Boys -- Juvenile fiction; Fantasy fiction; Imaginary places -- Juvenile fiction
"That's better," he said; "I seem to feel easier already."
And off he trudged, peering up at the houses in search of
"In-The-Dark," Bogie Man's Castle. Of course, he couldn't walk very
rapidly, for the candle wavered and flickered, and tried more than
once to go out; but he shaded it with his cap and got along very well
considering.
And at last he stood before a great black shadowy building, dotted
with large windows in all conceivable shapes. Some looked like
cruel sneering mouths, others like the hungry open jaws of ogres;
others like large staring eyes. In fact, each window bore a hideous,
fear-compelling aspect, and all were as dark as a hole in the
ground--all but one, from which a blue and yellow light streamed. And
this was the most hideous window of all, for it did not look like
anything--just a shapeless, nameless, dreadful yellow splotch on the
wall. And over it Billy read these words, "The Window of Fear--look not
lest ye see terror."
"This must be Bogie Man's house," said Billy. "I--I am sure it is
rude to look in at windows, and besides that, ugh! _what_ a hideous
window--I'll try the front door."
At last he found a wide, low, grinning door, and he had just mustered
up the courage to ring the bell, whose handle was the tail of a snake,
when the door opened suddenly and out flew a thin, gaunt, pink flannel
cat with shoe-button eyes and a long, blue worsted tail. Billy tried
to seize this opportunity and enter; but slam went the door in his
face, and off down the road went the cat. And at the same moment two
large flat things, with waving streamer-like arms, lifted themselves up
in front of him and tried to knock his candle out of his hand. Billy
stepped back just in time to save it and stood staring at the quivering
forms. "What are those things, I wonder?" he exclaimed. "Layovers to
catch meddlers," said one of them. "Hands off," said the other, and
then they lay down again on the door-mat.
"Then perhaps you can tell me if this is Bogie Man's house," he said.
"It is--now go away," said one.
"This door is only to go out by--it never opens to let any one in,"
said the other.
Billy thought a minute, and then, hoping he could surprise them into
telling him some way of getting in, said, "Then how is that cat ever to
get in again?"
"It never will," said the first Layover; "that is Scaredy Cat, and she
will never come back."
"What was she running away from?" asked Billy.
"Her tail."
"Her tail?"
"Yes--it is a frightful yarn. Now, go away; I'm through talking."
Billy tried to secure an answer to several more questions, but never a
word could he get out of them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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