“Do you, Sweetman?”
The man’s answer came in a hoarse whisper. “I think it was a heart beating.”
Joe’s throat was a cramped vice. The flashlight shook in his hand and made fantastic splotches of light upon the floor.
“Upstairs,” Mr. Sweetman croaked.
They heard the sound of footsteps on the floor above. A child’s footsteps. Footsteps that ran and skipped lightly and gayly. Suddenly the sound was gone from above and in the same room in which they stood the same footsteps gamboled. Joe made a frantic circle of the room with the flash.
“See!” the farmer choked. “Nothing!”
A new sound joined the footfalls. Joe recognized it, and his scalp prickled. The beat of a heart! It throbbed momentarily and was gone. The unseen child continued to romp.
Dr. Stone’s voice, low and clear, came out of the darkness. “Lady!”
Joe’s light focused on the dog. Lady, her tail whipping restlessly, had eyes only for the blind master who had spoken.
“Find the baby,” Dr. Stone said.