before they reached home,--just in time for a good hot supper.




CHAPTER V

BERT'S GHOST


Bert felt relieved to learn that Mr. Ringley did not know who had broken
the store window, but he was still fearful that the offense might be
laid at his door. He was afraid to trust Danny Rugg, and did not know
what the big boy might do.

"He may say I did it, just to clear himself," thought Bert. "And if Mr.
Ringley comes after me, he'll remember me sure."

But his anxiety was forgotten that evening, when some of the neighbors
dropped in for a call. There was music on the piano and some singing,
and almost before Bert and Nan knew it, it was time to go to bed.
Freddie and Flossie had already retired, worn out by their play.

But after Bert had said his prayers and found himself alone in the small
bed chamber he occupied, he could not sleep. The talk of the folks
below kept him awake at first, and even after they had gone to bed he
could not forget the happening of the day, and he could still hear the
crash of that glass as the chunk of ice went sailing through it.

At last he fell into a troubled doze, with the bright light of the moon