"Might have been burnt up last night, that's why."
"Burnt up!" cried Tom. "How?"
"Heard a noise outside about eleven o'clock—my wife did, she ain't well an' don't sleep good. I came down with my shotgun, thinkin' chicken thieves might be around. I heard somebuddy at the flyin' machine and sneaked up to see who it was. Hang my skin if a young feller wasn't there with a lighted candle an' some loose hay, and wantin' to start a fire close to the gasoline tank! I gave a yell, an' he dropped the candle and legged it for dear life."
"Why didn't you stop him, or shoot him?" queried Sam.
"I was too excited, fer the candle dropped into the hay an' it begun to blaze up. I stamped the fire out, an' by that time the feller was out o' sight."
"He must have wanted to blow the biplane up!" exclaimed Captain Colby.
"He sure did, an' he might have burnt up the shed an' the barn, an' the house, too!" added John Snubble.
The three Rover boys looked at each other. The same thought was in the mind of each.
"Tad Sobber!" murmured Sam.
"Sure as you're a foot high," added Tom. "Oh, what a mean thing to do!"