Betty lay quiet, watching the fairy-like figures on the wall and listening intently.
What had awakened her?
The night was still; the crow of a cock in the distance proclaimed that the hour of dawn was near at hand.

She waited for Tige's bark under her window, or Sam's voice, or the kicking and trampling of horses in the barn--sounds that usually broke her slumbers in the morning.

But no such noises were forthcoming.

Suddenly she heard a light, quick tap, tap, and then a rattling in the corner.

It was like no sound but that made by a pebble striking the floor, bounding and rolling across the room.
There it was again.