on had caused, that he began to grow seriously alarmed. It
did not seem possible that any one could have stolen them, and he
cheered himself with the thought that they had simply broken loose and
run away, or that some one living near by had cared for them.

A visit to the shed where the team had been left dissipated this first
supposition, for there was every indication that the horses had been
taken by some one, since no broken harness was there to tell of flight,
and the door was carefully closed behind them, showing an excess of
precaution on the part of some one, since both doors had been left wide
open when George drove in.

"Some one must have recognized them as yours, and taken them away
thinking they were not safe while the fire was raging so furiously,"
said Ralph, after the survey of the shed was completed, and George
believed such was the case.

"At all events, we will get a bath and borrow some clothes first; then
we can soon find out where they are," said George.

And in pursuance of this plan the boys started towards Sawyer, so weary
that it seemed almost impossible for them to walk.

It was not a difficult matter for two who had worked as hard and done as
much service as George and Ralph, to get all they required at the town,
once they arrived there, and the bath had revived them so much that both
were in favor of finding the team at once, in order that they might get
what else they required at the Kenniston farm.

Under ordinary circumstances they could have hired a team with which to
search for their own; but now, with every one in that state of
excitement or prostration which follows such scenes as the inhabitants
of Sawyer had just passed through, it was almost impossible to find any
one sufficiently calm to transact the most ordinary business.

Twice George made the attempt to hire a horse, and then he gave up what
promised to be a useless effort, both he and Ralph thinking it better to
pursue their inquiries on foot than waste their time by trying to hire a
team, and being obliged to walk after all.

They began the search by making inquiries in town, of any one whom they
met, and by going to each stable or even barn, looking in each place
large enough to shelter the team; but without seeing any signs of it
whatever.

Then they started up the road in the direction from which they had just
come, and at the dwelling nearest the shed where the team had been
left, they heard the first tidings.