fire!" "Fire!" was heard onevery side.
There were no buckets or pails to be found in the dwelling, as wasspeedily discovered when the doors were burst open. Near the kitchendoor was the old well, which had been used in former generations. Awell-sweep was there, but the heavy weight which had been used tobalance the bucket was gone and it had been long since the water in thedepths below had been disturbed. In desperation, however, the entireparty sought to find some means of stopping the fire.
Some of the men who now had arrived started swiftly across the fieldstoward houses that could be seen in the distance. There was a vaguethought that they might obtain pails and ropes that would enable them toquench the flames. By the time the men returned, however, the house wasdoomed.
Fascinated by the sight, the boys withdrew from the spot and watched theblazing dwelling as the flames leaped and roared and crackled.
"There goes the chimney!" exclaimed Fred in a low voice, as a pile ofbricks 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 tofly 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. Theboys now, however, were rejoined by Mr. Sanders, who explained that itwas perilous as well as useless to attempt to fight the flames longer.The most that could be expected was to prevent the flying embers fromsetting 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 inthis way."
"And it never gave up all its secrets either," added Fred. "We were juston 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 thoughtis that the two men, whom we found here when we came back across thefields, 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 lookedlike tramps."
Startled by the unexpected statement the boys stared blankly at oneanother and then as if moved by a common impulse they turned andadvanced among the spectators who now numbered at least three score.
"Isn't it wonderful," suggested Grant, "what a crowd you can get and insuch a little while even out in the country, if anything unusual isgoing on? I wouldn't have believed that a blast on Gabriel's trumpetcould have brought twenty people here in an hour and yet in less thantwenty minutes there's a crowd. Where do you suppose they came from?"
"That fire can be seen a long distance," explained George, "and there'snothing like a fire to get a crowd. There's the tramp!" he abruptlyadded, nodding, as he spoke, toward a man who could be seen on theoutskirts of the assembly.
By common consent all four boys instantly ran to the place where the manwas seen.
As they approached, however, the tramp, for George's statement proved tobe correct, apparently became aware of their coming and instantlydeparted.
To the boys it seemed that he had moved around to the other side of theburning 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 asif 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 willstand very long on the order of his departure."
"Why not?"
"Probably he could tell more about how the fire started than any one inthe crowd."
"What do you mean?" demanded George as the three boys stopped and staredinto the face of their friend.
"I don't know just how much I do mean, but we all know that the trampused the old Meeker House as a sort of headquarters, or at least that heused to stop there nights, and it may be that he was here when the firefirst started."
"Of course he was," spoke up John. "Don't you remember that he told methat if we would come over to the house after dinner, we would seesomething interesting?"
"Well, all I can say is that we
came and that we certainly foundsomething interesting," said George dryly, as the falling timberscrashed into the fire and great showers of sparks fell all about thewaiting boys.