Sarah would know."

But Sarah, the naturalist, was safely asleep in her own bed. Rosemary
suddenly envied both her sisters. She remembered that Mrs. Hildreth
had spoken of the warfare she waged against rats which tried to carry
off the young poultry at night--Rosemary, in imagination, could picture
a procession of rats running over her as she slept, on their way to the
hen houses.

She got gingerly to her feet, straining her eyes to see the moving
object. What could it be? Something brushed past her, close to her
face. Instantly Winnie's horror of bats came to the girl's nervous
mind.

"If the screen door is unlocked, I'm going in," whispered Rosemary,
gathering her kimono tightly about her. "Sarah may like animals but I
don't."

She started as the mournful cry of a hoot owl sounded in the
distance--and then something cold and wet touched her hand! With one
bound Rosemary cleared the quilt and ran like a deer across the grass.
The shadowy object she had seen came toward her, moving slowly.
Rosemary dodged, tripped on her kimono and fell.

She was up again in a moment and running again, her breath coming in
little sobbing gasps. Jack Welles had once said that she did not
"happen to be the screaming kind of girl" and though terrified now she
made no outcry. She gained the porch step, tugged frantically at the
screen door and felt it open in her grasp. She pitched forward,
striking her knee against a chair and felt herself caught in a strong,
firm clasp. For a moment she struggled furiously and silently and then
realization came to her.

"Oh, Hugh!" she cried. "Hugh! There's something out there!"

CHAPTER X

AN EVENTFUL DAY

Doctor Hugh snapped on the porch lamp, carefully turning the shade to
shield Rosemary's eyes from the sudden light. He was fully dressed and
had evidently been dozing in the swing.

"Hush--don't wake Mother!" he said warningly. "What frightened you,
dear?"

Rosemary's face was quite white and her wide, startled eyes gave
eloquent testimony that she had been alarmed.

"Something wet touched me--wet and cold," she whispered. "And there
was something else moving around, too. I ran as fast as I could."

"Some of the farm animals out for a stroll," said Doctor Hugh with a
quiet assurance that his sister found most comforting. "What do you
say to going to bed now, dear, and investigating in the morning?"

"Oh, yes," agreed Rosemary. "Is it nearly morning, Hugh?"