"I hope not, Aunt Martha. We'll soon know. Don't worry, please."
"Your uncle was very much disturbed when he went away."
"I am going to try to telephone to him at once," said Dick.
The telephone was on a landing of the stairs, where the bell could readily be heard upstairs and down, and Dick lost no time in taking down the receiver and calling up the office at Oak Run.
"I want to get the hotel at Carwell," he told the operator. "This is 685 W," he added.
"I cannot give you Carwell," was the answer.
"Why not?"
"The lightning struck down some of our poles and the line is out of commission."
This was dismaying news and for the moment Dick was nonplussed. Then he spoke to the operator again.
"Can you reach Farleytown?"