re. You imagined it."

"No, no, no!" wailed Laura. "I _heard_ him: he gave a kind of
dreadful grunt."

"Are you sure?"

"_Sure_? He wriggled--oh! I could _feel_ him!"

Cora seized a box of matches again. "I'm going to find out." "Oh,
no, no!" protested Laura, cowering.

"Yes, I am. If there's a burglar in the house I'm going to find
him!"

"We mustn't wake papa."

"No, nor mamma either. You stay here if you want to----"

"Let's call Hedrick," suggested the pallid Laura; "or put our
heads out of the window and scream for----"

Cora laughed; she was not in the least frightened. "That wouldn't
wake papa, of course! If we had a telephone I'd send for the
police; but we haven't. I'm going to see if there's any one there.
A burglar's a man, I guess, and I can't imagine myself being
afraid of any _man_!"

Laura clung to her, but Cora shook her off and went through the
hall undaunted, Laura faltering behind her. Cora lighted matches
with a perfectly steady hand; she hesitated on the threshold of
Laura's room no more than a moment, then lit the lamp.

Laura stifled a shriek at sight of the bed. "Look, look!" she
gasped.

"There's no one under it now, that's certain," said Cora, and
boldly lifted a corner of it. "Why, it's been cut all to pieces
from underneath! You're right; there was some one here. It's
practically dismembered. Don't you remember my telling you how it
sagged? And I was only sitting on the edge of it! The slats have
all been moved out of place, and as for the mattress, it's just a
mess of springs and that stuffing stuff. He must have thought the
silver was hidden there."

"Oh, oh, oh!" moaned Laura. "He _wriggled_----ugh!"

Cora picked up the lamp. "Well, we've got to go over the
house----"

"No, no!"

"Hush! I'll go alone then."

"You _can't_."

"I will, though!"

The two girls had changed places in this emergency. In her fright
Laura was dependent, clinging: actual contact with the intruder
had unnerved her. It took all her will to accompany her sister
upon the tour of inspection, and throughout she cowered behind the
dauntless Cora. It was the first time in their lives that their
positions had been reversed. From the days of Cora's babyhood,
Laura had formed the habit of petting and shielding the little
sister, but now that the possibility became imminent of
confronting an unknown and dangerous man, Laura was so shaken
that, overcome by fear, she let Cora go first. Cora had not