"Oh, Mr. Brady's got it all insured, I reckon," ventured Ty. "Farmers are smart enough these days to look out for that. But it'll make a high old blaze if it gets started, I tell you, fellows."
"But won't the thilly foolth be thetting the match to their own funeral pyre?" demanded Ted.
"Not by a jugful," chuckled Landy. "Ten to one they fixed all that before; and even made their old tunnel under the hay. But that smoke is sure getting heavier all the time, boys; and look there, ain't that the fire yonder? It is, as sure as you live! Good-by to the old barn, and this fine crop of hay. Say, look at it jump, will you?"
CHAPTER XV.
THE CAPTURE OF THE TRAMPS.
Elmer saw at a glance that what his comrade had declared was really true. And a loud shout from one of the searching men announced that he too had discovered the fire.
Tremendous excitement seized upon the whole party, for they could readily surmise that this new conflagration was not the result of a smoldering spark, but that it had a meaning all its own. The two desperate hoboes must have started the second blaze with the same idea in view that had urged them to put the match to the farmhouse—to divert attention while they slipped away.
That was what Elmer thought. And when most of the men rushed toward the place where the fire was already burning fiercely amidst the hay, he thought it good policy to turn his attention to another quarter.