That night Sheila dreamed all the great wheels she had seen in the Everett Works were rolling down the street after her and, though she ran as fast as she could, they advanced more quickly and came nearer and nearer; then they began to roar and to wave arms of hot metal towards her! The nearest reached out and caught at her with fiery fingers and just as she felt them close about her, she wakened!
Paddy was barking furiously, running from her bed to the door and back, as though to implore her to come!
Her fingers clutched at the bedclothes--with terrified eyes she peered into the darkness of the room! It had been a dream--she was safe in her bed!
"Woof! Woof!" growled Paddy.
Sheila crept out of bed, scolding Paddy in whispers, that she might not waken her mother who slept in the next room. Barefooted she stole down the stairs to the kitchen, Paddy leaping on ahead of her. The kitchen was dark; it was a moment or two before Sheila's eyes could make out the familiar objects. Paddy growled and barked again! A sound outside startled Sheila so that she had to clap her hand over her mouth to still a scream! Then she realized it was the lodger going up the outside stairway! Each step creaked under his foot; she heard the door above close and a key turn in the lock!
But Paddy was not satisfied! He did not bark again, for Sheila had soundly rapped his nose, but he ran to the window, and placing his fore-paws on the sill, looked out and whined. Sheila, following him, peeped through the curtains. A light snow had covered the ground in the small backyard; it was still falling. Not an object was visible except the bare lilac bush in the sorrier.
"I s'pose it's a cat--you bad dog!" Sheila muttered crossly. "Come right upstairs, now, and be quiet!" So the two scampered back to Sheila's room and Sheila cuddled down under the bedclothes, pulling them well up over her face. Paddy jumped upon the bed and laid down very close to her feet and, though Sheila knew this was against the Quinn rules, she was grateful for his company and did not drive him away!
In the morning Sheila was not her cheerful self; she helped prepare the breakfast, clear it away and get the three small brothers ready for school in an abstracted manner. Her mother watched her start off herself with an anxious heart.
"Land o' goodness, what's got into my sweetness this morning?" she thought. "Never mind--if it's anything wrong she'll be telling her mother!"
Which was exactly what, at noon-time, Sheila ran all the way home from school to do. Not for a moment longer could she bear the self-reproach and doubt that was tormenting her! And her mother gave her the counsel she expected!