Page:The House Without Windows.djvu/32

24 supper and went to bed early, and about one o'clock they got up and went out into the great field with a hooded lantern. They circled around it; and at last they found Eepersip hidden in the bushes on the farther edge. Very gently all six laid hands upon her at once.

"Ah, we've captured her!" they cried triumphantly. "Our labours have been rewarded!"

But Eepersip, finding herself caught, became angry, and cried in a loud, commanding voice: "Put me down! Drop me immediately!" She added quietly to herself: "Now it’s all over."

Then she began to struggle very violently indeed. They had hold of her securely, and so her struggles were in vain. But just as they carried her past a sleeping doe which had no fawn, she uttered a shrill, wild cry; and this so startled the six that they almost dropped her. The doe woke up; and though she was afraid for herself, she was more afraid for Eepersip. She came galloping after them.

To see the doe galloping swiftly toward them naturally startled old Mrs. Ikkisfield, who supposed that all wild animals would flee at the sight of a human being. That was so generally--but not when Eepersip was in danger! Now, Mrs. Ikkisfield had hold of the most important part of