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The cook heard this quite plain, so she sprang out of bed, and

ran to open the door. The thieves ran off as if a wolf was at

their tails: and the maid, having groped about and found nothing,

went away for a light. By the time she came back, Tom had slipped

off into the barn; and when she had looked about and searched

every hole and corner, and found nobody, she went to bed,

thinking she must have been dreaming with her eyes open.