"That would be half a dollar apiece; but the fellows that went off in the boat without us don't deserve any of it," said Hop Cabright.
"I shall not use any of that money, or touch it," interposed Sam Spottwood. "It belongs to Dory Dornwood if it belongs to anybody, for he is the owner of the Goldwing."
"I should like some of the money well enough to give to my father, but I feel just as though I had stolen it," continued Ash.
"I don't think it belongs to us, at any rate," repeated Sam.
"But I don't want to keep it. I don't like the feeling of it in my pocket."
By this time they had reached the road; and they were a sorry set, for all of them had consciences, and such boys always feel worse when they have done wrong than when they have been without their dinner and supper. They continued to talk over the subject, trying to agree upon what they should do. Sam insisted that they should call upon Captain Gildrock, confess their error, and throw themselves upon his mercy, with the statement that their fathers were too poor to pay any fines. They would tender the money to him for Dory Dornwood, and promise never to take anybody's boat again, and to withdraw entirely from the association with such boys as Tom Topover.
There was scarcely a house in this part of the town; but they soon came in sight of a small cottage, which deserved no better name than a hovel. They had been eating cold ham and sweet cake, and they were quite thirsty after their long walk; for it was all of two miles from the point to the town. They could get a drink there, for they saw the well-curb between the hovel and the road.
Before they could reach it, they heard a succession of screams so shrill that they seemed to pierce through the drums of their ears. They were not sounds made by adult persons, but by children, and they were most agonizing. Ash Burton, without making any remark, broke into a run for the house, from which the cries appeared to come.
"Pell Sankland lives in that house," said Chick Penny, when they started. "His mother goes out washing when she can get any work in that line."
But Ash did not care who lived there, and he continued to run without making any reply. As they came a little nearer, they saw smoke coming out of one of the front windows, and it was apparent that the hovel was on fire. Ash struggled to increase his speed, and was the first to reach the front door of the house. He attempted to open it and found that it was locked or otherwise fastened so that he could not get in. Before he had done trying to effect an entrance, his companions came up.