He was now greatly frightened and it was all he could do to keep back
the tears. He knew it must be night and that the great store must be
closed up.

"They have all gone home and left me here alone," he thought. "Oh, what
shall I do?"

He knew the night was generally very long and he did not wish to remain
in the big, lonely building until morning.

Still hugging the kitten, he felt his way around until he reached the
big wooden door. The catch came open with ease, and once more he found
himself in that part of the basement used for hardware and large
mechanical toys. But the toy locomotive had ceased to run and all was
very silent. Only a single gas jet flickered overhead, and this cast
fantastic shadows which made the little boy think of ghosts and
hobgoblins. One mechanical toy had a very large head on it, and this
seemed to grin and laugh at him as he looked at it.

"Mamma!" he screamed again. "Oh, mamma, why don't you come?"

He listened and presently he heard footsteps overhead.

"Who's there?" came in the heavy voice of a man.

The voice sounded so unnatural that Freddie was afraid to answer.
Perhaps the man might be a burglar come to rob the store.

"I say, who's there?" repeated the voice. "Answer me."