"We'll know about that shortly," Neale declared.
Suddenly Luke Shepard exclaimed:
"Hullo, what's afire, Neale? See yonder?"
"At the canal," cried his sister, seeing the smoke too.
"Is it a house?" asked Agnes.
"A straw stack!" cried Neale. "Must be. Some farmer is losing the winter's bedding for his cattle."
"It is on the canal," Luke put in. "Don't you see? There's one of those old barges there—and the smoke is coming from it."
"There are the flames. The fire's burst out," Agnes cried.
Suddenly Ruth startled them all by demanding:
"How do we know it isn't the Nancy Hanks?"