She was interrupted by a shriek, long and blood-curdling. The girls clung together, and Gus rushed out after Dan, fearing something terrible had occurred. A frightened cry from upstairs was almost a relief from the strain, and the girls fled back to the stairway door to meet Lucy and the little girls, who were huddled there in a great fright.
"What is it?" they asked in a whispered chorus. "Is pa all right?"
Rachel was the only one calm enough to answer.
"Some drunken fellow, likely. Come out by the fire, girls, or you'll take cold. Dan has gone to see about it."
"And Gus," added Babette jealously, finding her voice to defend her lover.
They all crouched together before the fire, Rachel bringing a shawl to wrap around the scantily clad sisters, and the five enlarged upon the event in all its details, as people do whose range of thought is not wide. The morning twilight was gray in the room when a noise outside caught their attention.
"Dan! I know his step," cried Rachel in a joyous tone, springing to open the door.
Lucy and the children fled to shelter behind the stairway door, and remained there to hear without being seen. Dan stumbled in with an exhausted air, and dropped into a chair.
"Hasn't Gus come?" he asked.
"No, where is he?" cried Babette excitedly. "You didn't leave him alone with the thing, did you?"