"What?" asked several of his companions. "Why, I heard that he was a regular gambler," went on George. "He makes a profession of it. Maybe he had a gambling outfit in some of those rooms, and didn't want you to discover it." "Who told you he was a gambler?" asked Vincent. "The station agent. He sees him taking the train to the city every once in a while, and one day he saw him in a car, with a man he knows to be a gambler of the worst kind. Oh, Muchmore is a gambler, all right." "Do you suppose he has gambling games in that house?" inquired Tom Donnell. "I shouldn't be surprised." "I wonder if Mr. Stockton knows it?" ventured Bert. "I heard my mother say Mr. Stockton was a very fine man, and I don't believe he would allow that if he knew it." "Nobody's liable to tell him," went on George. "He seems to have disappeared. That's another queer part of it. The station agent, who knows Mr. Stockton quite well, doesn't remember his going away, and he'd have to go from here to New York, if he sailed for Europe, which is the story Muchmore tells in the village." "Boys," said Bert suddenly, "I believe there is something mysterious about that house. I thought so when I saw how queer Muchmore acted. Now, with what George tells me, I am more than ever inclined to that belief." "What can we do about it?" asked Vincent. "Maybe we can investigate," went on Herbert, "I'd like to find out more about the place." "We might make an excuse for going there tomorrow, by asking if the fire did much damage," suggested Cole. "And be put out for our pains," objected Vincent. "No, I'm going to stay away from there." "I guess that will be best, for a time," decided Bert. CHAPTER XII SAGGER'S FIRE LOSS Though the boys were not thanked by Muchmore, for their good work at the blaze in the Stockton mansion, the lads knew that they had done efficient service. Herbert, however, was not satisfied with his department. "There are lots of things we'll have to do better," he told Vincent and Cole, the next day. "We get in each other's way, and we're not quick enough. Why, it took ten minutes for all of us to assemble last night." "I don't see any other way of working it than the way we have been doing," replied Cole, "All the boys run when they hear the bell." "Yes, I know, but the trouble is some of them have to run too far." "How else can we do it?" asked Vincent. "I've been thinking of a plan," replied the young captain. "What is it?" "Well, we might divide the company into three divisions. One division, say of about ten boys, could sleep in Cole's barn for two nights, or maybe three. Then, if an alarm came in they would be right there to rush the engine out. The other boys would stay in their homes, and, as soon as they heard the bell, they'd run to the fire. In that way they'd get to the blaze about the same time the engine would, and there'd be no delay."