“Who’s there?” demanded Mr. Bobbsey, in a whisper, for he did not want to awaken Nan and Bert, who were still sleeping.
There was no answer, so he turned on the bright headlights of the car. As he did so there was a scurrying in the underbrush, and in the powerful gleam of the lamps he saw a small animal scurrying away amid the trees.
“A fox or a stray dog,” decided Mr. Bobbsey. “It must have knocked against the wheel and jarred me awake. It’s just as well the children don’t know it.”
He turned off the lights and again composed himself to sleep. He was dreaming that he was trying to catch the big frog in the spring of the queer woman when, through his dream, he seemed to hear a voice saying:
“Daddy! Daddy, wake up! I hear a noise!”
Mr. Bobbsey sat up with a start, to find Nan leaning over the back of the front seat and gently shaking him by the shoulder.
“Eh? What’s the matter?” murmured Mr. Bobbsey, sleepily.
“I—I heard a noise!” whispered Nan. “Listen!”
Faintly, through the darkness of the night, came a crackling sound, as though some large animal was approaching the car.