CHAPTER 4
At the Big Table
Let’s all sit at the big table,” said Henry. “Then we can talk.”
“I don’t want to talk. I want to eat!” shouted Mike.
“Then you can keep still all you want,” said Benny. “We’ll do the talking.”
“But I’ll say something if I want to,” argued Mike.
“Well, make up your mind,” returned Benny. “You’re the one that said you didn’t want to talk.”
“I only said I was hungry,” said Mike.
“Oh, stop it, Mike,” said his mother. “All this talk about nothing. Don’t you know you have no home?”
“That sounds awful,” said Jessie. “Tell me, how did you know the house was on fire?”
“The dog,” said Mrs. Wood. “Spotty was down in the cellar. He sleeps down there. He barked and barked. I knew something was wrong, so I went down to see. There was fire on all four sides. I let the dog out and woke up Mike and Pat.”
“You didn’t wake me,” said Mike. “I was awake.”
“Yes, you were, son,” agreed his mother. “I will say you were going down to get the dog yourself.”
“Spotty was the most important one,” said Mike, “because he can’t open doors.”
“By the way, where is the dog?” asked Mr. Carter.
“He’s tied up at the blue house,” said Pat. “He was in the way, barking at everyone.”
“Yes, we had to leave Watch and Lady at the ranch, too,” said Jessie. “A fire is no place for dogs.”
“It is very queer that the fire started in four places at once,” said Mr. Carter.
“I wonder if anyone set the fire,” said Henry.
“Oh, no!” cried Mrs. Wood. “Why would anybody set fire to our house?”
“What do you plan to do now, Mrs. Wood?” asked Mr. Carter.
“I really don’t know,” she answered. “I’m staying in the blue house with my good neighbor, Mrs. Smith, for tonight.”
Breakfast came then. The eight hungry people went to work on the bacon and eggs, toast, and cereal and milk. For a minute the restaurant was very still. Then the children heard a man say, “I heard that the boy who lived there set the house on fire just for fun.”
In an instant Mike was out of his chair. He ran over and faced the man who had spoken. “I did not!” he shouted. “Who says I did?”
In another minute all four children were behind Mike.
“Mike never did!” shouted Benny. “He wouldn’t! Who says he did?”
The man laughed a little. He was very much surprised. “Well, don’t get so excited, sonny,” he said.
“Don’t get excited?” yelled Mike. “You told a lie about me!”
“I didn’t say it,” said the man. “I said I heard it.”
Then Henry spoke. “Can you tell us who told you? You must know this story is very bad for Mike.”
“Well, well,” said the man. “You’re not afraid to stand up for a friend, are you?”
“No, sir,” said Henry.
Jessie said, “Mike likes fun, yes. He gets into trouble. But he would never set his own house on fire.”
Then Benny went right up to the man. He said, “Mike wouldn’t set a fire in the cellar anyway. His dog was there.”
“So his dog was there,” repeated the man. “That settles it. I believe you.”
“Who told you?” asked Mike. He was not yelling now.
“I don’t know him,” said the man. “He was a stranger to me. He stood beside me in the crowd, watching the fire. I think that he wore a blue hat.”
“I’ll ask him,” said Benny, “if I ever see a man with a blue hat.”
The man looked at the four of them. “I wish I had as many good friends as you have, Mike,” he said. He looked at Benny. “This one here is a wonderful friend.”
“He don’t always stand up for me,” said Mike.
“Doesn’t,” said Benny.
“Now look here, Ben!” said Mike. “Don’t start that again!”
“You see how Mike is,” said Jessie. “He will fight over nothing. But he would never set a fire. Come on back, boys, and eat your breakfast.”
The children moved away. All this time Mr. Carter had sat still watching. “Well, Jessie!” he said. “That was just like a play! I am very proud of all of you.”
“Why didn’t you come over, too?” asked Benny.
“You didn’t need me,” said Mr. Carter laughing. “You children did it much better than I would. But the man could see I was with you if you needed help.”
Mike began to eat again.
“That gave me a good appetite,” he said.
“Your appetite was all right before,” said Henry, laughing.
“I like to have you with us, Mike,” said Violet, laughing. “Now if you weren’t here, I couldn’t eat my breakfast at all.”
“That’s right,” said Henry. “She couldn’t.”
“Now everyone watch out for a man with a blue hat,” said Benny drinking the last of his milk.
“That man would change his hat, Ben,” said Mike.
“Maybe he will have a black hat next time. Maybe no hat at all.”
“I’ll watch, too,” said Mr. Carter. “You can be sure of that.” |