“Whither now, Lily Ann?” Diane was strolling out of classroom number
five behind Lilian.
“I don’t answer to that name,” replied Lilian, pausing, however, and
linking her arm in that of Diane. “How becoming that crimson frock is.”
“Do you like it?”
“Yes. It matches your cheeks and brings out the shepherdess complexion.”
“Shepherdess yourself, Lilian, and you have the golden locks as well.
Going up to the library?”
“Yes; I have to read a little for Lit. We have a perfectly terrible book
to write on it, all our notes in class and on our collateral reading.
The first half has to be ready to hand in at the first of the second
semester. I pity the girls who haven’t written up their notes right
along.”
“I was sorry that I did not take that advanced course in Literature. It
wasn’t required, so I did not try it. I have so much to make up, anyway.
But your book prospect does not look so inviting,—I’m not so sorry after
all.”
The two girls were climbing the stairs of the library building, tripping
up the wide steps with light feet.
“Did you hear about the ghost?” continued Diane.
“No, is that the latest thrill?”
“Yes; Greycliff’s old standby, the Woman in Black, has appeared again.
One of the academy girls nearly went into hysterics the other night,
they say, after she saw it, or thought she saw it. She said that it
moaned and waved black arms, with wide sleeves or something, and glided
by as ghosts are supposed to glide, but very rapidly.”
“I haven’t heard anything about the Woman in Black for some time. Let me
see. It was Isabel that declared she saw it two or three years ago. How
many times has it appeared this time?”
“Several times, according to all accounts. There are all sorts of wild
tales about it. One girl said that it started toward her, then turned
back and just disappeared.”
“Around a corner probably. If there is any appearance of the sort, I’m
sure it’s human. Somebody is trying to trick the girls. The other time,
when we had such an excitement about it, Miss Randolph just put some
extra folks on guard at night and there was no more ghost.”
“All the same, the halls are sort of spooky at night, and I don’t
believe that I’ll watch for it. Diane is going to keep to her little
cot!”
“All the more reason for that if it is human. Any account of its getting
into the rooms, or has anything been stolen?”
“One girl tells about seeing it standing over her bed, but I think that
she was having a nightmare. She had heard about it and dreamed of it!”
By this time the girls were in the library, where conversation was not
desired. Lilian went to look over the reference books and Diane
consulted the librarian about something. Isabel, Evelyn and Helen were
sitting at one of the tables and nodded to the girls. Isabel was
scribbling away for dear life, turning page after page of a tablet.
Evelyn was drawing cartoons and showing them from time to time to Helen,
who appeared much amused. Helen was reading, when not in consultation
with Evelyn. Presently Lilian and Diane went over to the same table and
drew up chairs. “What’s the fun?” whispered Diane.
Helen smiled broadly, took the drawings from Evelyn and pushed them over
to Diane and Lilian. The girls bent their heads over them. Isabel looked
up, amused, and continued scribbling. The first picture was labeled “The
Greycliff Ghost,” and showed a skeleton, clothed in filmy black, and
bending over a terrified girl in her cot. The covers were drawn up over
the lower part of the girl’s face, only the big eyes looking up at the
ghost. The second picture was called “The Woman in Black” and depicted a
veiled figure in motion, arms stretched out before her, wide sleeves and
draperies flying, the head wrapped in a veil, but showing a mask and two
wild eyes. As the girls looked at these drawings, Evelyn, who was
watching them, offered a piece of paper on which was printed “DO YOU
BELIEVE IN GHOSTS?”
Lilian promptly wrote her reply “No. Do You?”
“YES. I’VE BEEN IN A HAUNTED HOUSE. LET’S TELL GHOST STORIES AFTER
DINNER.”
“All right, but people that believe in ghosts are likely to have bad
dreams.”
“WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU SAW A GHOST?”
This last query of Evelyn’s was passed around to the girls. Lilian
wrote, “Watch it go by.” Diane wrote, “Run.” Isabel stopped her rapid
note-taking long enough to answer, “Try one of the boys’ tricks,—stick
out my foot to see if I could trip it.”
