“No, I do not believe it will. There is too much valuable hay here. The owner undoubtedly has seen to it that the roof is sound. Are you going to try to sleep?”
“Yes.”
Harriet lay down, but she did not sleep. The memory of the old woman and the two men over in the other mow, banished all thought of sleep from her mind. She did not know whether the woman knew the men were there or not. Perhaps they might belong to the same party. However, there had been no conversation between them and while the two men were near the outer edge of the mow, the woman was at the far end of the barn as nearly as Harriet was able to determine.
Soon after that, rain drops began to patter on the barn roof. Then it began to rain heavily. Harriet nestled deeper into the blanket and lay listening. There was no sound from their neighbors on the other side.
At last the listening girl closed her eyes. No sooner had she done so than she opened them again. A flash of lightning, more brilliant than any she had yet seen, was playing along the rafters of the barn. The thunder followed the flash just as Harriet threw an arm over her eyes to shut out the light. It was not a particularly heavy clap of thunder, just a quick, sharp report. Above the report a shrill scream of terror rang out. Then all was silent.
Instantly every one of the Meadow-Brook Girls sat up wide awake.
“What—what is it?” cried Margery.
“Girls! Girls! are you all right?” called the guardian.
“Oh, what ith it? Did the barn fall down?” wailed Tommy in great alarm.
“What has happened?” questioned Hazel Holland excitedly.