GETTING ACQUAINTED
By the third day after their arrival in Milton, the Kenway sisters
were quite used to their new home; but not to their new condition.
“It’s just delightful,” announced Agnes. “I’m going to love this old
house, Ruth. And to run right out of doors when one wants to—with an
apron on and without ‘fixing up’—nobody to see one——”
The rear premises of the old Corner House were surrounded by a tight
fence and a high, straggling hedge. The garden and backyard made a
playground which delighted Tess and Dot. The latter seemed to have
gotten over her first awe of the big house and had forgotten to ask
further questions about the meaning of the mysterious word, “spooky.”
Tess and Dot established their dolls and their belongings in a little
summer-house in the weed-grown garden, and played there contentedly
for hours. Ruth and Aggie were working very hard. It was as much as
Aunt Sarah would do if she made her own bed and brushed up her room.
“When I lived at home before,” she said, grimly, “there were plenty of
servants in the house. That is, until Father Stower died and Peter
became the master.”
Mr. Howbridge came on this day and brought a visitor which surprised
Ruth.
“This is Mrs. McCall, Miss Kenway,” said the lawyer, who insisted upon
treating Ruth as quite a grown-up young lady. “Mrs. McCall is a
widowed lady for whom I have a great deal of respect,” continued the
gentleman, smiling. “And I believe you girls will get along nicely
with her.”
“I—I am glad to meet Mrs. McCall,” said Ruth, giving the widow one of
her friendly smiles. Yet she was more than a little puzzled.
“Mrs. McCall,” said Mr. Howbridge, “will take many household cares off
your shoulders, Miss Kenway. She is a perfectly good housekeeper, as I
know,” and he laughed, “for she has kept house for me. If you girls
undertook to take care of even a part of this huge house, you would
have no time for anything else.”
“But——” began Ruth, in amazement, not to say panic.
“You will find Mrs. McCall just the person whom you need here,” said
Mr. Howbridge, firmly.
She was a strong looking, brisk woman, with a pleasant face, and Ruth
_did_ like her at once. But she was troubled.
“I don’t see, Mr. Howbridge, how we can _afford_ anybody to help
us—just now,” Ruth said. “You see, we have so very little money. And
we already have borrowed from you, sir, more than we can easily
repay.”
“Ha! you do not understand,” said the lawyer, quickly. “I see. You
think that the money I advanced before you left Bloomingsburg was a
loan?”
“Oh, sir!” gasped Ruth. “We could not accept it as a gift. It would
not be right——”
“I certainly do admire your independence, Ruth Kenway,” said the
gentleman, smiling. “But do not fear. I am not lending you money
without expecting to get full returns. It is an advance against your
uncle’s personal estate.”
“But suppose his will is never found, sir?” cried Ruth.
“I know of no other heirs of the late Mr. Stower. The court recognizes
you girls as the legatees in possession. There is not likely to be any
question of your rights at all. But we hope the will may be found and
thus a suit in Chancery be avoided.”
“But—but is it _right_ for us to accept all this—and spend money,
and all that—when there is still this uncertainty about the will?”
demanded Ruth, desperately.
“I certainly would not advise you to do anything that was wrong either
legally or morally,” said Mr. Howbridge, gravely. “Don’t you worry. I
shall pay the bills. You can draw on me for cash within reason.”
“Oh, sir!”
“You all probably need new clothing, and some little luxuries to which
you have not been always accustomed. I think I must arrange for each
of you girls to have a small monthly allowance. It is good for young
people to learn how to use money for themselves.”
“Oh, sir!” gasped Ruth, again.
“The possibility of some other person, or persons, putting in a claim
to Mr. Peter Stower’s estate, must be put out of your mind, Miss
Kenway,” pursued the kindly lawyer. “You have borne enough
responsibility for a young girl, already. Forget it, as the boys say.
“Remember, you girls are very well off. You will be protected in your
rights by the court. Let Mrs. McCall take hold and do the work, with
such assistance as you girls may wish to give her.”
It was amazing, but very delightful. “Why, Ruth-_ie_!” cried Agnes,
when they were alone, fairly dancing around her sister. “Do you
suppose we are really going to be _rich_?”
To Ruth’s mind a very little more than enough for actual necessities
was wealth for the Kenways! She felt as though it were too good to be
true. To lay down the burden of responsibilities which she had carried
for two years——well! it was a heavenly thought!
Milton was a beautiful old town, with well shaded streets, and green
lawns. People seemed to have plenty of leisure to chat and be
sociable; they did not rush by you without a look, or a word, as they
had in Bloomingsburg.
“So, you’re the Corner House girls, are you? Do tell!” said one old
lady on Willow Street, who stopped the Kenway sisters the first time
they all trooped to Sunday School.
“Let’s see; _you_ favor your father’s folks,” she added, pinching
Agnes’ plump cheek. “I remember Leonard Kenway very well indeed. He
broke a window for me once—years ago, when he was a boy.
“I didn’t know who did it. But Lenny Kenway never could keep anything
to himself, and he came to me and owned up. Paid for it, too, by
helping saw my winter’s wood,” and the old lady laughed gently.
