The next day a strange thing happened in the attic.
Sara was out doing errands as usual.
So Mel the rat was the only one who saw and heard what happened.
Mel had left his hole and was looking for food in Sara's room.
Suddenly he heard a noise on the roof.
Two men opened the skylight and then peered through it.
One man was Ram Dass, the Indian servant from next door.
The other was a young man—Mr. Carrisford's secretary.
Mel watched the two men enter the room through the skylight.
Neither one made a sound.
Mel was used to Sara by now, but the two strangers frightened him.
He ran into his hole, but he kept an eye on the two men.
The secretary had caught a glimpse of Mel's tail.
"Was that a rat?" he whispered to Ram Dass.
"Yes," Ram Dass whispered back. "There are many rats living in these walls."
"Ugh!" exclaimed the young man.
"I'm surprised the girl is not terrified by them."
"She's not like other children," replied Ram Dass.
"She's a friend to all living creatures.
I often watch her from my skylight and see her talking to the birds.
She's kind to humans too," Ram Dass went on.
"The servant girl in the next room comes to her for comfort.
Then there is a blond girl who comes to hear her stories.
And a little girl who worships her.
The mistress of the house treats her like an outcast.
But the girl acts like she comes from a family of kings.
She's a true princess!"
"You seem to know a lot about her," the secretary said.
Ram Dass nodded. "I watch her closely," he said.
"Are you sure she won't come up here now?" the secretary asked.
"If she finds us, she'll be frightened.
And it would spoil Mr. Carrisford's plans."
"She has gone out and probably won't return for hours," said Ram Dass.
"Besides, I can hear anyone on the stairs.
We'll have time to escape if necessary."
The secretary took a pencil and paper from his pocket.
"Keep your ears open."
He began to walk slowly around the miserable little room, making notes.
First he went to the narrow bed. He pressed his hand on the mattress.
"Hard as a rock!" he exclaimed.
"The blanket is thin and the sheets are ragged."
Then he looked at the dark fireplace.
"There hasn't been a fire there for days."
"I've never seen a fire there," said Ram Dass.
"It's always freezing in here.
I don't believe the mistress cares how cold the girl gets."
"What a place for a child to sleep in!" said the secretary.
He noted the old table and bare floor. "Whose idea was it to help her?"
"It was mine," said Ram Dass.
"I like to hear the stories she tells her friends.
One night she pretended this room was warm, comfortable, and filled with beautiful things."
Ram Dass had repeated Sara's story to Mr. Carrisford.
The sick gentleman had not liked the way she was treated at the school.
He began to think about making her dreams come true.
"Do you think we can transform this room while she sleeps?" the secretary asked.
"Of course we'd have to replace her bed during the day."
"I can do it all with the help of another servant," Ram Dass replied.
"We'll be so quiet that she won't wake up.
When she does awake, she will think that a magician has been here!"
The secretary continued looking around.
He made notes about the floor, the fireplace, the broken footstool, and the old table.
He also remarked that a number of old nails had been placed in the walls.
Ram Dass smiled mysteriously.
"Yesterday when she was out, I entered the room, bringing with me some sharp nails.
I pressed them into the walls, where we will need them."
The secretary nodded. "You can hang things on them," he said.
Soon the men were finished.
"I think I've made enough notes. We can go now," said the secretary.
"It's a shame Mr. Carrisford has not found that lost child.
He has such a warm heart."
"If he finds her, his strength will return.
He will be well again," said Ram Dass. "I'm sure of that."
Then the two men slipped silently through the skylight and across the roof.
After Mel was sure they had gone, he came out of his hole.
He sniffed around the floor.
He didn't understand what the men had talked about.
But he hoped they had dropped some crumbs.