The Meadow Brook Girls Across Country Part 3

To add to the excitement a second man entered the barn at this juncture.

But instead of climbing up after the other man he took the opposite ladder up which the woman had gone a few moments before. The man on the girls' side was rapidly nearing the top. Harriet lay trembling, hoping there would be no more lightning. Suddenly a brilliant flash lighted up the barn from end to end. It revealed the man clinging to the ladder, his head on a level with the top of the mow, glancing over it keenly, searchingly. Harriet's left hand stole toward Miss Elting who lay within easy reach. It was Harriet's intention to awaken her as quietly as possible as soon as the light died away. But ere her hand descended on Miss Elting's arm, something occurred that made this move on Harriet Burrell's part, unnecessary.

CHAPTER II-THE RED EYE IN THE DARK

There was an ominous snapping sound; then the rung of the ladder gave way and the man fell backward to the floor.

"Oh! He has fallen!" gasped Harriet, in dismay, as she scrambled hastily toward the edge of the mow. "He must be seriously injured."

"What ith that noithe?" demanded Grace.

"Sh-h-h!" warned Harriet softly.

Nothing more was heard from Grace for the time being. She had dropped to sleep again. Fortunately none of the others had been awakened by the racket, but Harriet's heart was beating rapidly. She leaned over the edge of the mow. What the next flash of lightning revealed relieved her anxiety somewhat. She saw the man get up and rub his back. She saw, too, that he had fallen on a heap of hay, the latter undoubtedly having saved him from severe injury. A moment later he limped across the floor and began climbing up the ladder on the other side of the barn.

"Thank goodness!" muttered Harriet. "I hope no more of them come in here to-night. I shall scream if they do. I know I shall."

The man threw himself, grumbling, on the hay; silence once more settled over the barn so far as the occupants were concerned. The thunder was now growing louder, the lightning flashes became more frequent. Harriet, however, felt no particular alarm. She was unafraid of thunder storms, and gave no thought to the fact that barns are more frequently struck by lightning than are dwelling houses.

By this time her companions had begun to stir restlessly. Miss Elting sat up.

"Harriet, is that you?" she asked in a low tone.

"Yes."

"What are you doing?"

"Just looking about a little," replied Harriet in a whisper, not deeming it advisable to alarm the guardian by telling her what she had just discovered.

"How long has it been storming?" asked the guardian.

"Only a little while. I do not believe it is going to amount to anything. I hope this old barn doesn't leak."

"No, I do not believe it will. There is too much valuable hay here. The owner undoubtedly has seen to it that the roof is sound. Are you going to try to sleep?"

"Yes."

Harriet lay down, but she did not sleep. The memory of the old woman and the two men over in the other mow, banished all thought of sleep from her mind. She did not know whether the woman knew the men were there or not. Perhaps they might belong to the same party. However, there had been no conversation between them and while the two men were near the outer edge of the mow, the woman was at the far end of the barn as nearly as Harriet was able to determine.

Soon after that, rain drops began to patter on the barn roof. Then it began to rain heavily. Harriet nestled deeper into the blanket and lay listening. There was no sound from their neighbors on the other side.

At last the listening girl closed her eyes. No sooner had she done so than she opened them again. A flash of lightning, more brilliant than any she had yet seen, was playing along the rafters of the barn. The thunder followed the flash just as Harriet threw an arm over her eyes to shut out the light. It was not a particularly heavy clap of thunder, just a quick, sharp report. Above the report a shrill scream of terror rang out. Then all was silent.

Instantly every one of the Meadow-Brook Girls sat up wide awake.

"What-what is it?" cried Margery.

"Girls! Girls! are you all right?" called the guardian.

"Oh, what ith it? Did the barn fall down?" wailed Tommy in great alarm.

"What has happened?" questioned Hazel Holland excitedly.

Harriet did not speak. She was listening to what the others of her party had not noticed, a sudden sound of voices in the other mow, and the hasty clambering down the ladder of the two men she had seen go to the opposite mow. At least she believed it to be the two men. Evidently they had become alarmed, either by the lightning, the scream of the woman, or by the cries of the Meadow-Brook Girls. They ran out of the barn, making no attempt to go quietly. Once on the outside she heard one of them shout.

"I heard thome one!" exclaimed Tommy.

"So did I," agreed Hazel.

"I thought I, too, heard some one cry out," said Miss Elting. "Perhaps it was a night bird fleeing from the storm."

"It was no night bird, Miss Elting," said Harriet in a low tone. "Did you hear that scream? Some one is in trouble. There is a woman on the other side of the mow. What shall we do?"

"A woman?"

"Yes, yes. She climbed up to the mow a long time ago. Oh, look, look!"

A tiny red eye had suddenly appeared at the far end of the hay barn. It appeared to have risen out of the hay at the extreme end of the opposite mow. The girls gazed at it in silence. They did not understand the meaning of the strange dull red spot. Even Harriet was for the moment, puzzled. Then all at once she understood.

"Quick! Get down to the floor! Don't waste a minute! Miss Elting please look after the girls. There's a rung on the ladder broken. Watch that no one falls. I'm going."

"Harriet! Harriet! What do you mean?"

"The woman! I must get her. I may want you to help me. If I call you, come at once. Oh, I must hurry, Miss Elting."

"Thee! That red eye ith getting bigger," cried Tommy.

"It is fire, Miss Elting," whispered Harriet. "The barn is on fire. The last bolt of lightning must have set fire to the hay. Don't tell the girls now, but get them down to the barn floor as quickly as possible.

There is going to be an awful fire."

Harriet bounded toward the ladder.

"Harriet! Don't go. I will go," shouted the guardian.

"I know where she is," cried Harriet, swinging herself to the ladder using care not to lose her footing on the broken rung.

"The broken rung is the fifth one down," she called. Grasping the sides of the ladder she permitted herself to slide all the way to the bottom, wholly unconscious of the fact that the skin was being sc.r.a.ped from the palms of her hands.

Reaching the barn floor the girl dashed across it to the opposite side.

A few precious seconds were lost in groping for the ladder there. She found it, ran up with the speed of a squirrel, then went stumbling and falling across the mow toward the red eye that was now growing into a great red glare.

"Where are you?" she cried, raising her voice to a high pitch.

There was no response from her side. From the other mow came the answer from Margery, who did not understand: "We're here."

The red eye was now lighting up the far end of the mow so that Harriet was able to see much more clearly. Little piles of hay formed deceiving shadows. She ran first to one, then to another, in this way losing precious seconds.