Free Mike's Mystery by Gertrude Warner Page B

take care of some things later.”
    “Aunt Jane said Mike could come up to our house,” said Violet.
    “Oh, did she indeed!” said Mr. Carter, laughing. “You’ll have a lively time! Don’t you want me, too?”
    “You would be a big help,” said Jessie, smiling.
    “You can have a whole room, Mike, if you come to Aunt Jane’s,” said Benny. “You’d better ask your mother if you can come.”
    “Yes, I’m willing, and thankful, too,” said Mrs. Wood. “But tell Miss Alden to send Mike back if he gets too much for her.”
    Then Benny asked suddenly, “Mike! Have you had anything to eat?”
    “No!” shouted Mike. “It all burned up. I didn’t have any milk, or any oatmeal, or any eggs—”

    “Come on, Mike!” shouted Benny. “I could eat another egg myself. Let’s all go to the restaurant!”
    Mr. Carter looked at Jessie and laughed. He said, “I wonder what’s the matter with me? I never even thought of breakfast! And Mrs. Wood, you must be starved. We’ll all go to the restaurant and have breakfast.”
    “We follow Benny as usual,” said Mrs. Wood smiling. “He has the ideas.”

CHAPTER 4
    At the Big Table
    L et’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