Bang! bang! bang!
As one person, the five children raced for the door. Down the loft ladder they tumbled and made for the barn door.
"It was, too, a cannon—half a dozen cannons," Jess argued as she ran. "What else could make a noise like that?"
WARD'S HARD LUCK
The noise of the explosions had been heard throughout the neighborhood. From the houses near by heads were thrust from the windows and a nervous dog was barking excitedly, trying to tell any one who would listen that he just knew something had happened.
"What was it?" cried Polly, as she and the other members of the Riddle Club ran out. "Where was it? It sounded back of the barn."
Around to the other side of the Larue barn the boys and girls ran and there saw a sight that made them gasp in astonishment. Ward Larue, Jess's brother, sat on the ground, surrounded by the smoking ruins of what had been a large package of fine fireworks. There was nothing left of the treasure but a few smoldering sticks—everything had burned.