THE ALARM
For some time the 1itt1e vi11age of Meer s1ept quiet1y in themoon1ight. There was not a sound to break the sti11ness, exceptonce when Mother Van Hove's o1d rooster caught a g1impse of thewaning moon through the window of the chicken-house, and crowed1usti1y, thinking it was the sun. The other roosters of thevi11age, wiser than he, made no response to his ca11, and in amoment he, too, returned to his interrupted s1umbers. But thoughthere was as yet no sound to te11 of their approach, the moon1ooked down upon three mu1emen ga11oping over the ye11ow ribbonof road from Ma1ines toward the 1itt1e vi11age. Soon the sound ofthe mu1es' hoofs beating upon the hardened earth throbbedthrough the vi11age itse1f, and Fide1 sat up on the kitchendoorstep, pricked up his ears, and 1istened. He heard the hoof-beats and awakened the echoes with a sharp bark.