CHAPTER XXI
A GREAT TO-DO
“Chapman! Stop!” shouted Jessie. “We must tell them!”
The chauffeur wheeled the car in toward the curb and stopped as quickly as he could. But it was some distance past the church and the parsonage.
The girls jumped out and ran back. They saw Dr. Stanley come out on the porch from his study. He was in his house gown and wore a little black cap to cover his bald spot. It was a little on one side and gave the good clergyman a decidedly rakish appearance.
“Come in here, children! Hurry! It is going to rain,” he called in his full and mellow voice.
“Oh, Doctor! Doctor!” Jessie gasped. “The fire! The fire!”
“Why, you are not wet. Here come the first drops. You don’t need a fire.”
“Nor you don’t need one, Doctor,” and Amy began to laugh. “But you’ve got one just the same.”
“In the kitchen stove. Is it a joke or a conundrum?” asked the smiling minister, as the two chums came up under the porch roof just as the first big drops came thudding down.
“Upstairs! The radio!” declared the earnest Jessie. “Don’t you know it’s afire?”