His lantern showed him and the stableman the six wanderers rolled up like kittens in a nest. They opened their eyes sleepily, yawning and blinking. One began to snivel, but Willie Raby at once delivered a sharp punch to that one, saying, in grand disgust:
“Baby! Didn’t I tell you they’d come for us? They was sure to—wasn’t they, Dickie?”
“Yep,” responded that youngster, quite as cool about it as his brother.
Tom’s shouts brought the rest of the party in a hurry. Mr. Caslon hauled each “fresh air” out by the collar and stood him on his feet. When he had counted them twice over to make sure, he said:
“Well, sir! of all the young scamps that ever were born—Willie Raby! weren’t you scared?”
“Nope,” declared Willie. “Some of these other kids begun ter snivel when it got dark; but Dickie an’ me would ha’ licked ’em if they’d kep’ that up. Then we found that good place to sleep——”
“But suppose it had been the bed of some animal?” asked Bobbins, chuckling.
“Nope,” said Willie, shaking his head. “There was spider webs all over the hole we went in at, so we knowed nobody had been there much lately. And it was a pretty good place to sleep. Only it was too warm in there at first. I couldn’t get to sleep right away.”
“But you didn’t hear us shouting for you?” queried one of the other searchers.
“Nope. I got to sleep. You see, I thought about bears an’ burglars an’ goblins, an’ all those sort o’ things, an’ that made me shiver, so I went to sleep,” declared the earnest twin.