“Why?” asked the long legged lad, who was nicknamed “Spider.”
“Because I saw those Smith Boys and Bateye talking together, and—” but at that moment Sam Pudder stumbled and would have fallen, had not his chum caught him.
“There you go again, Beantoe!” exclaimed Spider, as he helped him regain his balance. “What’s the matter with you?”
“It’s these new shoes, I guess,” and Beantoe, who owed his title to his habit of stumbling, limped along. “But as I was saying, I saw the Smith fellows and Bateye and Doc talking together. There’s something doing. Let’s watch and see what it is,” he concluded.
“All right, I’m with you. We’ll hang around to-night, and maybe we can spoil their game,” and the two cronies who, among other things in common, had a dislike for the Smith Boys and their friends, hurried along, whispering together.
Meanwhile the members of the Freeport Volunteer Fire Department were all unaware of the plot brewing against them.
CHAPTER II
A FIRE DEPARTMENT RUN