Avon Fantasy Reader No. 12 — page 114: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

was dreadful near this night; and on the top of the start 1 got with hearing it, I got another fright; for I heard something rustling outside in the passage. Now to be sure I thought I was done; but I noticed the dog scemed to perk up a bit, and next there was someone whispered outside the door, and [ very near laughed out loud, for I knew it was my father and mother that had got out of bed with the noise. ‘What- ever is il?’ says my mother. ‘Hush! I don’t know,’ says my father, ex- cited-like, ‘don’t disturb the boy. I hope he didn’t hear nothing,’ “So, me knowing they were just outside, it made me bolder, and I slipped out of bed across to my little window—giving on the Close— but the dog he bored right down to the bottom of the bed—and I looked out. Tirst go off [couldn't see anything. Then right down in the shadow under a buttress I made out what I shall always say was two spots of red—a dull red it was- nothing like a lamp or a fire, but just so as you could pick ‘em out of the black shadow. I hadn’t but st sighted ’em when it seemed we wasn’t the only people that had peen disturbed, because I see a window in a house on the left-hand side become lighted up, and the light moving, I just turned iny head to make sure of it, and then looked back into the shadow for those two red things, and they were gone, and for all L pecred about and stared, there was not a sign more of them. Then come my last fright that night—something come against my bare leg—but that was all right: that was iny little dog had come out of bed, and prancing about mak- ing a great to-do, only holding his tongue, and me seeing he was quite in spirits again, [ fool him back to bed and we slept the night out! “Next morning I made out to tell my mother rd had the dog in my room, and I.was surprised, after all she’d said about it before, how quiet she took it. ‘Did you? she says. ‘Well, by good rights you ought to go without your breakfast for doing such a thing behind my back: but I don’t know as there’s any great harm done, only another time you ask my permission, do you hear?’ A bit after that I said something to my father about having heard the cats again, ‘Cats?’ he says; an he Jooked over at my poor mother, and she coughed and he says, ‘Oh! ah! yes, cats. I believe I heard ‘em myself,’ “That was a funny morning altogether: nothing seemed to go right. The organist he stopped in bed, and the minor Canon he forgot it was the 19th day and waited for the Venite; and after a bit the deputy he set off playing the chant for evensong, which was a minor; and then the Decani boys were laughing so much they couldn't sing, and when it carue to the anthem the solo boy he got took with the giggles, and made out his nose was bleeding, and shoved the book at me what hadi t practised the verse and wasn’t much of a singer if T had known it. Well, things was rougher, you see, fifty years ago, and I got a nip from the counter-tenor behind me that [ remembered, “So we got through somehow, and neither the men nor the boys 112 comicbooks.com