The way that horny hand of the farmer squeezed those of the boys told that he meant every word he uttered. Landy winced under the pressure, and came very near crying out for mercy; only he remembered that this would not seem just right, when they were at the time being complimented on their manly qualities.
"We're only too glad that we happened to be coming over to your place at just the right time, Mr. Brady," remarked Elmer. "If we'd been at our camp, perhaps we might not have known of the fire until it was too late to do much good."
"Coming to see me, the four of you, were you?" said the other, looking a trifle curious. "What could I do for you, boys? All you have to do is to mention it: after your noble work this morning I guess it'd be hard for me to refuse any favor."
"But you see, sir," Landy exclaimed, "we didn't want to ask a favor. Fact is, we wanted to do you one, perhaps."
"I have been looking around, Mr. Brady," observed Elmer, "and I failed to see your two new hands working to save the house—the short man and his tall mate."
Immediately the face of the farmer darkened, and they saw his hands close with a movement that seemed to speak of anger.
"No, you didn't, my lad, and for a very good reason," he said, breathing hard. "They turned out to be a pair of rascals. My daughter caught them in the act of robbing the house this very morning. I had sent them out into a field back of the barns, and they knew that with my son and the horses I expected to go to another part of the farm. So they waited till the coast was clear, and then sneaked back to the house, entering through a window when the women folks were busy in the kitchen and dairy."
"Oh!" gasped Landy, who had not dreamed that this could be the explanation of the fire; "then they must have been caught in the act, and did it for revenge?"
"Just what they did," replied Mr. Brady, with his teeth gritting in anger. "My oldest daughter just happened to go upstairs, and ran across them turning things upside down in the search for valuables. She screamed, and knowing that the rest of the women folks must have heard the row, the scoundrels deliberately put matches to things, and then, jumping from the windows, made off, laughing."
"Did they steal much from you, Mr. Brady?" asked Ty.