, till he fell asleep. I was wakeful and lay listening
to the crickets till the clock struck twelve; then I got drowsy, and
was just dropping off when the sound of steps outside woke me up staring
wide awake. Creeping to the window I was in time to see by the dim
moonlight a shadow glide round the corner and disappear. A queer little
thrill went over me, but I resolved to keep quiet till I was sure
something was wrong, for I had given so many false alarms, I did n't
want Jack to laugh at me again. Popping my head out of the door, I
listened, and presently heard a scraping sound near the shed.

"'There they are; but I won't rouse the house till the bell rings or the
pans fall. The rogues can't go far without a clatter of some sort, and
if we could only catch one of them we should get the reward and a deal
of glory,' I said to myself, grasping my hatchet firmly.

"A door closed softly below, and a step came creeping towards the
back-stairs. Sure now of my prey, I was just about to scream 'Jack!'
when something went splash into the tub at the foot of the back-stairs.

"In a minute every one was awake and up, for Jack fired his pistol
before he was half out of bed, and roared 'Fire!' so loud it roused the
house. Mother sprung her rattle, aunt rang her bell, Jip barked like
mad, and we all screamed, while from below came up a regular Irish howl.

"Some one brought a lamp, and we peeped anxiously down, to see our own
stupid Biddy sitting in the tub wringing her hands and wailing dismally.

"'Och, murther, and it 's kilt I am! The saints be about us! how iver
did I come forninst this say iv wather, just crapin in quiet afther
a bit iv sthroll wid Mike Mahoney, me own b'y, that 's to marry me
intirely, come Saint Patrick's day nixt.' We laughed so we could hardly
fish the poor thing up, or listen while she explained that she had
slipped out of her window for a word with Mike, and found it fastened
when she wanted to come back, so she had sat on the roof, trying to
discover the cause of this mysterious barring out, till she was
tired, when she prowled round the house till she found a cellar window
unfastened, after all our care, and got in quite cleverly, she thought;
but the tub was a new arrangement which she knew nothing about; and when
she fell into the 'say,' she was bewildered and could only howl.

"This was not all the damage either, for aunt fainted with the fright,
mother cut her hand with a broken lamp, the childre