and kept on staring while Chet and Ferd came
rushing up and joined him.

"The trunk----" Chet began, but Teddy clutched his arm excitedly.

"Look!" he cried. "It's the front end of the car that's on fire. If we
climbed through the side door we'd have a chance to----"

He never finished the sentence, for the boys had caught the idea and
were racing headlong for the burning car. Mr. Bradley, meeting them half
way, literally had to drag them back.

"Don't be idiots!" he shouted to them. "Do you want to get burned up?"

"Let go, Dad!" gasped Chet, struggling to free himself. "Billie's
trunk!"

"Billie's trunk will have to take its chance," Mr. Bradley yelled back
at him. Then he added in a changed voice that made the boys stop
struggling for a moment and follow the direction of his gaze. "Here come
the fire engines. Maybe we'll save that trunk after all."

With a yell the boys dashed off down the platform to meet the engines,
whether with a vague idea of helping the horses pull or just on general
principles, no one will ever know.

The fire department was a country one, and there was not enough force of
water; in fact, there seemed not to be enough of anything.

They did at last succeed in putting out the fire, however, while the
girls stood by in an agony of suspense, and finally some of the train
hands were allowed to climb into the sodden train and find what luggage,
if any, could be saved.

Wildly hoping that their own particular little trunk with its precious
contents would be among the saved, the girls and boys would have
followed, but a guard politely but firmly held them back.

"Claim your baggage at the next town, please," he said, and, his hard
heart softened perhaps by the sight of Billie's anxious face, added by
way of explanation: "All the baggage will be sent to the next town to be
claimed in the morning."

"In the morning!" gasped Billie in consternation. "Have we got to wait
all night?"

"There won't be another train through till to-morrow," the guard
explained, still patiently. "And it will save confusion to wait until
morning to identify the baggage."

"How far is it to the next town?" inquired Mr. Bradley, and the guard
turned to him with an air of relief that said as plainly as words,
"Thank heaven, here's a man to talk to."

"Three miles, sir," he said. "I reckon you'll have to walk it, as they
haven't taxi service around here." He grinned, but Mr. Bradley's face
was sober. He was wo