At this, the girl slowly and warily approached nearer, evidently having located the sound in the tree, but still unable to distinguish what manner of being had emitted it and being urged on by something between curiosity and fear. Presently she reached a point very near at hand, where her eyes glimpsed a view of that particular portion of the tree which served as a precarious perch for the man in the pajamas. As she saw him, at first her eyes rounded in astonishment, and then her head went up to a pose of lofty indignation. "What are you doing there?" she demanded.
"Holding on," said Dick meekly, finding no words at hand to explain his equivocal position.
The girl's eyes flashed. "How dare you?" she flamed.
"The alternative," he said solemnly, "is a long way down," and he craned his neck a little in the direction of the valley.
The girl glanced from his position in the tree to the edge of the roof of his house and back again uncomprehendingly. "How did you get there?" she demanded.
"I was shunted, catapulted so to speak, by a runaway bed. It was a case of catch-as-catch-can. This is where I caught."
"Your bed?" repeated the girl, bending forward for another view of the edge of his roof. "Where is it now?"
