"So do I."
Arden, who happened to answer the telephone to take the message from Harry, reported to the other girls, and Sim said:
"I think we ought to go over to the Hall and see whether Harry"s idea of a warm and cozy room can be carried out in this cold spell."
"Not a bad idea," agreed Arden.
"Oh, I wish I could go!" sighed Terry, looking at her bandaged foot.
"Don"t chance it!" warned Dorothy. "You"ll want to be at the party. I"ll stay here with you, Terry, if Arden and Sim want to prance down to the Hall and look it over."
"Let"s, Sim!" Arden exclaimed. "Only we won"t prance. We"ll go in the car."
To this Sim agreed and, the housekeeping plans for the day having been disposed of, she and Arden started out in the st.u.r.dy little roadster. It had stopped snowing, and the sun was shining brightly with a dazzling l.u.s.ter on the white ground. It was snappy and cold, so the girls wore furs and arctics, for they wanted to walk around near the Hall. That opportunity always fascinated them.
Reaching the Hall, they tramped up the steps. Sim and Arden pushed open the heavy front door and stood with their heads just within the hall, listening before venturing in all the way.
"No use taking any chances," Sim remarked.
"What chances?" Arden asked, though, as a matter of fact, the same thought was in her own mind.
"Well, ghosts or some irresponsible workmen who might be camping out in here since they had the last seance."
"Or tramps," suggested Arden.
"Say, there"s a thought!" Sim exclaimed. "Perhaps _tramps_ have been creating all this disturbance."
"Why would they?" Arden was discounting her own suggestion.
"A band or bunch or school or congregation-whatever group tramps fit into-might have picked this place as hide-out, hang-out, or rendezvous, or whatever the proper term is," said Sim, laughing. "And they might object to being dispossessed in the winter. They might even have hit upon the plan of making ghostly noises and manifestations to scare away the workmen. Then, if their scheme worked, they would be left in peaceful possession."
"But _we_ didn"t find any tramps here," objected Arden. "And Harry didn"t find any. And surely they would have piled back in here after the workmen had gone-if there _is_ a gang of tramps playing tricks."
"Well, maybe I"m wrong," Sim admitted. "Anyhow, there seems to be no one in here now, so let"s have a look at the room where we are to have Granny"s Christmas party. I"m game."
The old Hall echoed weirdly to their footsteps, echoes that always seemed to dwell in untenanted houses. But the girls were not nervous. They were only going into that one room which was close to the entrance, and if anything happened they could run out quickly.
But nothing happened. There were no screams, not even a sigh, except that of the wind. There were no thumping boots coming down the stairs and no rustling red cloaks.
"I think we can very nicely use this room," said Arden, looking around the big long double parlor containing the immense fireplace and the picture of Patience Howe. "It can be closed off from the rest of the house. Not a window or a door has been broken."
"And with a roaring fire on the hearth," added Sim, "we shall be quite cozy here. Anyhow, we shan"t be here very long. But I think your idea of telling Granny the good news here is just wonderful!"
"Thanks," murmured Arden. "I hope it is a spectacular success."
They did not wander through any other part of the house to see if they could collect enough chairs or other pieces of furniture for seats. They took it for granted that they could manage other details, and then, having made sure that the old chimney was un.o.bstructed-they looked up and could see daylight-so the fire would not smoke, they finally left.
"Let"s walk around a bit," suggested Arden.
"Why not?" agreed Sim. "Walking around here is our greatest outdoor sport."
They were well clothed and shod for tramping in the snow, so they began a circuit of the strange mansion. There was no sign, anywhere, that anyone but themselves had entered since Harry Pangborn made his investigation the day before.
They walked down what had once been a lane, arbored with grapevines and hedged in now with ugly tall weeds that thrust themselves up through the snow. In the distance were some gnarled trees and a small stone building.
They had not noticed it before, but now, against the white ground, it stood up boldly.
"I wonder what that is?" asked Sim.
"Let"s go see," suggested Arden.
They pa.s.sed into the little grove of apple trees, Arden remarking how much some of them resembled those in the strange orchard at Cedar Ridge.
Then she suddenly uttered a cry of delight.
"What is it?" Sim asked.
"Mistletoe!"
"No! Really?"
"I think so. Anyhow, it"s some sort of a bush with white berries on.
Look!"
"It does seem like mistletoe," agreed Sim. "But I thought that was found only down South."
"I thought so too. But, anyhow, we can pretend this is mistletoe, it looks so much like it," laughed Arden.
"Why should we want to pretend? Let"s be bold and say it _is_ mistletoe!"
"Moselle might know the difference. But I"m with you to the hilt, comrade! Mistletoe it is!" Arden began quickly to gather the white-berried branches which, fortunately, broke off, making it unnecessary to cut them, which the girls couldn"t have done, as they had brought no knife.
Sim was pulling at a particularly large branch when they were suddenly startled by hearing the creaking of a door on rusty hinges. Then a voice, almost snarling in its tones, called loudly:
"What are you doing here?"
Arden and Sim had walked along until they were close to the small old stone house. But they were so interested in gathering the mistletoe that they had not noticed the slow opening of the door.
Then came the challenge.
The girls swung about in startled fear and heard the rasping voice demand again:
"What are you doing here?"
CHAPTER XXIV A Strange Woman