“You count me in on that,” added Jack. “I certainly agree with you. But what can we do about it, that is the problem.”
“Doesn’t seem as if we can do anything for the present,” muttered Ken.
“Guess you’re right,” answered Paul thoughtfully. A moment later he added, “Tomorrow let us try and obtain a better description of the man from your sister, Betty, Ken. If she can tell us a few things on how he looks and the sort of clothes he wears, that would help a lot.”
“It certainly would,” agreed Ken. “We will try it tomorrow.”
“Yes. In the meanwhile there is nothing else we can do tonight. So I am for going home,” announced Paul.
“Same here.”
“Me too.”
The boys separated and went home. The following morning, they met again at Ken’s home. Taking Betty out into the yard, the boys tried to get some information from her about the man who had taken her for a walk and then deserted her at the end of the town. But the child had already forgotten him entirely and their efforts were in vain.
CHAPTER IV
That afternoon, William went to the Stanhope Free Public Library to return a book. Walking in back of the room in search of a good novel, he came upon Paul hunched over a stack of newspapers. “What are you up to now, Paul?” he asked in a whisper.
“Tell you later.”
“A mystery, huh?” William joked.
Paul smiled and waved his friend away. “Leave me alone now,” he said, “I’ll tell you all about it later.”
“Very well.”
William walked away and Paul returned to his stack of newspapers. He spent almost three hours going through the papers of the past two months. Tired, he decided to stop there. Besides, he was quite satisfied with the information he had obtained. He left the library and walked home. On the way he stopped to call for Ken but did not find him in. Crossing the street to his own home he found Jack, Ken and William on the porch waiting for him. “Well, what is the secret?” cried William. “Tell us.”
Paul motioned to the boys to follow him and he led them to the garage where they would be assured of privacy. The boys found boxes on which to sit and they gathered around Paul. “Well, what is it?” asked Jack.
“I have spent about three hours in the library this afternoon,” Paul informed them “and—”
“William told us that already,” interrupted Ken.
“I have been going through the newspapers for the past weeks,” continued Paul.
“What for?” asked Jack.
“I was looking up the fire reports. In the past two months there have been four fires, one each two weeks or so.”
“What about it?” Jack wanted to know.
“Can’t you fellows see for yourselves?” asked Paul, irritated by their indifference. “Don’t you think that in a small town such as this, a fire every two weeks is very much above the average?”
“Say,” cried Ken, “you have hit upon something. Come to think of it, that is a pretty high average.”
“But what has that to do with the story?” asked Jack.
“Simply this,” answered Paul. “Under normal conditions, there would not be such frequent fires. In other words, all the fires of the past two months may or may not have been caused accidentally.”
“You don’t think yesterday’s fire was an accident?” questioned William.
“No,” was Paul’s categorical answer.
William raised his eyebrows in surprise. He was not acquainted with the facts of the case as the other boys were. “What therefore is the conclusion?” asked Jack.
“It is evident,” returned Paul. “For the past two months at least one fire, or more has been started by a maniac.”
“This thing is becoming worse and worse,” commented Ken.
“Yes,” Paul said gravely, “the situation is very serious and it is up to us to do something.”
“Why is it up to us?” asked William. But just as soon as the words were out of his mouth, he knew the answer.
“Because,” was Paul’s answer, “we are the only ones who seem to be acquainted with the situation and our suspicions are quite definite.”
“Don’t you think it might be wise to acquaint the police with our suspicions?” inquired Ken.
“I am against doing anything of the sort,” stated Jack. “If we do that, there will be a public scandal. It will be in every newspaper in town and the culprit, whoever he is, will become wary. As it is, we may come upon him by surprise.”
“I agree absolutely,” commented Paul.
“What is our job going to be?” asked William, eager to do something as soon as possible.
“For the present there is only one thing we can do,” said Paul. “We will talk the whole matter over with the boys of the patrol. We are all pretty close friends and we can act as a group. The thing we have to insist upon is secrecy on the part of all the boys and to be always on guard.”
“That alone is not enough,” added William. “I suggest that we also have the boys patrolling the streets, so that in case of anything, they will be Johnny-on-the-spot.”
“That is something we will have to discuss with the rest of the boys,” asserted Paul. “In the meanwhile, suppose we notify the fellows to come to a meeting tonight after supper. Do you think it is all right?”
“Yes, I think that is a very good idea,” commented William. The other boys agreed and it was decided to meet in Ken’s garage.
That evening at about seven, the boys began to congregate in Ken’s garage. They came by one’s and two’s. Fifteen minutes later they were all there except Jack. The boys were curious as to the reason for the meeting and they wanted to start without waiting for the missing member but Paul refused. He suggested that someone run over to call Jack. Bluff volunteered. They waited about five minutes and the messenger returned saying that Jack was not home. Paul remarked, “I wonder where he could have gone?”
Nuthin’ said, “He will most likely be here any minute. In the meanwhile let’s get going.”
“Yes, let’s do that,” echoed Wallace.
Urged on by the other boys, Paul finally consented and the meeting was called to order. Paul then outlined the situation for them, told them the pros and cons of the problem and in conclusion said, “There is one more thing I want to tell you. In going through the newspaper files for information on the fire reports, I noticed that there seemed to be about two weeks difference between fires. In other words, since the last fire was yesterday, we have about two weeks in which to act. The thing for us to do now is not to talk about it to anyone outside of this group and to be always on guard. If we don’t track this maniac down, God knows what damage he is liable to do.”
For a short while there was silence. Nuthin’ grinned and remarked, “What you want us to do, Paul, is for us to become detectives.”
Nuthin’ meant it as a joke but Paul took it seriously. “That is just what I want you to do,” he asserted gravely. “We must all become detectives and find this man.”
“But the information we have is so slight. We really have no clues to work on,” protested Bobolink.
“That is very true,” replied Paul, “but we must do the best we can.”
A little later, the meeting was officially adjourned, but no boy ventured to leave. Their curiosity was aroused by Jack’s not coming to the meeting and they waited around. Paul felt anxious, though he had no reason to