“I fancy that what you call ‘secrets’ will all be explained. My thought is that the two men, whom we found here when we came back across the fields, can tell more about the origin of the fire than we think.”
“Who were the men?” inquired George.
“I don’t know either of them,” answered Mr. Sanders. “To me they looked like tramps.”
Startled by the unexpected statement the boys stared blankly at one another and then as if moved by a common impulse they turned and advanced among the spectators who now numbered at least three score.
“Isn’t it wonderful,” suggested Grant, “what a crowd you can get and in such a little while even out in the country, if anything unusual is going on? I wouldn’t have believed that a blast on Gabriel’s trumpet could have brought twenty people here in an hour and yet in less than twenty minutes there’s a crowd. Where do you suppose they came from?”
“That fire can be seen a long distance,” explained George, “and there’s nothing like a fire to get a crowd. There’s the tramp!” he abruptly added, nodding, as he spoke, toward a man who could be seen on the outskirts of the assembly.
By common consent all four boys instantly ran to the place where the man was seen.
As they approached, however, the tramp, for George’s statement proved to be correct, apparently became aware of their coming and instantly departed.
To the boys it seemed that he had moved around to the other side of the burning building but when they sought him there he was not to be found.
“What do you suppose it all means?” inquired John blankly. “He acted as if he didn’t want to see us.”