“Well, this old tramp promises to make a new record along the line of excitement for our crowd, and that’s a fact!” declared Step Hen, as he took a drink of cold water, for his recent exertions had “warmed him up inside,” he remarked.
“I should remark it did,” added Giraffe; “and who can say what lies ahead of us yet? One thing follows another like a procession. But I’m glad we happened to be here at the right time, so we could help save the farmhouse. These people have been mighty kind to us, and it’s nice to be able to pay ’em back.”
“Say, Thad, I hope now we didn’t have anything to do with that fire?” remarked Davy, who lowered his voice as he spoke, as though unwilling to have anyone outside of his comrades hear what he said.
“Well, I reckon we had a heap to do with extinguishing the same, anyhow,” Giraffe told him; “but what do you mean, Davy? Don’t act so mysterious, but blurt it out.”
“Are you sure you didn’t leave any fire where you cooked supper, Giraffe, that could have been scooped up by the rising wind, and carried to the house up here? That’s what’s bothering me.”
“Don’t let it worry you a whit any longer then,” Thad told him promptly; “because Allan and I made sure to examine the fireplace, and we found that Giraffe, like a true scout, had thrown water on the last spark. It was cold and dead. So you see, Davy, we couldn’t have had anything to do with its starting.”
“Then what happened?” asked Smithy, who evidently did not know that he had a ridiculous long black smooch down one side of his face, or he would not have looked so well satisfied, because Smithy still cared a great deal for his personal appearance, and sometimes even brushed his hair on the sly when in camp.
“We’ll have to find that out from the farmer,” said Thad.
They looked in the kitchen where the owner of the house had last been seen, but he was not there. Just then they heard him calling them.
“Come in here, boys!” he kept saying; and presently they located the voice as coming from the living room, where the fire had been confined, thanks to their energetic labors.