Carrying their heavy suitcases, the girls groped their way down the path. It was so dark now that they could not see where they were going and frequently brushed against shrubbery. Wags had disappeared. Suddenly, Kitty gave a frightened cry as she stumbled over the root of a tree. Catching Doris’s arm to save herself from a bad fall, she permitted her pocketbook to slip from her hand. It opened as it struck the ground, and the contents spilled in every direction. “Look what I’ve done now!” Kitty wailed. Doris set her suitcase down and helped her chum search for the things she had lost. They found a pencil, a compact and a number of bills, when another flash of lightning momentarily illumined the path. “Never mind the rest,” Kitty said nervously. “I’ve found everything except a quarter, and I’ll look for that tomorrow.” They continued on up the path and came to the old mansion. The place appeared dark and deserted and Kitty would have retreated, had not Doris gripped her firmly by the arm. Bravely, she lifted the old-fashioned knocker. Huddled together on the veranda, the girls waited. When no one came to admit them, Doris again knocked. Just as she was beginning to think that it was no use, they heard a heavy step. Then the door opened and a man, bearing an oil light, peered out at them. Before either Doris or Kitty could explain their mission, there came an unexpected yelp. To their horror, Wags, suddenly appearing from beneath a lilac bush, rushed past them straight at the man in the doorway, striking him with such force that he toppled him over. A heavy peal of thunder resounded as the man slumped to the floor in a queer sort of kneeling position which, at any other time, would have been provokingly funny to Doris Force and her chum. But this was serious business and such a dilemma! “Wags!” shouted Doris, “Come here, come here!” The dog bounded into the kitchen, around a table, sniffed at some cake placed dangerously near the table edge, madly rushed to a basket of potatoes throwing the potatoes in all directions over the smooth floor, and then at the call from Doris headed again towards the doorway with a dish towel playfully dragging between his teeth. “Here, puppy, here!” commanded Kitty, catching her breath and setting down her suitcase, while Doris tried to catch a corner of the linen as the dog jumped over the bewildered man, pulling the cloth over the man’s head. “Help, oh, ouch, help!” shouted the man. “Call your mutt off! Help! Let me get up!” “Wags, doggie, doggie, come here!” pleaded Doris, as she realized the man was now in no mood to be trifled with. She and Kitty decided that they now must command their new pet’s attention. CHAPTER VII A STRANGE RECEPTION Frantically, Doris and Kitty called to Wags and in response to their commands he reluctantly returned to them. The man who had fallen scrambled to his feet, and stood glaring angrily at the girls.