hunderstorm was coming up.

Clap after clap of thunder rolled over the hills and made the fire look
more terrible against the black sky.

"The rain!" exclaimed Uncle Daniel at last, "The rain may put it out;
we can't."

At this one terrific clap of thunder came. Then the downpour of rain.
It came like a very deluge, and as it fell on the flames it sent out
steam and smoke but quickly subdued the cracking and flashing of the
fire.

Everybody ran to the back porch now but John and Uncle Daniel. They
went in the coach house at the side of the barn.

"How could it have caught fire?" Aunt Sarah said. But Harry and Bert
were both very pale, and never said a word.

How heavily the rain did pour down, just like a cloudburst! And as it
struck the fire even the smoke began to die out.

"It's going out!" exclaimed Harry. "Oh, I hope it keeps on raining!"

Soon there was even no more smoke!

"It's out!" called John, a little later. "That was a lucky storm for
us."

CHAPTER XVI

THE FLOOD

The heavy downpour of rain had ceased now, and everybody ran to the
barn to see what damage the fire had done.

"It almost caught my pigeon coop!" said Harry, as he examined the
blackened beams in the barn near the wire cage his birds lived in.

"The entire back of this barn will have to be rebuilt," said Uncle
Daniel. "John, are you sure you didn't drop a match in the hay?"

"Positive, sir!" answered John. "I never use a match while I'm working.
Didn't even have one in my clothes."

Bert whispered something to Harry. It was too much to have John blamed
for their wrongdoing.

"Father!" said Harry bravely, but with tears in his eyes. "It was our
fault; we set the barn afire!"

"What!" exclaimed Uncle Daniel in surprise. "You boys set the barn
afire!"

"Yes," spoke up Bert. "It was mostly my fault. I threw the cigarette
away and we couldn't find it."

"Cigarette!" exclaimed Uncle Daniel. "What!--you boys smoking!"

Both Bert and Harry started to cry. They were not used to being spoken
to like that, and of course they realized how much it cost to put that
nasty old cigarette in their mouths. Besides there might have been a
great deal more damage if it hadn't been for the rain.

"Come with me!" Uncle Daniel said; "we must find out how all this
happened," and he led the unhappy boys into the coach house, where they
all sat down on a bench.

"Now, Harry, stop your crying, and tell me about it," the father
commanded.