" said Mr. Grant.

"I reckon it caught from a bucket of water I left there," replied Noddy,
who did not know what to say till he had felt his way a little.

"No trifling, Noddy!" added Mr. Grant, though he could hardly keep from
laughing at the ridiculous answer.

"How should I know, sir, when Ben don't know? I tried to make him tell
me how it caught, and he wouldn't say a word about it."

"I thought it was best for me to keep still," said Ben.

"This is very strange," continued Mr. Grant. "Who was the last person
you saw in the boat-house, Ben?"

"Miss Fanny, sir. I saw her come out of it only a few moments before the
fire broke out."

Noddy was appalled at this answer, for it indicated that Fanny was
already suspected of the deed.

"Of course Fanny would not do such a thing as set the boat-house on
fire," said Bertha.

"Of course she wouldn't," added Noddy.

"What made you say you did not think Noddy set the fire, Ben?" asked Mr.
Grant.

"Because I think he had gone off somewhere before the fire, and that
Miss Fanny was in the building after he was. Noddy was sculling off
before he had done his work, and I called him back. That's when he
wished the boat-house was burned down."

"It is pretty evident that the fire was set by Noddy or Fanny," said Mr.
Grant; and he appeared to have no doubt as to which was the guilty one,
for he looked very sternly at the wayward boy before him.

"I think so, sir," added Ben.

"And you say that it was not Noddy?" continued Mr. Grant, looking
exceedingly troubled as he considered the alternative.

The boatman bowed his head in reply, as though his conclusion was so
serious and solemn that he could not express it in words. Noddy looked
from Ben to Mr. Grant, and from Mr. Grant to Ben again. It was plain
enough what they meant, and he had not even been suspected of the crime.
The boatman had seen Fanny come out of the building just before the
flames appeared, and all hope of charging the deed upon some vagabond
from the river was gone.

"Do you mean to say, Ben, that you think Fanny set the boat-house on
fire?" demanded Mr. Grant, sternly.

"I don't see who else could have set it," added Ben, stoutly.

"I do," interposed Noddy. "I say she didn't do it."

"Why do you say so?"

"Because I did it myself."

"I thought so!" exclaimed Mr. Grant, greatly relieved by the confession.

Ben was confused and annoyed, and Noddy was rather pleased at the
position in which he