"Yes," said Lily. "A good many people are saying that. But it isn't true."
"How do you know?" asked Fatty.
"Well, I do know," said Lily.
"But you weren't here," said Larry. "If you weren't here, you can't possibly know who did or didn't start the fire. It might have been Horace for all you know."
"Now, don't you say a word if I teM you something, will you?" said Lily suddenly. "Promise? Say 'Honour bright, I'll not tell a soul.'"
The five children recited the seven words very solemnly, and Lily looked relieved.
"Well., then,," she said, "I'll tell you how I know it wasn't Horace that did it. I know because I met him at five o'clock that day., and 1 was with him till I got in here at tea o'clock, which is my time for being in!"
The five children stared at her. This was indeed news.
"But why didn't you tell every one that?" asked Larry at last. "If you said that, no one would say that Horace burnt down the cottage."
Lily's eyes filled with tears. "Well, you see,"she said, "My mother says I'm too young to say I'll marry any one, but Horace Peeks, he loves me, and I love him. My father said he'd thrash me if he caught me walking out with Horace, and Mrs. Minns said she'd tell my father if ever she caught me speaking a word to him. So I didn't dare to go out to the pictures with him, or even to talk to him in the house."