“Diane’s answer is the only sensible one,” whispered Evelyn as she read
the different replies. Tucking away her pictures in her note book she
proceeded with the more serious work for which she had come to the
library. The other girls were also absorbed in their books. But later,
when they left the library for Greycliff Hall, there was laughter, and
stories of mysterious doings were told. “Of _course_ I believe in
ghosts,” insisted Evelyn, who had never outgrown the coquettish ways and
naive speech with which she had come to Greycliff. “Didn’t my mother’s
old Mammy bring me up on ‘ghos’es’ and ha’nts? _I_ never saw any, but
she did.”
“You just want to for the excitement of it,” said Isabel. “I wish the
seniors would give Hamlet this spring, for their play, and let me play
the part of the ghost.”
“That isn’t much of a part,” said Lilian. “I should think you would want
Hamlet.”
“I would, but the seniors would want that themselves. ‘To be or-r-r-r-r
not to be. That iz-z-z-z-z the question!’ I heard an elocutionist do it
that way once. What are you girls going to give for your senior play?”
“We haven’t decided yet, but we thought of having it outdoors and giving
‘As You Like It’.”
“That will be wonderful!” exclaimed Isabel. “There are so many places
about the campus that would make a fine setting.”
“Come around to our room after dinner for the ghost stories,” reminded
Evelyn, as she and Diane left the other girls on their way to their
respective rooms. Like Isabel and Virginia, Evelyn and Diane were
occupying a large single room this year. But Greycliff seniors have not
so much time for ghost stories and the like, and Evelyn herself, with
her knitting, was in the parlors after dinner, listening to some
singing, and chatting to Isabel, Lilian, Hilary, Cathalina and Betty.
“I believe that Evelyn has begun two or three sweaters,” said Isabel.
“Which one is this for?”
“Oh, I can’t be partial, you know,” said Evelyn, smiling as she
recovered a dropped stitch. “Geo’ge and Pehcy ah in the same company,
and if I send one a sweatah I must send the otheh one, too. I did think
that I would send this one to Cousin Francis,—I used to be engaged to
him, you know. We ah only thi’d cousins.”
“Which one are you engaged to now, Evelyn?” asked Isabel, adding
hastily, “You need not answer that, of course. It is rude of me to ask.”
“O, I don’t mind,” said Evelyn, putting her hand on one side to survey
the sweater which she held up to view. “Do you think that is big enough
to go over the head?”
“It looks pretty small to me,” said Cathalina. “Is he big or little?”
“My head just comes to his shoulder. Yes, he is pretty big, Pehcy is.”
“I wonder if that is my answer,” remarked Isabel to Cathalina.
“No telling.”
“Well, girls,” said Hilary, “I’d like to visit longer, but I have to get
to work. I see a hectic evening before me. I don’t know when I’ve been
so behind with everything. I’ve been doing too much knitting and
letter-writing, I am afraid. However, under the circumstances, I can’t
regret it. Patriotism before everything!”
“Are you sure that it was _all_ patriotism, Hilary?”
“Quite sure,” laughed Hilary.
In Lakeview Suite there was, indeed, a busy group that evening. It
happened to be near examination time. Notes were being brought up to
date. Exercise books in the languages were to be put into final shape.
Eloise came in to consult Lilian about some exercises in Harmony, which
both were taking, Lilian because she wanted to know how to write her
little songs, and to catch up with Philip in his knowledge of the
subject. The girls were all tired when the first bell rang, and Hilary
sat, writing on, without paying any attention.
“You’ll be in the dark pretty soon, Hilary, unless you break rules,”
remarked Lilian.
“Don’t mind me,” said Hilary. “Put the lights out when the bell rings.
I’ll just write till then; I’m almost through. Then I’ll use my flash
light when I get ready for bed.”
