"Come on," invited Alice, humming a tune. Ruth advanced toward her sister, to take a dancing position, when a noise startled the girls. It was the same sort of noise they had heard before, when their father, Mr. Pertell and Sandy had made an unsuccessful attempt to learn the cause of it. "What's that?" gasped Ruth. "I--I don't know," whispered Alice. But she did know--it was that same strange sound, as of a heavy body falling. And this time there was a groan--the girls were sure of this. Without another word they ran out of the barn, hand in hand toward the farmhouse, intending to give an alarm. And, as they got outside, they saw, running off in the dusk, across the fields, a man who limped as he sped onward. CHAPTER XI THE RUNAWAY MOWING MACHINE "Look!" gasped Ruth. "It was that man--hiding in the barn! Who can he be?" asked Alice, pausing a moment. "Don't stop! Come on!" commanded Ruth, in fear. "But we ought to see who it is," insisted the younger girl. "Or at least watch where he goes. Sandy ought to know." "Well, we'll go tell him; but don't stand and watch that man. He might do you some harm." "How could he--away off there; and he's running away, besides," spoke Alice. "I think I would know him again. I had one glimpse of his face, as he turned. It was a mean, cruel-looking face, too." "It wasn't one of those men who tried to get Russ's patent; was it?" asked Ruth. "No, neither one of them was lame. And they are both locked up, I think. This is some other man. There, he's gone--at least I can't see him any more." Either a depression in the field over which he was running, or some hollow between hummocks, now hid the man from view. Then, too, night was falling, and the shadows were dusky. "We had better go and give the alarm," said Ruth, pulling gently on her sister's arm, to urge her forward. Together they hastened to the house, where, pantingly, they told what they had seen and heard. "Some tramp, likely," said Sandy, as catching up a club he ran toward the barn. Russ, Paul, and some of the other male members of the theatrical company followed. Alice wanted to go also, but Ruth would not let her. Nothing came of the search, however, though it was carried far afield. The men came back soon. "Some tramp, sure," reaffirmed Sandy. "This part of th' country is getting too thick with 'em. Something will have to be done. But I don't see where he could have hidden himself. You say the noise was just like the one you heard before?" "The same," answered Alice, "and it sounded in the same place--just as if someone had fallen, and then came a groan." "Maybe the man did fall and hurt himself," suggested Ruth. "And that, likely, was what made him limp." "Well, I wish he'd limp away from here and stay away," complained Sandy. "I can't see, though, how he managed to hide himself in the barn. There's something strange about that place."