d at
his window, in the night, saying, softly, 'Is anyone here?' and when he
looked out, two men were seen to run down the road.

"We lived just out of town, in a lonely place; the house was old, with
convenient little back windows, and five outside doors. Jack was the
only man about the place, and he was barely thirteen. Mother and aunt
were very timid, and the children weren't old enough to be of any
use, so Jack and I were the home-guard, and vowed to defend the family
manfully."

"Good for you! Hope the fellows came!" cried Tom, charmed with this
opening.

"One day, an ill-looking man came in and asked for food," continued
grandma, with a mysterious nod; "and while he ate, I saw him glance
sharply about from the wooden buttons on the back-doors, to the silver
urn and tankards on the dining-room sideboard. A strong suspicion took
possession of me, and I watched him as a cat does a mouse.

"'He came to examine the premises, I 'm sure of it, but we will be ready
for him,' I said, fiercely, as I told the family about him.

"This fancy haunted us all, and our preparations were very funny. Mother
borrowed a rattle, and kept it under her pillow. Aunt took a big bell
to bed with her; the children had little Tip, the terrier, to sleep in
their room; while Jack and I mounted guard, he with the pistol, and I
with a hatchet, for I did n't like fire-arms. Biddy, who slept in the
attic, practised getting out on the shed roof, so that she might run
away at the first alarm. Every night we arranged pit-falls for the
robbers, and all filed up to bed, bearing plate, money, weapons, and
things to barricade with, as if we lived in war times.

"We waited a week and no one came, so we began to feel rather slighted,
for other people got 'a scare,' as Tom says, and after all our
preparations we really felt a trifle disappointed that we had had no
chance to show our courage. At last a black mark was found upon our
door, and a great panic ensued, for we felt that now our time had come.

"That night we put a tub of water at the bottom of the back-stairs, and
a pile of tin pans at the top of the front stairs, so that any attempt
to come up would produce a splash or a rattle. Bells were hung on door
handles, sticks of wood piled up in dark corners for robbers to fall
over, and the family retired, all armed and all provided with lamps and
matches.

"Jack and I left our doors open, and kept asking one another if we did
n't hear something