Out of the back door they went unobserved, to the back of the lot, six hundred feet away, where was an old ruined barn, now no longer used, as Mr. Simpson had built a stable near the house.
“You will find some hay in the loft,” he said, “and can rest undisturbed till morning. I expect you to keep your promise then, and leave this village.”
“I will do so.”
About one o’clock there was an alarm of fire in the village. John Simpson’s old barn was discovered to be on fire, and was past saving when the village hook-and-ladder fire-engine arrived on the spot.
CHAPTER VII.
THE MIDNIGHT FIRE.
FIRE! When Tom Thatcher heard the bells ringing, and the ominous cry of “Fire!” rang with startling distinctness through the streets of the village, he sprang from his bed and hurried on his clothes.
“Where are you going, Tom?” asked his mother, as she saw him pass her chamber door.
“To the fire, mother.”
“But it is past midnight.”