"You dragged them there in your sleep, of course," retorted Aunt Charlotte triumphantly. "I see the whole thing now. You had a dream, you kicked the clothes off in your sleep, and then you got out of bed, still in your sleep----" "I didn't do anything of the sort," interrupted Austin. "I was wide awake the whole time. You see, auntie, I was here and you weren't, so I ought to know something about it." "It's no use arguing with you," replied Aunt Charlotte, loftily. "It's a clear case of sleep-walking--as clear as any case I ever heard of. And then all that nonsense about raps! Of course, if you heard anything at all--which I only half believe--it was something beginning to give way in the roof. There! It only requires a little common-sense, you see, to explain the whole affair. And now, my dear----" "Hush!" whispered Austin suddenly. "What's the matter?" exclaimed Aunt Charlotte, not liking to be interrupted. "Listen!" said Austin, under his breath. A torrent of raps burst out in the wall immediately behind him, plainly audible in the silence. Then they stopped, as suddenly as they had begun. "Did you hear them?" said Austin. "Those were the raps I told you of. Hark! There they are again. I wish they would sound a little louder." A distinct increase in the sound was noticeable. "Oh, isn't it perfectly wonderful? Now, what have you to say?" Aunt Charlotte stood agape. It was no use pretending she didn't hear them. They were as unmistakable as knocks at a front door. "What jugglery is this?" she demanded, in an angry tone. "Really, dear auntie, I am not a conjurer," replied Austin, as he sank back upon his cushions. "That was what I heard last night. But of course _you_ don't believe in such absurdities. It's only your fancy after all, you know." "'Tain't _my_ fancy, anyhow," put in old Martha, speaking for the first time. "I heard 'em plain enough. 'Tis the 'good people,' for sure." "Hold your tongue, do!" cried Aunt Charlotte in sore perplexity. "Good people, indeed!--the devil himself, more likely. I tell you what it is, Austin----" "Why, I thought you weren't superstitious!" observed Austin, in a tone of most exasperating surprise. Three gentle knocks, running off into a ripple of pattering explosions, were then heard in a farther corner of the room. "There, don't you hear them laughing at you? Thank you, dear people, whoever you are, that was very kind. And it was awfully sweet of you to save me from those bricks last night. It _was_ good of them, wasn't it, auntie dear?"