Andy slowed down in speech, with a series of wondering gasps, as he likewise slowed down the machine.
“Why, what’s the matter, Nelson?” queried Mr. Webb.
“Don’t you see?” began Andy. “No, you don’t see, and that’s just it. There’s something wrong. The farmhouse did stand right over where that gravelled road runs into the farm, and now——”
“Nelson,” interrupted Mr. Webb almost sharply, “there has been a fire here.”
Andy stared dubiously, but in great concern. There could be no doubt of it, this was the site of the Collins’ farm. There were the white-washed posts where the farm road began, the horse block where he bade the goose farmer good-by, but the farmhouse itself had disappeared.
CHAPTER XX—A NEW CAPTIVITY
“Nelson, could you possibly be mistaken?”
“No, sir, positively not.”
Andy had come to a dead stop with the automobile. He stared blankly at the prospect before them. The site of the Collins farmhouse was a flat stretch of waste and ruin. Grass, weeds, trees, fences showed the ravages of a great fire.
Mr. Webb looked dreadfully disappointed. His face had become almost pale. Andy shared his disquietude, but he could simply say: