The back door was open and from the little covered porch they had a glimpse of a very clean and tidy kitchen. Chub knocked. There was no answer. “All out, it seems,” he muttered. He knocked again and then raised his voice. “Any one at home?” he asked. There was. A big, rough-coated yellow dog bounded across the yard, the hair along his back bristling unpleasantly. His onslaught was so sudden and fierce that Dick, who saw him first, was the first one inside the door. But Chub and Roy were tied for second place, and the dog--well, the dog would have made a good third if Roy hadn’t had the presence of mind to slam the door a few inches in front of his nose. “I say!” gasped Chub. “Did you see him? Isn’t he an ugly brute?” “He certainly is,” agreed Dick, with an uneasy laugh. “Hear him, will you?” The dog was growling savagely and sniffing along the bottom of the door. “Nice doggie,” called Chub, soothingly. “Nice doggie! Go away, Rover!” “Try ‘Prince,’” Roy suggested. “Try it yourself! I wonder if there’s any one in here. You fellows look after the door and I’ll go and see.” Chub walked through the kitchen into a little narrow entry and called loudly. But there was no answer. He returned to the others. “Still there?” he asked, in a whisper. “I don’t know,” muttered Roy. “I don’t hear anything. Maybe he’s gone. Can you see from the window?” Chub walked over to the nearest casement and looked out. “He’s lying on the porch with his nose about half an inch from the door,” he reported, disgustedly. “He’s a Saint Bernard, I guess.” “I don’t care what he is,” said Roy. “He’s a nuisance. What shall we do?” “Put your head out of the window and yell,” suggested Dick. “They’re probably in the barn.” “All right, but not that window,” Chub answered. He went to the farther side of the kitchen, raised the window there and yelled loudly. “Hello! You in the barn! Call off your dog! Hello! Hello!” But the dog started such a barking that Chub’s efforts were quite wasted. “I suppose we’ll just have to make ourselves comfortable and wait for Mr. Farmer to come back,” he said, closing the window again. “I tell you what,” said Dick, in a hoarse whisper. “We’ll get out the front door. If we close it quietly he won’t hear us.” They looked at each other doubtfully. The plan didn’t seem to awaken much enthusiasm. “That’s all right,” said Roy, “but if he did hear us--” “I don’t believe he’d actually attack us,” said Dick. “It didn’t look like it, did it?” asked Chub, sarcastically. “Oh, no, he’s a nice little playful pet, he is.” “Well, we can’t stay here all night,” said Dick. “And for all we know there may not be anybody in the barn.” “Of course there is! Do you think they’d go away and leave the back of the house all open like this?”