The thief had disappeared so suddenly and utterly, it almost seemed
impossible that he could have been there at all.
There was much talk over it after meeting. "Are you _sure_ you saw
him, Ann?" Mrs. Polly asked.
"Yes; I am _sure_," Ann would reply. She began to feel rather
uncomfortable over it. She feared people would think she had been
napping and dreaming although Red Robin _was_ untied.
That night the family were all in bed at nine o'clock, as usual; but
Ann up in her snug feather-bed in her little western chamber, could
not sleep. She kept thinking about the horse-thief, and grew more and
more nervous. Finally she thought of some fine linen cloth she and
Mrs. Polly had left out in the snowy field south of the house to
bleach, and she worried about that. A web of linen cloth and a horse
were very dissimilar booty; but a thief was a thief. Suppose anything
should happen to the linen they had worked so hard over!
At last, she could not endure it any longer. Up she got, put on her
clothes hurriedly, crept softly down stairs and out doors. There was
a full moon and it was almost as light as day.
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