'
And the carpet and cow vanished together, and the boys went to bed,
tired out and only too thankful that the evening at last was over.
Next morning the carpet lay calmly in its place, but one corner was
very badly torn. It was the corner that the cow had been tied on
to.
CHAPTER 9
THE BURGLAR'S BRIDE
The morning after the adventure of the Persian cats, the musk-rats,
the common cow, and the uncommon burglar, all the children slept
till it was ten o'clock; and then it was only Cyril who woke; but
he attended to the others, so that by half past ten every one was
ready to help to get breakfast. It was shivery cold, and there was
but little in the house that was really worth eating.
Robert had arranged a thoughtful little surprise for the absent
servants. He had made a neat and delightful booby trap over the
kitchen door, and as soon as they heard the front door click open
and knew the servants had come back, all four children hid in the
cupboard under the stairs and listened with delight to the
entrance--the tumble, the splash, the scuffle, and the remarks of
the servants. They heard the cook say it was a judgement on them
for leaving the place to itself; she seemed to think that a booby
trap was a kind of plant that was quite likely to grow, all by
itself, in a dwelling that was left shut up.
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