"Do you s'pose they're goin' to carry us up to the engine-house?"
"It seemed as though that was what Mr. Davis meant; but yet I'm afraid we're bound for the hospital."
"Well, say, you don't catch me inside of one! I ain't goin' to flock in with a lot of dyin' folks jest 'cause I've got a little smoke down my throat," and Dan, who was not suffering as much as his partner, attempted to scramble to his feet, whereat Ben Dunton shouted gruffly:
"Lay still there, you two kids, or I'll come down and know the reason why!"
"We ain't goin' to no hospital!" Dan cried angrily.
"Who asked you to? You don't allow we're running an ambulance for such kids as you, eh?"
"Where are we goin'?"
"Lay still and you'll find out."
Seth had learned enough regarding a fireman's life to know that the first engine at the scene of a conflagration must be the last to leave, therefore wherever Ben Dunton might be taking them, there was little chance of seeing 'Lish Davis until the following morning.
To the great delight of both the boys the patrol-wagon was drawn up in front of Ninety-four's house, and Dunton asked: