The operator came running from his little office.
"Got bad news?" he asked.
"Bad?" repeated Dick "No, it's the best in the world! My dad's coming home!"
"Seems to me you're making quite a fuss about it."
"So would you if you knew what else he said," spoke Dick, as he rushed from the building.
He found most of his chums grouped around the ruins of the society house. They were talking about the fire.
"It's all my fault," Dutton was saying. "I guess I'll resign as treasurer."
"I guess we won't have any society, if we can't have a meeting place," observed Hale, sorrowfully.
"Say, Dutton, have you a fountain pen?" asked Dick, as he came up beside his former enemy.
"I guess so. What do you want it for?"