It was a box one end of which was open. Before Janet had time to wonder what such a big box was doing out there in the woods, and before she could stop herself, she had run right into it, through the opening.
“I wonder what this is?” thought the little girl. “It has such a funny smell—like wild animals in the circus!”
There was a clicking sound and the big box, which Janet was now inside of, began to tremble. Then came a jar and a thud, and it suddenly grew dark.
“Oh!” gasped Janet.
She whirled about, but too late!
Behind her, the opening was closed. The sliding end of the box trap—for such it was—had dropped into place, falling shut, and making poor Janet a prisoner.
“Oh, I’m in a trap!” she cried. “In a wild animal trap! How am I ever going to get out?”
CHAPTER XV
THE BOX COMES BACK
Janet Martin was frightened—very much so, though not so much but what she kept her wits about her and looked around the strange prison in which she found herself.
At first, when the sliding door in the end of the box trap had fallen, closing the only way out, it had been very dark. But in a few moments Jan was able to look about her, and she noticed that near the top of the box there were openings which let in light and air. The openings were merely holes, not large enough for a cat or dog to get through, to say nothing of a girl like Janet.