ed greatly excited.

"Stop or I'll shoot!" the man exclaimed.

"The fire must have made him crazy," said Jack. "Go on, Mark, it's
getting hot up above!"

Mark did not linger on the ladder and soon the two boys were in the
street, surrounded by an excited crowd.

"Are you hurt?" asked several.

"I guess not," replied Mark. "What caused the fire?"

"Some sort of an explosion," answered a policeman. "Part of the hotel
was blown up. If you boys wish you can go to a station house where
you'll be comfortable until morning."

"I guess we will," said Mark.

They started to work their way through the crowd but did not notice that
the strange man followed them. The fire was now burning fiercely, and
once they had gotten clear of the press the lads halted to look at the
spectacle.

The hotel was now a mass of flames and the firemen were kept busy. What
with the puffing of engines, the whistling of the steamers, the roar of
the flames, and the shouts of the crowd, pandemonium reigned.

The boys watched the fire for some time. Gradually the flames came under
the control of the men and the leaping tongues died out.

"I guess we'd better go to the police station," suggested Jack.

Mark agreed this would be a good thing to do, as both of them felt
rather chilly in the night air with only half of their clothes on. They
inquired their way of the first policeman they saw, and he volunteered
to escort them.

"Sure an' you'll have plenty of company," he said. "The hotel was full
an' the people have no place to go except to the lock-up. Some swells
will be glad to take a place behind the bars to-night I'm thinkin'. I
wonder how some of those English aristocrats will like it?"

"English aristocrats?" repeated Jack. "Are any here?"

"Sure. There's a lot of them burned out. Lord Peckham was stoppin' at
the hotel with a big crowd of people, an' their apartments was all
destroyed. Some of 'em went to the police station."

The boys followed their uniformed guide through the streets of Easton,
and were soon at the station house. There they were received by the
sergeant in charge, while the matron gave them each a cup of hot coffee,
a large pot of the beverage having been brewed.

"I'll have to give you boys one bed between you," said the sergeant.
"We're rather crowded for room to-night."

"Anything will do us," said Jack with a laugh.

Just then there was some excitement at the entrance of the police
station.

"I tell you