Four Boy Hunters | Page 4

came along swiftly, but for a long time it looked as if the whole plant was doomed to destruction. The fire was in a shed next to the saw mill itself, a place one end of which was used as an office by the mill company. The wind was blowing the sparks directly to the mill proper.
"Phew! but this is hot work!" cried one of the men. "Can't stand this much longer."
"Don't give up!" pleaded the master of the mill. "Perhaps the wind will change."
It certainly was warm work, as all of the boys found out. The sparks and brands were dropping over them, and once Snap's shirt sleeve caught fire, while Shep had a spark blister his neck and cause him to let out a yell like an Indian.
In the midst of the excitement, Mr. Dodge arrived, and a moment later the local fire engine, an old-fashioned affair purchased from a neighboring city. The stream of water, however, did good service, and the fire was kept largely to the shed in which it had started. The mill itself caught a dozen times, but the flames were extinguished before they did material damage. Finally the wind veered around, blowing the sparks toward a cleared spot in the woods, and then all saw that the worst of the affair was over. But men and boys kept at their labors, and did not stop until every spark of the conflagration had been extinguished.
"Now it is over, I am going down to the river and wash up," said Snap to Shep, and they walked to the edge of the stream, followed by Whopper and Giant. "I feel dirty from head to foot."
"Your father can be thankful that the mill didn't go," said Whopper. "Gosh, what a blaze! I thought the whole county was going to burn up. I got burnt in about 'leventeen hundred spots."
"And I let a bucket of water drop on my foot," put in Giant. "Say, but didn't the edge of the bucket feel nice on my little toe!" and he limped along to the water's edge.
Having washed up, the boys returned to the scene of the fire. They found the mill master, Tom Neefus, in earnest conversation with Mr. Dodge.
"You saw the rascal do it?" asked Snap's father.
"I certainly did," replied Tom Neefus. "I started to catch him, but then I came back to put out the blaze. I made up my mind it would be better to stop the fire than catch the man, even though he was such a villain."
"Who's a villain, father?" asked Shep.
"The man who started this fire."
"Did a man start it?" asked the boy, while several others drew closer to listen.
"So Mr. Neefus says. He caught the fellow at the office desk. In a corner the fellow had thrown a pile of shavings and saturated it with oil. As he ran away he threw a handful of lighted matches into the shavings and they caught instantly."
"I suppose he did that so that he could get away. He knew the men around here would try to save the property instead of going after him."
"Exactly, Charley. He must have been a cold-blooded villain to do such a thing, for it might have been the means of burning down everything," continued Mr. Dodge.
"What was he doing at the desk, Mr. Dodge?" asked Shep.
"He was evidently looking for money or something of value."
"Did he get anything?"
"Nothing, so far as Mr. Neefus knows. The safe was locked up, I believe."
The strong-box mentioned stood in a corner of the office, and the fire had swept all around it. It was quite hot, but after some more water had been poured over it the master of the mill threw it open.
"The books are all right---the fire wasn't hot enough to touch them," said Tom Neefus. "I don't think---Ha!"
He stopped short, gazing into a small compartment of the safe. Then his brow contracted.
"What have you discovered?" questioned Mr. Dodge, quickly.
"The money is gone---and also those papers to that tract of land at Spur Road!"
"The money? How much money?"
"Three hundred and fifty dollars."
"But I thought you said you had the safe locked," went on Mr. Dodge.
"I did have it locked. He must have opened it and then shut it up again before he went at the desk."
The announcement by the master of the mill created something of a sensation, and soon all the men and boys in the vicinity gathered to learn the particulars of the robbery. It was learned that the man who had perpetrated the deed was a tall, slim individual who limped with his left foot when he ran. He had disappeared into the forest bordering the river, and that was the last seen of him. He had red hair and a stubby red moustache.
That very evening a reward of