Every one of the boys trudged up the steps, but found the loft empty. As soon as they were out of sight in the small room, the girls jumped out of the car and ran madly for the shrubbery which sheltered the kitchen gardens from the lawns. Here, they could creep toward home without being seen from the barns.
Ike looked carefully about the loft but hid a smile when his back was turned.
“There, I told you no one was here!” he said.
“Well, I don’t care, I heard them!” retorted Ned.
“Maybe it was rats!” ventured Ike.
“No, sir, you said that you were never pestered with rats; besides, this noise was just like walking would sound,” insisted Ned.
Ike kept the boys upstairs arguing for a sufficient time to permit the Blue Birds to get out of the way, then he started down.
“Well, I’ll keep the door locked and the key in my room,” promised Ike, as the boys waited for him to lock up.
“If it was a tramp, Ned, he couldn’t move our machinery, so what’s the use bothering?” said Don.
“He could steal our type and other things, and sell them,” grumbled Ned, still unassured.