Fred made,
as he noticed several landmarks that he remembered well.

"Bless you, Fred, for saying that!" cried Colon, "because I'm shivering
as if I'd drop to pieces. What do I see over there on the left right
now?"

"It's the old rookery of a barn!" Fred told him. "Come on, we'll crawl
in, for it's perfectly safe, now that the lightning has gone. By
bunching together under the hay, we'll warm each other, more or less,
while we wait for the rain to stop."

They saw no sign of anyone around, and as their necessity was very great,
the four thinly clad and shivering runners crept under the hay, where
they huddled together as Fred had advised.

CHAPTER XIX

THE BOY IN THE HAYMOW

"This is a whole lot better than out there in the downpour," Colon was
heard to say, after they had been cowering in the hay for a short time,
keeping as close to one another as they could so as to gain additional
warmth.

"I should say it was," acknowledged Sid, "and Bristles here is a regular
toaster in the bargain. He's as snug and warm as a stove. I'd like to
come over and bunk with you, Bristles, some of the coldest winter
nights."

"Any boy ought to be warm that's got a decent amount of flesh on him!"
declared the one in question; "now, here's Colon who's so thin he hardly
throws a shadow at noon; you couldn't expect him to do anything but
shake."

"I'd hate to try to sleep in this old place nights," observed Colon, who
had been thinking of other things, it seemed, than warmth. "Chances are
she's plum full of rats and mice. If you listen real hard, you'll hear
'em carrying on right now, squealin' and squawkin' like."

Accordingly all of them now turned their attention to listening, this
avowal on the part of Colon having aroused their curiosity.

"There!" cried the tall boy triumphantly, "didn't you get it that time;
and wasn't that a plain rat gurgle, though? They c'n make the queerest
noises, seems like, when they want to."

Fred started to move.

"That was no rat, boys," he remarked, in a tone of conviction.

"Wasn't, eh?" exclaimed Colon; "then what'd you call it, Fred?"

"A groan!" replied the other, immediately, at which the others began to
sit up, and in various ways denote newly aroused interest.

"A groan, Fred!" echoed Sid.

"Do you mean a human groan?" demanded Bristles.

"There it is again," Fred told them; "if you pay attention, you'll soon
say what I do---that it is a human groan."

"