“It sounded like something rapping on the floor!” said John, with wide eyes.
“Oh, I hear sounds like that quite often,” said Mary carelessly. “At first it frightened me, but I have got used to it. I suppose it must be a rat in the cellar.”
“Yes, I dare say it is a rat,” said her father. “Old houses like this have strange noises, often. But I have never seen any rats.”
“It sounded too big for a rat,” declared John. “Aren’t you afraid, Mary?”
“No,” declared Mary; “I’m not afraid, whether it’s a rat or not. Some way, I think I couldn’t be afraid in this room.”
“I thought girls were always afraid of rats,” murmured John.
CHAPTER VII
CALIBAN
WITH rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes Mary returned from a walk with Katy Summers. It had been pleasant but uneventful. Just as she turned in at the little dooryard of home, she thought she spied a black Something dart like a shadow across the little strip of green beside the house.
“It looks like a cat,” said Mary to herself. “I will see where it went to.” She followed to the end of the house, where the shape had seemed to disappear. There was nothing to be seen. She went around the ell, and back to the front of the house again. Still there was no trace of the little shadow that had streaked into invisibility.
“If it was not my imagination, it must have gone under the house,” said Mary to herself. “Two or three times I have thought I spied a black blur in the act of disappearing; and I believe we are haunted by something on four legs. I will ask the family.”