“N—o,” the girl cast upon him a look of puzzled eagerness. It was plain that she wished to help all she could.
Further questioning revealed the fact that she had nothing more of importance to tell. The sound of fire gongs and sirens had wakened her. She had gone to the window to look down. Then, realizing her peril, she had dashed for the head of the stairs, only to find her way cut off by flames and smoke. She had returned to the window. The rest Johnny knew as well as she.
After the child had been put to sleep on a couch in the living room, Johnny and Mazie sat long by the kitchen table, talking. Johnny told of his new task and of his hopes of capturing the firebug.
“Of course,” he said, “the police and fire inspectors are working on it. They’ll probably solve the mystery first. I hope they solve it to-morrow. No one wants the city’s buildings burned and lives endangered by fire. But,” he sighed, “I’d like to be the lucky fellow.”
“I wish you might,” said Mazie loyally. “I—I wish I could help you. Oh, Johnny, can’t I? Couldn’t I come down and stay awhile in that strange central station where all the alarms come in? It must be fairly bewitching.”
“I guess there’d be no objection to that,” said Johnny thoughtfully. “As for your helping me, I’ll welcome all the help I can get. Looks like I was going to need it. Didn’t get a clue except—well, there was the pink-eyed man.”
“The pink-eyed man?” Mazie exclaimed in amazement. “Who was he?”
Johnny told her about the man in the store. “Probably not much to it,” he added at the end.
“But, Johnny,” said Mazie suddenly, “if Tillie was in the office until nearly eleven o’clock, how could the fire, which started near the office, have gotten going so strong before the firemen arrived? It takes some time to start a big blaze, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it must,” answered Johnny thoughtfully. “Doesn’t seem that the firebug could have accomplished it in an hour. It might have been—” he paused to consider—“it might have been set by a mechanism such as is sometimes used on a time bomb, but how could it have been gotten in during the day? Tell you what!” he exclaimed, “I’ll go back there as soon as the fire cools and look about in the ruins. That side of the wall fell outward. If a mechanism was used, its remains should still be there. I may discover something.”