“No it ain’t!” insisted Sam. “I know whut it is. I kin tell by de smell ob de smoke. It’s de furnace in de cellar. Did you put on wood, Bert?”
“Yes, I just made a new fire!”
“It’s de furnace all right,” said Sam. “You done got de damper turned de wrong way. It happened to me once. It’s gwine to be aw right in a minute. De house ain’t on fire. It’s jest de furnace. I’ll fix her!”
He dashed into the house and down the cellar steps. By this time Nan, with the smaller twins and Aunt Sallie, reached the front steps.
In spite of the cold, a crowd was gathering in the street, attracted by the smoke, and several men offered to turn in an alarm, but Mr. Bobbsey told them to wait. In a minute or two Sam came out again, his eyes running with tears on account of the smoke.
“Dat’s just whut I t’ought it was,” he gasped. “Damper turned de wrong way. De furnace has stopped smokin’ now, an’ I opened a lot of windows. We kin go back in de house soon.”
In a little while, they could do so. With the damper properly turned, the smoke from the new fire in the furnace went up the chimney, as it should, and through the open windows the smoke in the house soon blew out.
“Well, my poor dears, what a fright you must have had!” said Mrs. Bobbsey, holding Flossie and Freddie on her lap while Bert and Nan stood near. “And all alone, too! We didn’t know until a little while ago that Sam and Dinah were away. But I suppose Mrs. Pry looked after you.”
“No, I’m sorry to say, I couldn’t,” said Mrs. Pry, who had by this time put on a few clothes. “I was taken with the lumbago soon after Dinah went away, and these children have been keeping house by themselves. And very well they did it, too!”
“You ought to get back in bed, Aunt Sallie, with your lumbago!” said Nan. “The doctor said we must keep you warm.”