CHAPTER VI

THE BURNED COTTAGE

"Nonsense!" exclaimed Bob. "What makes you think we'd do a trick like that?"

"Never mind about that!" exclaimed the elder Looker, furiously. "I supposed you'd deny it. I want to see your father, young man."

"Here he is," and Mr. Layton, who had been attracted to the door by Mr. Looker's loud and angry tones, emerged on to the porch. "What can I do for you, Mr. Looker?"

"You can pay me for my house that your boy and his companions burnt down," said Mr. Looker in angry tones.

"I rather think you must be mistaken," said Mr. Layton. "What grounds have you for making such a serious accusation?"

"My boy caught them red-handed after they'd broken into the house, and made them get off my property. It wasn't six hours later that the place was burned, and there's no doubt in my mind that your boy and his friends set it on fire just to get even. They've always had a grudge against Buckley, anyway, and are always doing all they can to make life miserable for the poor fellow."

"You know that isn't true, Dad," protested Bob, hotly, "neither about the fire, nor about Buck. He's always the one that starts trouble."

"You've got plenty of nerve, Looker, to come here and make an accusation like this to me," remarked Mr. Layton, his usually kindly face stern and set. "There are many ways that fire could have occurred besides being deliberately set, and you know it. Likely enough some tramps had decided to spend the night there, and set it on fire by accident. You had better get off my property before I am tempted to throw you off."

"It might not be so easy as you think," sneered the elder Looker, but nevertheless he began edging toward the sidewalk. "If you don't pay, I'll see my lawyer and have him bring action in court. See if I don't."

"Suit yourself," answered Mr. Layton, shrugging his shoulders. "Your lawyer will tell you, though, that you haven't the shadow of a case. As for your boy, he looks big enough to take care of himself, and if he can't, I don't see what business that is of mine."

"I'll show you," threatened Mr. Looker, as he turned down the walk. "Don't worry about that. Maybe somebody will be arrested."

"As you please," said Mr. Layton, with a grim smile.

Mr. Looker and his promising son reached the sidewalk in sullen silence, while Bob and his father watched them until they turned the corner of the street.

"Young Looker is a young bully, just as you say, and his father would like to be," said Mr. Layton, seating himself in a rocking chair. "I suppose you and Joe and the others are sure you didn't light a match for any purpose while you were there?"

"Absolutely not, Dad," asserted Bob. "We weren't inside that shack more than five minutes the first time, and, with that bear outside, lighting matches was the last thing we'd have thought of. As soon as the bear's owner captured him, we went outside. We worked on the roof both from outside and inside, and tried to patch the thing up. We struck no matches. We were doing the last few things inside when Buck came along."

"Tell me just what happened then," directed Mr. Layton.

"Why, then there was a bit of an argument with Buck," grinned Bob. "We knew that the place belonged to his father, and that there was nothing for us to do but clear out. We came right home from there, though, and you know that we were all here listening to radio that entire evening."

"Yes, I remember that," nodded his father. "And I guess that would be a pretty convincing alibi if Looker really should carry the case to court. My opinion is, though, that he's just bluffing, and we'll never hear any more of it."

"I wish I did know who _was_ responsible," speculated Bob. "Do you really think tramps were responsible, Dad?"

"Very likely. Several barns have been burned in this neighborhood from the same cause, you know. I'm rather sorry that you and your friends were around there the same day it happened, because unless the real cause is discovered the Lookers will never stop talking about it. However, it's a small matter and we'll not think any more about it. From what you tell me, the place must have been falling apart, anyway."

"I should say so," laughed Bob. "We were a surprised bunch when that roof caved in with us. The place was so rickety it's a wonder it didn't all come down then."

"I'll bet you were a scared bunch," bantered his father, a twinkle in his eyes.

"I'll say we were," admitted Bob, honestly. "If we'd had a gun with us, it would have been a different story, though. Tony would have been out one large, brown bear."

"It's just as well you didn't," said Mr. Layton, dryly. "We'd have had Tony threatening a lawsuit, too, if you had killed his pet bear."

"It would have been a shame to do it," admitted Bob.

For a few minutes they both sat silent, each busy with his own thoughts.

"I expect I'll have to be away from home most of next week, Bob," said Mr. Layton, at length. Bob looked at him expectantly, and he continued. "There is a store at Mountain Pass being offered at a bargain, and I'm strongly tempted to buy it and operate it as a branch. I'm going to look the ground over, anyway, and if it looks as good then as it does now, I think I'll buy."

"That will be fine!" exclaimed Bob. "I've heard a good deal about that place lately, and it seems to be getting more popular all the time. If you go will you take mother with you?"

Mr. Layton nodded, and waited expectantly for the question that he knew was coming. Nor was he wrong.

