the floor, and approached the open pipe-hole.

"Here's for stirring up Mr. Ghost," she said, in a much braver tone than
she secretly felt.

She always felt her responsibility with Helen. The latter was of a
nervous, imaginary temperament, and it was never well for her to get
herself worked up in this way.

"Oh, Ruth! Don't! Suppose it bites you!" gasped Helen.

At that Ruth _did_ laugh. "Whoever heard of a ghost with teeth?" she
demanded, and instantly thrust the stick into the gaping hole.

There was a stir--a flutter--a squeaking--and out flopped a brown object
about the size of a mouse. Helen shrieked again, and even Ruth darted
back.

"A mouse!" cried Helen.

"Right--_a flittermouse_!" agreed Ruth, suddenly bursting into a laugh.
"The chimney's full of them."

"Oh, let's get out!"

"In this rain?" and Ruth pointed to the window, where now the drops were
falling, big and fast--the vanguard of the storm.

"But if a bat gets into your hair!" moaned Helen, rocking herself on her
knees.

Ruth opened the big hamper, seized a newspaper, and swooped down upon
the blind, fluttering brown bat. Seizing it as she would a spider, she
ran to the window and flung it out, just as the water burst into the
room in a flood.

Then she ran to the pipe-hole and thrust the paper into it, making a
"stopper" which would not easily fall out. She dragged Helen to the
other side of the room, where the floor was dry and they were out of the
draught.

There the two girls cowered for some moments, hugged close together,
Helen hiding her eyes from the intermittent lightning against Ruth's
jacket. The thunder roared overhead, and the rain dashed down in
torrents. For ten minutes it was as hard a storm as the girl of the Red
Mill ever remembered seeing. Such tempests in the hills are not
infrequent.

When the thunder began to roll away into the distance, and the lightning
was less brilliant, the girls could take some notice of what else went
on. The fierce drumming of the rain continued, but there seemed to be a
noise in the lower part of the building.

"Tom has come in," said Helen, with satisfaction.

"He must have gotten awfully wet, then, getting here from that shed,"
Ruth returned. "Hush!"

Somebody sneezed heavily. Helen opened her mouth to cry out, but Ruth
put her palm upon her lips, effectually smothing the cry.

"Sh!" the girl of the Red Mill admonished. "Let him find us."

"Oh! that will be fun," agreed Helen.