But she stopped suddenly: something was coming towards them, as they could sense from the snapping of a twig close by. Not from the road, however, but from the depth of the woods!
CHAPTER VII
“Hands Up!”
The two girls sat rigid with terror, Mary Louise holding tightly to Silky. In the darkness they could see nothing, for the denseness of the trees blotted even the sky from view. The silence of the woods was broken only by a faint rustle in the undergrowth, as something—they didn’t know what—came nearer.
Silky’s ears were alert, his body as tense with watching, and Jane was actually trembling.
“Got your flashlight, Mary Lou?” she whispered.
“Yes, but I’m afraid to put it on till Harry Grant gets away. He might see it from the road.”
The sudden roar of the motor almost drowned out her words. The noise startled whatever it was that was near them, and the girls felt a little animal pass so close that it nearly touched them. They almost laughed out loud at their fear: the cause of their terror was only an innocent little white rabbit!
Mary Louise took a tighter grip upon her dog.
“You mustn’t leave us, Silky! You don’t want that bunny! We need you with us.”
The engine continued to roar; the girls heard the car start, and drive away. Jane uttered a sigh of relief.