“No, I wouldn’t!” was the prompt response. “You can get lots of other things for bait, and you know it, Freddie Bobbsey!”
“How did the fire happen?” asked Mrs. Bobbsey of the captain, when she got the chance.
“One of the electric light wires broke and set fire to some oily rags,” answered Captain Crane. "Then some empty wooden boxes began to blaze. There was nothing in them—all the food having been taken out—but the wood made quite a fire and a lot of smoke.
“Mr. Chase, who was on deck steering, smelled the smoke and saw the little blaze down in a storeroom. He called me and I called Mr. Dent. We hoped we could get the fire out before you folks knew about it. But I guess we didn’t,” said the captain.
“I smelled smoke, and it woke me up,” said Mrs. Bobbsey. “Then I called my husband and we all came on deck.”
“That was the right thing to do,” Captain Crane said. “And it was also good to put on the life preservers,” for even Flossie and Freddie had done this. “Always get ready for the worst,” the captain went on, “and then if you don’t have to take to the small boats so much the better. But the fire will soon be out.”
“Can I see the fire engine?” asked Freddie. “I haven’t seen a fire engine for a long while.” At his home he was always interested in this, but, luckily, Lakeport had few fires.
“It isn’t exactly a fire engine,” said Cousin Jasper to the little fellow. “It’s just a big pump that forms part of one of the motors. I guess you can see how it works, for the fire is so nearly out now that we won’t need much more water on it.”
So the Bobbseys took off their life preservers, which are not very comfortable things to wear, and stayed on deck, watching the flames die out and the smoke drift away. The Swallow had been slowed down while the captain and the others were fighting the fire.
“Everything is all right now,” said Cousin Jasper, and he took Freddie to the motor room to show him the pump, while Captain Crane still played the hose on the last dying embers.