Merriwell and his friends walked down the street, and in the course of half an hour returned to that corner. Then they saw Ready at one of the upper windows, looking down at them. He had a big piece of cake in one hand and a glass of wine or tea in the other.
"Come up to the feast!" he bellowed. "Great fun!"
But Merriwell had his eyes fixed elsewhere. Suddenly he exclaimed:
"That hotel is on fire!" He had observed a tongue of flame leaping from a window.
He started across the street, but before he had taken a dozen steps the fire-alarm bell sounded. A few of the people in the hotel seemed to be awaking to the fact that the building was on fire. Merry's friends joined him, and they stood near the center of the street, looking up at the fire and discussing the matter. Then Ready was seen again at the window, staring about in a bewildered way, as if he contemplated leaping to the street below.
"Do you suppose the fire could cut him off so soon?" Merry anxiously queried.
"It doesn't seem likely," Diamond answered. "But, of course, no one can tell. The Chickering set are up there yet!"
A crowd was collecting, and Merry's friends were thinking of going on across the street, when the arrival of a clanging fire-engine drove them back to the corner from which they had started.
It could now be seen that even in that brief space of time the fire was rapidly spreading. The blaze first seen had increased in size, and flames were now issuing from other windows on that floor. The fire seemed to be in the third story. Luckily, the hotel stood on a corner, away from other buildings.
People were now pouring in a stream from the exits. Merriwell looked again toward the window where Ready had been seen.