It was two hours before Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey returned, and then it was to tell a sorrowful tale. A lamp burning in one of the two little upper rooms had been overturned by one of the children very early in the morning, and before the full danger was realized the house was in flames. Fortunately no one was very seriously hurt, Cap'n Si was badly scorched, and his hands showed some bad burns, but the doctor had pronounced these not so very deep. Everything in the house was consumed, however, and the family were destitute and homeless.