they went, Peter trembling and clinging to his
mother. Straight into Mrs. Orban's room they all trooped, and of
course, when they got there, there was no one to be seen--not even
Mary turning down the beds.

On they went into the boys' room, and all was peaceful there; for
Peter had been too frightened to yell till he reached the
dining-room, and Sandy had not been roused.

"There, you see," said Mrs. Orban; "what did I tell you? There are
far too many of us in the house now for any one to dare to come."

She went on into the kitchen still holding Peter, and Mary and Kate
certainly did look surprised.

"Master Peter has been having a nightmare," Mrs. Orban explained,
"and I want to reassure him. Were you in my room just now, Mary?"

"No, ma'am," Mary said; "I haven't been there since dinner."

"Oh, well, then, he must have been dreaming," Mrs. Orban said,
still in the same cheery way. "We will just go all through the
house and show him everything is all right, and then I will sit by
him till he gets to sleep again."

Eustace took a lantern, and on they all went right through the
house, very naturally finding no one. Robertson, who was smoking on
the veranda, declared that no one had been up or down the steps
since he had been out, and Mrs. Robertson, who was in her bedroom
lulling the baby to sleep, said no one had been that way either.

After all of which Eustace and Nesta began to breathe freely; but,
to tell the truth, at first they had both been a good deal scared
by Peter's announcement. They guessed their mother was just making
all this show of bravery for Peter's and their sakes, for another
visit from the thief was not at all unlikely.

But when Robertson laughed at the notion of any one having been
able to pass him unseen where he stood near the veranda steps, when
every nook and cranny had been looked into and no one was
forthcoming to prove Peter's tale, every one was certain he had had
a bad dream.

"You are a little silly," Nesta said bracingly. "Of course there
are always noises in the house."

"But this was a big noise," Peter objected; "something banged."

"Why didn't you say that before?" said Eustace with superiority;
then added, out of the vastness of his recent experience, "Nobody
ever bangs when they want to rob a house; they try to be as silent
as mice."

"Besides," said Nesta, "there is nothing for any one to steal now,
since we keep all our things hidden away."

This was a rul