Just what it was awakened Freddie the little fellow afterward said he did not know. But several hours after having gone to bed on the hemlock boughs something caused him to open his eyes with a start. At first he could not remember where he was, it was so different from awakening in his comfortable bed at home. But when he saw a faint glow of the fire on the cabin hearth, then he remembered.
“Oh, we’re camping out on the way to Cloverbank,” whispered Freddie to himself. In the other bunks he could hear the gentle breathing of his mother and sisters. Then came again the noise that had startled the little boy into wakefulness.
It was a noise as if some one were moving something in the darkness—moving something there in the cabin. It was not Freddie’s mother nor Nan nor Flossie, for they were lying in their bunks. The little boy could see them by the faint glow of the embers.
Then came the rattle of wood, as if one of the broken boxes was being dragged over the floor.
“Oh, I guess it’s Daddy come in to put more wood on the fire,” thought Freddie, with a sigh of relief. “Is that you, Daddy?” he asked in a loud whisper.
There was no answer, but the noise ceased. And Freddie knew that if it had been his father preparing to put more wood on the fire, he would not have stopped because Freddie spoke.
“No, it can’t be Daddy!” thought the little fellow.
Then he heard the noise again, louder than before. A piece of box was being dragged across the floor, and Freddie could hear the scraping of feet—feet like those of an animal.
Freddie was a small boy, but he knew enough to be sure it could be no large or dangerous animal like a bear or a wolf. No such animals were left in the woods so near towns and villages. But it was something, and what it was Freddie felt he must find out.
“I’ll throw my club on the fire,” he told himself. “That will blaze up and I can see what it is.”