THE SOUND OF ALARM 21 



and toys. Without letting her see it, I tied a long thread 

 to a glove and placed it in the corner of the room at a 

 distance of several feet away. Holding one end of the 

 string, I drew the glove obliquely across the floor. When 

 I first tightened the string, which was drawn across one 

 knee and under the other, the glove slightly moved. This 

 her quick eye caught at the first motion. Standing almost 

 on tiptoe, her mouth half open, she cautiously peeped at 

 the glove. Then in a low undertone, verging on a whis- 

 per, she uttered the sound " e-c-g-k ! " Every second or so 

 she repeated it, at the same time watching to see whether 

 or not I was aware of the approach of this goblin. Her 

 actions were very human-like. Her movements were as 

 stealthy as those of a cat. As the glove came closer and 

 closer she became more and more demonstrative. When 

 at last she saw the monster climbing the leg of my trousers 

 she uttered the sound in a loud voice and very rapidly. 

 She tried to get to the object. She evidently thought it 

 was a living thing. She detected the thread with which 

 the glove was drawn across the floor, but she seemed in 

 doubt as to what part it played in the matter. Her eyes 

 several times followed the thread from my knee to the 

 glove, but I do not think she discovered what caused the 

 glove to move. Having repeated this a few times, with 

 about the same result each time, I relieved her anxiety 

 by allowing her to examine the glove. She did this with 

 marked interest for a moment and then turned away. I 

 tried the same thing again, but failed to elicit from her 

 the slightest interest after she had once examined the 

 glove. 



