I hope
I wake up pretty soon."
But it was no dream, as Billie was soon to discover.
Arriving at the ruined building, Billie crawled along by the wall
until he came directly under what had once been a window. Then,
after listening a long time and hearing no sound, he ventured to
raise his head and peep in.
The old ruin was as empty as though there were not a living
person within fifty miles.
"Great Scott!" gasped the boy. "What do you think of that! Now I
know I'm dreaming!"
He turned to the ape, waving his whip.
"Here you, Ab," he said, "go in there and see what you can find."
He pointed to the window and the animal sprang lightly in and a
minute later perched itself on one of the decaying rafters.
"If there were any one around, they would certainly see Ab,"
reasoned Billie, "and would make some noise about it. I guess
it's safe to go in."
He crawled around to the door and entered. There were the tracks
of the horses, but the horses had disappeared as completely as
though they had been swallowed up.
Billie called softly to Ab, who did not see fit to obey until he
waved his whip. Then the animal sprang lightly to the ground.
Billie showed him the tracks.
"Where do you suppose they went?" he asked.
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