But my real excitement was still to come.  About half an hour later I heard unmistakable footsteps alongside the van.  Bock growled furiously, and I lay in a panic.  Something jarred one of the wheels.  Then broke out a most extraordinary racket.  I heard quick steps, Peg whinneyed, and something fell heavily against the back of the wagon.  There was a violent scuffle on the ground, the sound of blows, and rapid breathing.  With my heart jumping I peered out of one of the back windows.  There was barely any light, but dimly I could see a tumbling mass which squirmed and writhed on the ground.  Something struck one of the rear wheels so that Parnassus trembled.  I heard hoarse swearing, and then the whole body, whatever it was, rolled off into the underbrush.  There was a terrific crashing and snapping of twigs.  Bock whined, growled, and pawed madly at the door.  And then complete silence.

My nerves were quite shattered by this time.  I don’t think I had been so frightened since childhood days when I awakened from a nightmare.  Little trickles of fear crept up and down my spine and my scalp prickled.  I pulled Bock on the bunk, and lay with one hand on his collar.  He, too, seemed agitated and sniffed gingerly now and then.  Finally, however, he gave a sigh and fell asleep.  I judged it might have been two o’clock, but I did not like to strike a light.  And at last I fell into a doze.

When I woke the sun was shining brilliantly and the air was full of the chirping of birds.  I felt stiff and uneasy from sleeping in my clothes, and my foot was numb from Bock’s weight.

I got up and looked out of the window.  Parnassus was standing in a narrow lane by a grove of birch trees.  The ground was muddy, and smeared with footprints behind the van.  I opened the door and looked around.  The first thing I saw, on the ground by one of the wheels, was a battered tweed cap.

CHAPTER NINE

My feelings were as mixed as a crushed nut sundae.  So the Professor hadn’t gone to Brooklyn after all!  What did he mean by prowling after me like a sleuth?  Was it just homesickness for Parnassus?  Not likely!  And then the horrible noises I had heard in the night; had some tramp been hanging about the van in the hope of robbing me?  Had the tramp attacked Mifflin?  Or had Mifflin attacked the tramp?  Who had got the better of it?

I picked up the muddy cap and threw it into the van.  Anyway, I had problems of my own to tackle, and those of the Professor could wait.

Peg whinneyed when she saw me.  I examined her foot.  Seeing it by daylight the trouble was not hard to diagnose.  A long, jagged piece of slate was wedged in the frog of the foot.  I easily wrenched it out, heated some water, and gave the hoof another sponging.  It would be all right when shod once more.  But where was the shoe?

I gave the horse some oats, cooked an egg and a cup of coffee for myself at the little kerosene stove, and broke up a dog biscuit for Bock.  I marvelled once more at the completeness of Parnassus’ furnishings.  Bock helped me to scour the pan.  He sniffed eagerly at the cap when I showed it to him, and wagged his tail.