so startled the two girls and Tom Cameron--it was far too shrill.

"There's somebody in that tree!" yelled Tom.

And then the forefront of the bull collided with the rotten old
stump. Taurus smashed against it with the force of a pile-driver--
three-quarters of a ton of solid flesh and bone, going at the speed
of a fast train, carries some weight. It seemed as though a live tree
could scarcely have stood upright against that charge, let alone this
rotten stump.

Crash!

The rotten roots gave way. They were torn out of the frozen ground,
the stump toppled over, and, carrying a great ball of earth with it,
plunged down the bank of the creek.

Tom had clutched the girls by their hands again and the three were
running along the narrow shore under shelter of the bank. The bull no
longer saw them. Indeed, the shock had thrown him to the ground, and
when he scrambled up, he ran off, bellowing and tossing his head, in
an entirely different direction.

But the uprooted stump went splash! into the icy waters of the
creek, and as it plunged beneath the surface--all but its roots--the
trio of frightened friends heard that eyrie cry again.

"It's from the hollow trunk! I tell you, some body's in there!"
declared Tom.