It made quite a striking picture,—the tall, solemn clock in the far corner of the room, the Judge and the baby on his arm, and the wife holding Ruth by the hand, standing in front of it; then the throng of alert and wondering children bringing up in the rear, for they all felt that something out of the ordinary was about to happen. In fact, the whole visit of these former inhabitants of the house was rather unusual, so that the children would naturally expect fresh marvels at any moment. It was clear that Mrs. "Judge" was getting tired; nobody had offered her a chair, and she had refused to get on a bicycle.
Suddenly the door of the clock swung open.
"I think you had better rest, my dear," said the Judge; "we'll step in here."
And as he made the remark he put his foot into the clock and gave a lively spring, filling the small doorway.
"Oh, please don't take the baby away!" screamed Ruth, as she saw them both disappearing. "Who'll nurse him? And mamma'll feel so bad."
But it was all done so quickly that Ruth never finished her speech, for the Judge still held his wife's hand and helped her into the clock; then as Ruth held all the faster to the lady's hand, she was caught up too, they all went into the clock and the door shut upon them.
The other children were struck dumb with amazement.
"I always thought it looked like a coffin," exclaimed Samuel; "but I never expected to see four people buried alive in it."
"I've wanted to hide in it a hundred times," said Helen, "but I never supposed"—