Finally, darkness descended upon the suite, and Hilary, her head aching
a little, tossed and turned, till finally she wandered off into a dream
with Campbell Stuart, both on a vessel, on the way to France, and
watching a submarine whose periscope had just appeared close by. In the
middle of the night she woke, consumed by thirst, and reaching under her
pillow for her flashlight, slipped quietly out of the room after some
water.
Just outside of her door she paused and started a little, for around the
corner came a ghostly figure, looking very much as Evelyn had pictured
the “Woman in Black.” There were two corridors running at right angles
to Lakeview Corridor, and it was from one of these, in the direction of
which Hilary was headed, that the ghost came. And, without warning, from
the other direction, which Hilary, though not the ghost, could see, came
running another figure with flying hair, light slippers and pale kimono.
“Two ghosts,” thought Hilary.
It all happened so quickly that Hilary could not have prevented it even
had she been able to recover from her surprise. The “Woman in Black” saw
Hilary, without doubt, for she waved her hands and moaned, a high quaver
of ghostly sound. And right at the corner, plump into the Woman in
Black, ran the other flying figure,—bump!
It was Evelyn’s face that turned toward Hilary. The black form recovered
from the shock and sped on, but dropped a little roll of papers and,
with an exclamation, turned and came back. Evelyn hastened to pick up
the papers first—Evelyn, who was afraid of ghosts!
“Give them to me at once!” demanded the “ghost” in a hissing whisper.
Evelyn unrolled the papers in the dim light of the hall and showed no
intention of hurrying. Impatiently the black ghost snatched at the
little bundle, but Evelyn put it behind her back at first, then with a
bow held it out,—“Your property, I believe,—Louise Holley!”
The “Woman in Black” angrily pulled away and disappeared down the hall.
Evelyn leaned up against the wall and looked after her, while Hilary
moved toward her, saying gently, in little more than a whisper,
“Evelyn.”
“Is that you, Hilary?” asked Evelyn, in evident relief. “Did you see
that performance? I suppose Louise has been out to meet that precious
brother of hers. That is why she is staging the ghost act. How do you
happen to be on hand?”
“I woke up and perishing with thirst, or was. I declare I was so taken
by surprise that I forgot what I was up for.”
“It’s that ham, that grand baked ham we had for suppeh. I was so thihsty
too, that I just had to have a drink and we forget to get any watch for
the room, as we usually do.”
“So did we.”
“I happened to think about the ghost stories after I was in the hall,
and put on speed just in time to run into the actual ghost! Honestly,
I’m shaking all oveh!”
“You did not act afraid.”
“I wasn’t. No ghost is as solid as what I ran into.” Evelyn chuckled.
“It was the shock, and being afraid that I would meet a ghost, a real
one.”
“Do you still believe in that kind?”
“I must say that my faith is shaken. Didn’t Louise look like the real
thing though as she disappeared?”
“She looked like a bad spirit all right. Some of the lights in the hall
have been turned out. Did you notice that?”
“I think they always do it.”
“Yes, but they always leave enough to make a little light, and you can’t
see any toward Louise’s room.”
“She must have done it on purpose. My, how mad she was when I would not
hand her her papers.”
“They were little diagrams, Hilary. What do you suppose that means.”
“I think that Miss Randolph ’d better send her away again. That is what
I think. Shall we tell her?”
“Let’s sleep on it. Take me back to my room, will you, Hilary?”
“Don’t lose your courage now, when you were so brave.”
“I always do when I have somebody to lean on. I ought to have a lot of
responsibility put on me, I reckon.”
“You nice little thing!” exclaimed Hilary, patting Evelyn’s shoulder.
“Let’s get a good drink first.”
“All right. I could drink all the wateh there is! Let it run and run to
get fresh and ice-cold!”
All this conversation was carried on in subdued tones. Evelyn decided
that she would show her bravely by going back to her room alone, but
Hilary paused at the parting of the ways and watched her scampering
through the corridor to her room, which she entered, after giving one
hasty backward glance to make sure that no ghost or human was entering
behind her.