"Ben!" roared Noddy, at the top of his lungs, and still standing near the ruins.
"What do you want, Noddy?" demanded Ben, as good-naturedly as though everything had worked well during the day.
"The boat-house is burned up!" screamed Noddy, apparently as much excited as though he had just discovered the fact.
Ben made no reply, which was another evidence that he was engaged in working out some deep-laid plot, perhaps to convict him of the crime, by some trick. Noddy was determined not to be convicted if he could possibly help it.
"Ben!" shouted he again.
"Well, Noddy, what is it?"
"Did you know the boat-house was burned up?"
There was no answer; and Noddy ran down to the place where the sail-boat was hauled up. He tried to look excited and indignant, and perhaps he succeeded; though, as the old man preserved his equanimity, he had no means of knowing what impression he had produced.
"Did you know the boat-house was burned up?" repeated Noddy, opening his eyes as though he had made a discovery of the utmost importance.
"I did," replied Ben, as indifferently as though it had been a matter of no consequence whatever.