nd
that made her start and tremble. Some one was coming softly up the back
stairs. All the outer doors were locked, she was sure; all the boys lay
in their places, for she could see and count the three long figures and
little Gus in a bunch on the sofa. The girls had not stirred, and this
was no rat's scamper, but a slow and careful tread, stealing nearer and
nearer to the study door, left ajar when the last load of wood was
brought in.

"Pat would knock or ring, and papa would speak, so that we might not be
scared. I want to scream, but I won't till I see that it really is some
one," thought Gwen, while her heart beat fast and her eyes were fixed on
the door, straining to see through the gloom.

The steps drew nearer, paused on the threshold, and then a head appeared
as the door noiselessly swung wider open. A man's head in a fur cap, but
it was neither papa nor Pat nor Uncle Ed. Poor Gwen would have called
out then, but her voice was gone, and she could only lie back, looking,
mute and motionless. A tiny spire of flame sprung up and flickered for a
moment on the tall dark figure in the doorway, a big man with a beard,
and in his hand something that glittered. Was it a pistol or a dagger or
a dark lantern? thought the girl, as the glimmer died away, and the
shadows returned to terrify her.

The man seemed to look about him keenly for a moment, then vanished, and
the steps went down the hall to the front door, which was opened from
within and some one admitted quietly. Whispers were heard, and then feet
approached again, accompanied by a gleam of light.

"Now I must scream!" thought Gwen; and scream she did with all her
might, as two men entered, one carrying a lantern, the other a bright
tin can.

"Boys! Robbers! Fire! Tramps! Oh, do wake up!" cried Gwen, frantically
pulling Mark by the hair, and Bob and Tony by the legs, as the quickest
way of rousing them.

Then there was a scene! The boys sprung up and rubbed their eyes, the
girls hid theirs and began to shriek, while the burglars laughed aloud,
and poor Gwen, quite worn out, fainted away on the rug. It was all over
in a minute, however; for Mark had his wits about him, and his first
glance at the man with the lantern allayed his fears.

"Hullo, Uncle Ed! We are all right. Got tired of waiting for you, so we
went to sleep."

"Stop screaming, girls, and quiet those children! Poor little Gwen is
badly frightened. Get some snow, Tom, while I pick her up," com