manded. "Didn't I say it would be a great
sight? Gee, I haven't had such a good time since I had the measles!"

Mr. Brady reappeared, scrambled back to his seat and slammed the door
behind him. "Jim says it's Corrigan's barn," he said. "Sit tight, boys!"
The car leaped forward once more, took the first corner at twenty miles
an hour, took the next at thirty and then, in the middle of a firm, hard
road, simply roared away into the starlit darkness, the headlights
throwing a great white radiance ahead. Tim, on the front seat, whipped
off his cap and stuffed it into his pocket. Behind, the three boys
huddled themselves low in the wide seat while the wind tore past them.

"Must be going ninety miles an hour!" gasped Clint.

"Suppose we bust something!" said Tom awedly.

Don braced his feet against the foot-rail. "Let it bust!" he answered
exultantly.

That was a memorable ride. Tim owned afterward that he thought he had
ridden fast once or twice before, but that he was mistaken. "I watched
that speedometer from the time we turned the second corner," he
declared, "and it never showed less than fifty-three and was generally
around sixty! If I hadn't been so excited I'd been scared to death!"

Now and then one of the boys behind looked back along the road, but if
anyone was following them the fact wasn't apparent. Almost before they
were conscious of having travelled any distance the car topped a slight
hill at a dizzy speed and the conflagration was in sight. A quarter of a
mile distant a big barn was burning merrily. The car slowed down at the
foot of the descent, swung into a lane and pitched and careened toward
the burning structure. Other buildings were clustered about the barn and
a good-sized white dwelling house stood in dangerous proximity. Between
house and barn, standing out black against the orange glow of the fire,
was a group of women and children, while a few men, not more than a
half-dozen it seemed, were wandering hither and thither in the radiance.
A horse with trailing halter snorted and dashed to safety as the
automobile turned from the lane and came to a stop under an apple tree.

"Far as we go!" shouted Mr. Brady. "Come on, boys, and lend a hand!"

The lights dimmed, the engine stopped and the occupants of the car
scrambled out and ran up the lane. "They can't save that barn," panted
Mr. Brady, "but they'd ought to save the rest of them."

A man attired principally in a pair of overalls and a flan