was no mistaking the yell that greeted him.

"Goodness me," he said to his wife, "my dear, someone's being murdered
in the church! Give me my hat and a thick stick, and tell Andrew to come
after me. I expect it's the lunatic who stole the tongue."

The children had seen the flash of light when the Vicar opened his front
door. They had seen his dark form on his doorstep, and they had paused
for breath, and also to see what he would do.

When he turned back for his hat, Cyril said hastily--

"He thinks he only fancied he heard something. You don't half yell! Now!
One, two, three!"

It was certainly a whole yell this time, and the Vicar's wife flung her
arms round her husband and screamed a feeble echo of it.

"You shan't go!" she said, "not alone. Jessie!"--the maid unfainted and
came out of the kitchen,--"send Andrew at once. There's a dangerous
lunatic in the church, and he must go immediately and catch him."

"I expect he _will_ catch it too," said Jessie to herself as she went
through the kitchen door. "Here, Andrew," she said, "there's someone
screaming like mad in the church, and the missus says you're to go along
and catch it."

"Not alone, I don't," said Andrew in low firm tones. To his master he
merely said, "Yis sir."