Accordingly, soon after breakfast the following day, the four Go Ahead boys, together with Mr. Sanders, departed for the place where the fire had occurred the preceding evening.
When they arrived, smoke was still rising from the ashes, but the flames had long since died away. No one was near the spot and as the boys approached the ruins, Mr. Sanders said, “I wish our friend, the tramp, would come.”
“Why do you want him?” inquired George.
“I think he is the man who can give us the information we most want just now. I do not recall that I ever saw him.”
“He’s a strange man,” said George quickly. “He looks like a tramp and yet he uses good English and he shows that he has been used to better things some time in his life.”
“Did he tell you that?” laughed Mr. Sanders.
“I don’t know that he said that exactly, but that’s what he made me think.”
“Quite likely.”
“Well, it’s true,” maintained George stoutly. “All you have to do is to look into his face and hear him talk and you know that he isn’t just a common tramp.”
“Strange how the mysteries about the old Meeker House keep up,” laughed Mr. Sanders. “First you have the cowboys and skinners meeting there and then you have men who may be modern cowboys and skinners in flesh and blood who make it their headquarters. The twittering of the chimney-swallows drives all four of the Go Ahead boys out of the building.”