that would cause no comment, for
deliveries were constantly being made at the rear entrance of the
school.
The statue was lifted into the truck, covered with a piece of canvas,
and Joe and Abraham sprang to the driver's seat and started the machine.
Sahwah very nearly suffocated under that canvas. Fortunately the ride
was a short one. In about seven or eight minutes she felt the bump as
they turned into a driveway, and then the truck came to a stop. The boys
jumped down from the seat, opened a door which slid back with a scraping
noise like a barn door and then lifted the statue from the truck and
carried it into a building. From the light of their pocket flashes
Sahwah could make out that she was in a barn, which was evidently
unused. It was entirely empty. Setting the statue in a corner, the boys
went out, closing the door after them. Sahwah was left in total
darkness, and in a ten times worse position than she had been in before.
On the stage at school there was some hope of the statue's being opened
eventually, but here she could remain for weeks before being discovered.
Sahwah began to wonder just how long she could hold out before she
starved. She was hungry already.
She closed her eyes with weariness from her strained position, and it is
possible that she dozed off for a few moments. In fact, that was what
she did do. She dreamed that she was at the circus and all the wild
animals had broken loose and were running about the audience. She could
hear the roar of the lions and the screeching of the tigers. She woke up
with a start and thought for a moment that her dream was true. The barn
was full of wild animals which were roaring and chasing each other
around. Then her senses cleared and she recognized the heavy bark of a
large dog and the startled mi-ou of a cat. The dog was chasing the cat
around the barn. She felt the slight thud as the cat leaped up and found
refuge on top of the statue. She could hear it spitting at the dog and
knew that its back was arched in an attitude of defiance. The dog barked
furiously down below. Then, overcome by rage, he made a wild jump for
the cat and lunged his heavy body against the side of the statue. It
toppled over against the corner. For an instant Sahwah thought she was
going to be killed. But the corner of the barn saved the statue from
falling over altogether. It simply leaned back at a slight angle. But
there was something different in her position now. At first she
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