dare unlock
the front door, for grandpa's room was just across the hall, and grandpa
always slept with one eye open. He crept through the kitchen, and found
himself in the shed. Was ever anything more fortunate? The outer door
was open.

[Illustration: "_He opened the door softly, and went down stairs_."]

He took his hat from the nail, and just then a plaintive "mew" greeted
his ear.

"Hush! Be still, Cuff," said he, in a whisper.

But Cuff wouldn't be still. She was very glad to see him, and was
determined to tell him so.

"Mew, me-aw," called Billy, the mocking-bird, from his cage above.

"Dear me," thought Bert, "they'll wake father up as sure as the world."

But it was not unusual for Billy to sing in the night. Indeed, his
midnight music was sometimes overpowering. Bert stood very still for a
moment, but could hear no one stirring. He walked on a few steps, Cuff
purring loudly, and rubbing her soft gray sides against him.

[Illustration: _The Cat_]

"Bow, wow, wow, wow," barked the faithful watch-dog.

"Be quiet, Prince. Stop your noise!"

Prince knew his young master's voice, and, like Cuff, was delighted to
be near him, and so gave expression to his feelings in a succession of
loud quick barks.

[Illustration: _"Me-aw," called Billy_.]

"Hadn't you better go down, John?" asked Bert's mother, anxiously. "I'm
afraid some one is trying to get in."

"They can't get farther than the shed," was the careless reply. "I left
that open."

In a few moments all was quiet again. Prince lay down at Bert's feet,
and Cuff stretched herself out beside him. Time was passing. The boys
would surely be there before him. Very carefully he crept toward the
door, hardly daring to breathe, in his anxiety.

[Illustration: "_Bow, wow, wow_."]

But Prince had not been asleep. No, indeed! Restarted up at the first
sound of his master's footsteps. It was very evident that something
unusual was going on, and he was determined to be "in it."

"I must run as fast as I can," said Bert to himself. "Hit or miss,
there's nothing else for me to do."

He was preparing to suit the action to the word, when Snow, the old
family horse, who for a few days past had been allowed to wander about
among the clover fields, put her white nose just inside the door and
gave a loud and fiercely prolonged neigh.

"What next!" muttered Bert, between his teeth. "I shall expect to see
some of the cows soon. I don't care if all the animals on