Hugh saw that she was looking anxious.
“Why do you say that, Mrs. Heffner?” he asked.
“It’s this way,” she tried to explain. “Mr. Barger is a widower, and has three children. He doesn’t keep hired help but has a bound boy of about fifteen working for him. Poor Peter has a hard time of it because Mr. Barger is a drinking man, and not an easy boss.”
“Do you mean that he went away yesterday?” asked Hugh.
“He took a load into town,” she replied.
“But surely he had plenty of time to get back home again?”
“Most men would,” Mrs. Heffner explained, “but when Mr. Barger goes in once in a while he meets some boon companions, and he usually gets home the next day at noon in a muddled condition.”
Hugh grasped the cause of her alarm.
“You are afraid the three children have been left there with only that bound boy Peter to take care of them?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m fearful that is what has happened, Hugh. And think of those poor children in the midst of that terrible smoke and fire. Even if they haven’t been burned to death, there’s a chance they’ve been smothered.”