"How about taking me along, Dad?" said Bob, eagerly. "It will be a peach of a trip. They say the scenery through Mountain Pass is the best ever."

"Well, I've thought of that, too, because I was pretty sure you'd want to come. But I'm afraid they'll have you too busy in the high school this term for us to manage it. I may have to be gone two or three weeks, and that would be a serious break in your studies."

Bob urged and pleaded, but his father was adamant, and at last Bob was forced reluctantly to give up the idea of going.

When he told the other radio boys about the visit of the Lookers, they were as indignant as he.

"'Like father, like son,'" quoted Joe. "They're two of a kind, that pair. But I guess they didn't get much satisfaction out of your father, Bob."

"I should say not!" laughed Bob. "If they had said much more, I think we'd have treated ourselves to the pleasure of throwing them into the street."

Bob then told them about his father's projected trip to Mountain Pass, and his disappointment at not being allowed to accompany his parents.

"That's pretty tough," said Jimmy, sympathetically. "I know how you must feel. It would be a swell trip, and they say the meals at the Mountain Rest Hotel up at Mountain Pass are about the best ever."

"There you go!" exclaimed Bob, laughing. "It's a lucky thing for the hotel that you're not going. They'd lose money on you, sure as shooting."

"Well, I'd try to get my money's worth," said Jimmy, complacently.

"You'd get it, too, no fear of that," said Joe, confidently.

When this conversation took place, the boys never dreamed that they might all be going to Mountain Pass together in the near future. But as events shaped themselves in the next few days, this began to assume an aspect of probability.

The epidemic of typhoid increased, and there was something nearly approaching a panic in Clintonia. Families began leaving the town every day, and Dr. Atwood, as head of the town Board of Health, finally issued orders that the schools must close until the epidemic had been gotten under control.

When Bob heard this news, he could not, in spite of the seriousness of the situation, suppress a feeling of exultation. With school closed, the main objection to his accompanying his parents to Mountain Pass was removed, and he had little doubt now that he could persuade them to take him.

The task was even easier than he had anticipated, for the Laytons, like all the other towns-people, were greatly alarmed over the rapid spread of the sickness, and when Bob broached the subject to them they readily consented to having him go with them.

"It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good," thought Bob, and hurried away to seek his friends and tell them the good news.

He found all three of them in a state of excitement equal to his own.

"Dad wants us all to leave town, too," declared Joe. "He says there must be something wrong with the water supply, and he wants us all away until the trouble has been located and remedied."

"My father says the same thing," said Herb. "The trouble is, that we'll have to go to different places, and that breaks up our combination for goodness knows how long."

"Maybe we could get our folks to let us all stick together and go to Mountain Pass with Bob," ventured Jimmy. "It seems too good to be true, though."

"It's an idea, anyway," declared Joe. "You certainly come out strong once in a while, Doughnuts. It won't do any harm to try, at any rate."

The others agreed with this, and that night besieged their parents to let them go to the mountain resort. They succeeded more easily than they had hoped, as the older people were too worried over the situation, and too busy packing up, to offer much resistance to the impetuous lads.

Early the next morning first Joe, and then Herb and Jimmy, dropped into the Layton home, to report their success to Bob.

"Well, that's great!" exclaimed the latter. "Jimmy, you win the celluloid frying pan for making that suggestion yesterday."

"Huh! that's about as useful as anything I'll ever get from you Indians," snorted Jimmy. "I ought to make you pay in advance for my ideas, instead of giving them away so carelessly."

"You'll never get rich that way," remarked Joe. "But let's cut out the comedy, fellows, and get down to business. When are your folks going to start for Mountain Pass, Bob?"

"The day after tomorrow."

"Whew!" whistled Herb. "That means that we'll have to flash a little speed, doesn't it?"

"I sha'n't worry about that," grinned Bob. "I'm all ready to start this minute, so I'll sit back and watch you fellows hustle. It will be lots of fun."

"You won't be able to see me, on account of the dust I'll raise," announced Jimmy.

"You're going to stay at the Mountain Rest Hotel, aren't you, Bob?" asked Joe.

"Sure! It's the best hotel up there. The only one, in fact; though I believe some of the natives take a few people into their homes."

"By the way," said Herb. "Who's said anything to Mrs. or Mr. Layton about our joining their party? Seems incredible, but maybe they won't want us."

"Gee!" gasped Joe. "I never thought of that. But maybe it's so."

"There's mother now," announced Bob. "Let's put it up to her."

This they did, and her son's three friends were assured by Mrs. Layton that if their parents were willing they should go she and Mr. Layton would be glad to have them in their party.

"That's fixed then," announced Jimmy. "I'm off now, fellows. Next stop, Mountain Pass."