“She sure is a hummer!” cried Tom.
“A hum-dinger,” added Harry. “Listen to that!”
Another explosion occurred, lifting a roof off one of the frail buildings, and depositing the blazing mass over on the railroad tracks, and rather dangerously near the passenger depot, which was not far from the freight station.
“There goes the fire alarm!” cried Harry.
“They’ll be here in no time. It’s a general alarm when anything like a fireworks factory goes up,” said Joe. “There they come,” he added, as he looked back toward the town, and pointed to an automobile fire-fighting apparatus coming along the road. The auto-engine was a new purchase for Bedford. Besides that, there was an old steamer, drawn by hand whenever horses could not be requisitioned in a hurry.
The five boys had to cross the small stream, known locally as Bedford Creek, in order to reach the scene of the fire. As they rushed along across the fields toward the water, all but Joe bore off to the left. He kept straight on.
“Where you going?” asked Harry.
“To the fire, of course,” was the answer.
“The bridge is over this way,” stated Tom, indicating a white structure that crossed the stream some distance to the left of where the boys then were.
“Bridge!” cried Joe. “Do you think I’d waste time crossing a bridge when there’s a fire like this straight ahead of me?”