numerous opportunities to stretch out a helping hand to the growing Junior Department of the local Y. M. C. A.

It was the unexpected home coming of Silas Langhorne, a brother of Mrs. Horner, from the[Pg 9] Alaska gold fields, that had brought contentment and peace to Dick’s family. That was a strange and dramatic homecoming, for an account of which the reader is referred to the previous volume of this series. These summer days were happy ones in the Horner cottage, and little seven-year-old Sue, Dick’s sister, went singing about all the time.

[Pg 9]

The boys had settled down once more to their game, and the greatest interest was seizing upon them, with the score a tie, when all of a sudden Phil Harkness, out in center field, was seen to be waving his arms excitedly as he gave vent to a series of shouts.

“Hey! look yonder!” they plainly heard him calling. “See all that smoke, would you? It’s Bratton’s barn afire!”

[Pg 10]

[Pg 10]

CHAPTER II AN INVASION OF PIGS

AN INVASION OF PIGS

There is nothing under the sun capable of exciting a crowd of lively boys as much as a fire. Consequently when the ball players saw the smoke pouring from Bratton’s barn they instantly forgot all about their game, even with the score a tie, two out, Dick to the bat, a runner on third, and but a single hit needed to win for his side.

Helter-skelter they ran toward the scene, most of them shouting “Fire!” as they went, and thus increasing the already growing confusion. The clang of the suspended locomotive steel rim struck by a hammer added to the din. People came running from every direction toward the Bratton place, about which a crowd had already collected.

HELTER-SKELTER THEY RAN TOWARD THE SCENE.

Silas Bratton was a character in Cliffwood. He had always been at odds with everybody in the town, and seemed to delight in annoying others. There are just such contrary people in nearly every community.

For one thing the man persisted in keeping a host of small pigs about his place. The authorities[Pg 11] made him confine them, but even at that they were a constant source of trouble to the neighbors; which was apparently just 

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