"Time to get up!" called the farmer.
"All right!" responded Bert in a loud tone.
Fortunately Silas Wilson did not think it necessary to come up. Had he done so it would have been embarrassing, for Phineas was sound asleep on the bed. Bert thought it best to rouse him before he went down stairs.
"Are you not afraid some one will come upstairs and find you here?" he asked.
"No; mother never comes up till after she has got breakfast out of the way and the dishes washed."
"I suppose you know best," said Bert doubtfully.
"If necessary I shall tell her who I am."
Bert went below, and sat down at the breakfast table. It was clear from the expression on Mrs. Wilson's face that she had something on her mind.
"Silas," she said solemnly, "something mysterious has happened during the night."
"What is it?" asked the farmer in a tone of surprise.