“I’m Mrs. Adams. Come and see me, Corner House girls,” she concluded,
looking after them rather wistfully. “It’s been many a day since I had
young folks in my house.”
Already Agnes had become acquainted with a few of the storekeepers,
for she had done the errands since their arrival in Milton. Now they
were welcomed by the friendly Sabbath School teachers and soon felt at
home. Agnes quickly fell in love with a bronze haired girl with brown
eyes, who sat next to her in class. This was Eva Larry, and Aggie
confided to Ruth that she was “just lovely.”
They all, even the little girls, strolled about the paths of the
parade ground before returning home. This seemed to be the usual
Sunday afternoon promenade of Milton folk. Several people stopped the
Corner House girls (as they were already known) and spoke kindly to
them.
Although Leonard Kenway and Julia Stower had moved away from Milton
immediately upon their marriage, and that had been eighteen years
before, many of the residents of Milton remembered the sisters’
parents, and the Corner House girls were welcomed for those parents’
sake.
“We certainly shall come and call on you,” said the minister’s wife,
who was a lovely lady, Ruth thought. “It is a blessing to have young
folk about that gloomy old house.”
“Oh! we don’t think it gloomy at all,” laughed Ruth.
When the lady had gone on, the Larry girl said to Agnes: “I think
you’re awfully brave. _I_ wouldn’t live in the Old Corner House for
worlds.”
“Why not?” asked Agnes, puzzled. “I guess you don’t know how nice it
is inside.”
“I wouldn’t care if it was carpeted with velvet and you ate off of
solid gold dishes!” exclaimed Eva Larry, with emphasis.
“Oh, Eva! you won’t even come to see us?”
“Of course I shall. I like you. And I think you are awfully plucky to
live there——”
“What for? What’s the matter with the house?” demanded Agnes, in
wonder.
“Why, they say such things about it. You’ve heard them, of course?”
“Surely you’re not afraid of it because old Uncle Peter died there?”
“Oh, no! It began long before your Uncle Peter died,” said Eva,
lowering her voice. “Do you mean to say that Mr. Howbridge—nor
_anybody_—has not told you about it?”
“Goodness me! No!” cried Agnes. “You give me the shivers.”
“I should think you would shiver, you poor dear,” said Eva, clutching
at Aggie’s arm. “You oughtn’t to be allowed to go there to live. My
mother says so herself. She said she thought Mr. Howbridge ought to be
ashamed of himself——”
“But what _for_?” cried the startled Agnes. “What’s the matter with
the house?”
“Why, it’s haunted!” declared Eva, solemnly. “Didn’t you ever hear
about the Corner House Ghost?”
“Oh, Eva!” murmured Agnes. “You are fooling me.”
“No, Ma’am! I’m not.”
“A—a ghost?”
“Yes. Everybody knows about it. It’s been there for years.”
“But—but we haven’t seen it.”
“You wouldn’t likely see it—yet. Unless it was the other night when
the wind blew so hard. It comes only in a storm.”
“What! the ghost?”
“Yes. In a big storm it is always seen looking out of the windows.”
“Goodness!” whispered Agnes. “What windows?”
“In the garret. I believe that’s where it is always seen. And, of
course, it is seen from outside. When there is a big wind blowing,
people coming across the parade here, or walking on this side of
Willow Street, have looked up there and seen the ghost fluttering and
beckoning at the windows——”
“How horrid!” gasped Agnes. “Oh, Eva! are you _sure_?”
“I never saw it,” confessed the other. “But I know all about it. So
does my mother. She says it’s true.”
“Mercy! And in the daytime?”
“Sometimes at night. Of course, I suppose it can be seen at night
because it is phosphorescent. All ghosts are, aren’t they?”
“I—I never saw one,” quavered Agnes. “And I don’t want to.”
“Well, that’s all about it,” said Eva, with confidence. “And I
wouldn’t live in the house with a ghost for anything!”
“But we’ve _got_ to,” wailed Agnes. “We haven’t any other place to
live.”
“It’s dreadful,” sympathized the other girl. “I’ll ask my mother. If
you are dreadfully frightened about it, I’ll see if you can’t come and
stay with us.”
This was very kind of Eva, Agnes thought. The story of the Corner
House Ghost troubled the twelve-year-old very much. She dared not say
anything before Tess and Dot about it, but she told the whole story to
Ruth that night, after they were in bed and supposed the little girls
to be asleep.
“Why, Aggie,” said Ruth, calmly, “I don’t think there _are_ any
ghosts. It’s just foolish talk of foolish people.”
“Eva says her mother _knows_ it’s true. People have seen it.”
“Up in our garret?”
“Ugh! In the garret of this old house—yes,” groaned Agnes. “Don’t
call it _our_ house. I guess I don’t like it much, after all.”
“Why, Aggie! How ungrateful.”
“I don’t care. For all of me, Uncle Peter could have kept his old
house, if he was going to leave a ghost in the garret.”
“Hush! the children will hear you,” whispered Ruth.