Part 9 (2/2)
”I'll have you arrested for that!” cried the butcher ”You done it on purpose!”
”Wa'al, I' to have this fire out!” replied Mr Kimball, and a few seconds later, with the aid from the other nozzle, the blaze was comparatively out It still smouldered a bit on top, but a few sprinkles from a hose quenched that
”Fire's out!” cried Cole, froine ”How's that for the new departht!” exclaimed Mr Kimball ”There ain't more than half ade it would all be gone!”
”That's not so!” cried Mr Sagger ”We'd have had it out in five minutes, if those lads hadn't interfered with us”
”That's right,” added severalfellows
In spite of the good work they had done, there was not the best of feeling toward the boys on the part of the ade But on unprejudiced observers the work of the young fireood impression, and they arine, exaht of the four lanterns All the boys were there save Bert, and he had reine buckets that had been dropped there
As he was picking thee that spanned the streae had no side rails, and the figure, which was that of a man, seemed to be unfamiliar with this fact
As Bert watched he saw the e, and, an instant later, topple over into the water, where there was quite a swift current
”Help! Help!” the ht the h to toss off his coat and in he plunged He could just e, and he swaht thehiasped the rescued one, as soon as he was on the bank and could speak, for he had sed souess you'd have been all right,” said Bert ”It is shallow a short distance below here, and you could have waded out”
”No,” said the one to the bottom and stayed there I'm that unlucky”
He seeleaged and quite unkempt In short, he was a tramp
”Where are you from?” asked Bert
”From New York I was asleep under that haystack, and I woke up to find it on fire”
”Were you s there?” asked Bert, suspiciously
”No,” replied the tramp, so earnestly that Bert believed hi with a felloho did Maybe it was his pipe that set the fire He ran off, and I stayed around to see you boys put out the fire You did it in great shape I started to cross the bridge and I fell off I' to eat all day”
”Where are you going?” asked Bert, for he felt a sympathy for the man
No one else had been attracted to the scene, as every one was too ine to leave it
”I don't know,” replied thefor work”
”What do you do”
”I'irls at it now that a es So I decided to becoet out doors, becauseto do, except very heavy tasks, and I'm not able to do them”
”I'll see if I can't help you,” proposed Bert ”Coht”