hted your pipe you may have thrown the match away,
and it fell in the hay?" suggested Paul.

"If it had, the fire'd started long ago; fact is, I'd a seen it right
away. And to settle that right in the start let me say I don't smoke at
all, and didn't have any occasion to strike a single match while out
here."

Of course this statement of the farmer seemed to settle all idea of his
having been in any way responsible for the burning of the barn.

"It looks like a big black mystery, all right," declared Fritz, who
always liked to come upon some knotty problem that needed solving.

"Have you any idea that the fire could have been the work of tramps?"
Paul went on to ask.

"We are never troubled that way up here," replied the farmer. "You see,
it's away from the railroad, and hoboes generally follow the ties when
they tramp across country."

"That makes it all the more queer how the fire could have started," Paul
went on to remark, thoughtfully.

"Couldn't a been one of the cows taken to smoking, I suppose?" ventured
Seth, in a humorous vein.

"One thing sure," continued the farmer, a little uneasily, "that fire
must have been caused by what they call spontaneous combustion; or else
somebody set it on purpose."

"Do you know of anybody who would do such a terrible thing; that is,
have you any enemy that you know of, sir?" questioned Paul.

"None that I would ever suspect of such a mean thing as that," was the
farmer's ready reply. "We're human around here, you know, and may have
our little differences now and then, but they ain't none of 'em serious
enough to tempt a man to burn a neighbor's barn. No, that's a dead sure
thing."

"Well, I'm glad to hear it," the scoutmaster went on. "And I don't
suppose now, you've missed any valuables, have you, sir?"

The farmer turned a shade whiter, and Paul could see that a shiver went
through his frame.

"Gosh! I hadn't thought about that. Wait here a minute, will you,
please?"

With that he dashed into the house, as though a sudden terrible
suspicion had assailed him. The six scouts stood there awaiting his
return. Mrs. Rollins was talking with the neighbors, as they watched
the last of the barn disappearing in a bed of red cinders.

Hardly had a full minute passed before the boys saw the farmer come
leaping out of the building again. No need for any one to ask a
question, because his whole appearance told the story of new excitement
and mystery. If ever a man looke