Midnight Visitors
"I wish," Rosanna commented emphatically, "that I had never brought you
to this queer old house."
Penny laughed as she went over to the fireplace and dropped on another
stick of wood. She stood watching the sparks fly up the chimney.
"I think Caleb Eckert was only trying to be funny when he warned us of
ghosts," she declared. "At any rate, I'm too tired and sleepy to care
much whether the place is haunted or not."
"It's a good night to sleep," Rosanna admitted, going to the window. "I
believe the storm is getting worse."
Rain pounded steadily upon the roof and the wind was rising. It whistled
weirdly around the corners of the house. The tall maple trees which
shaded the front porch bent and twisted and snapped.
For a time the girls sat before the fire. Presently Penny suggested that
they retire.
"I don't believe I can sleep a wink tonight," Rosanna protested. "Even
though Caleb Eckert said it was all right for us to stay here, I don't
feel entirely easy about it."
"I don't see why not," Penny protested as they mounted the creaking
stairs to their bedroom. "According to the letter, you've inherited the
house. And you have a key."
"I had a key you mean. I can't understand how or where I lost it."
In thinking back over the activities of the day, Rosanna could not recall
taking either the key or the letter from her purse. However, several
times for one purpose or another she had opened her pocketbook, and it
was quite likely that the articles had fallen out unobserved. She thought
possibly she might find them on the floor of Penny's car. She intended to
search in the morning.
The upstairs room was damp and chilly. The girls hurriedly prepared to
retire. Penny put up the window, snapped out the light and made a great
running leap which landed her in bed.
"Listen to the wind howl," she murmured, snuggling drowsily into her
pillow. "Just the night for ghosts to be abroad."
"Don't!" Rosanna shivered, gripping her friend's hand. "I can almost
imagine that someone is coming up the stairway now! I'm afraid of this
lonely old house."
"I won't let any mean old ghost get you," Penny chuckled teasingly. "I
love stormy nights."
Rosanna lay awake long after her companion had fallen asleep. She
listened restlessly to the crash of the tree branches against the roof,
the creaking of old timbers and boards. But the steady beat of rain on
the windowpanes had a soothing effect upon tense nerves. Presently she
dozed.
Suddenly she found herself wide awake. She sat upright in bed, straining
to hear. She was convinced that some unusual sound had aroused her.
Then she heard it again. A peculiar pounding noise downstairs.
She clutched Penny by the arm.
"What is it?" the latter muttered drowsily.
"Wake up! I think someone is trying to break into the house!"
As the words penetrated Penny's consciousness, she became instantly
alert. She too sat up, listening. Someone was pounding on the front door.
"What shall we do?" Rosanna whispered in terror.
Penny sprang from bed and snapped on the light. "I'm going to dress and
go down. It may be Caleb Eckert."
"Or a ghost," Rosanna chattered. "If you're going down, so am I."
With the appearance of a light in the bedroom, the clanging on the door
increased in violence. Penny, who was dressing as rapidly as she could,
began to grow irritated.
"Are they trying to break down the door?" she grumbled. "I should think
whoever it is would know we're hurrying."
Without delaying to lace up her shoes, she ran down the stairs, Rosanna
close at her elbow. Before snapping on the living room lights the girls
peered out the window.
Slightly reassured by the appearance of the midnight visitors, they
cautiously unbolted the front door.
Mrs. Everett Leeds and her daughter Alicia, swept into the room. Both
were bedraggled and obviously out of sorts.
Mrs. Leeds shook the rain from her cape, flung her wet hat into the
nearest chair, and then coldly surveyed the two girls.
"What are you doing here, may I ask?" she inquired.
"We _were_ sleeping," Penny smiled.
"I mean, what are you doing in this house?"
"It seems to belong to Rosanna," Penny said evenly. "She inherited it
from her uncle, Jacob Winters."
Mrs. Leeds' expression was difficult to interpret. For an instant she
looked stunned. But she quickly recovered her poise.
"Nonsense!" she said shortly. "This house belongs to me. Jacob Winters
was my cousin. He died recently, leaving me everything. I have a letter
and key to prove it. Naturally I couldn't use my key to get into the
house for you had it bolted from the inside."
Mrs. Leeds looked accusingly at the girls as she offered the letter to
Penny. A casual glance assured the girls that it was identical with the
one Rosanna had received and lost.
"It's too late to go into this tonight," Penny protested. "Let's discuss
it in the morning."
"Very well," Mrs. Leeds agreed coldly. "Where are we to sleep?"
Penny informed her that there were several empty bedrooms upstairs. She
led the way to the upper floor. Opening the door of one of the rooms, she
was surprised to see that it was not as well furnished as the bedroom
which she and Rosanna shared. Mrs. Leeds uttered an exclamation of
disgust.
"Surely you don't expect me to sleep here, Miss Nichols. The room is
dirty. Positively filthy."
"Look at that long cobweb hanging from the ceiling!" Alicia added
indignantly. "I'd have hysterics if I slept here."
"Perhaps the adjoining room is better," Penny commented.
An inspection revealed that if anything it was even more neglected.
"I'm afraid you'll just have to make the best of it for tonight," Penny
declared, "unless you care to drive on to the next town."
"We'll stay," Mrs. Leeds decided instantly. "I'd prefer to sit up all
night, rather than brave those horrible mountain roads again."
"We slipped into a ditch coming here," Alicia informed. "That's what made
us so late. We've had a terrible time."
In a closet at the end of the hall, Penny and Rosanna found blankets and
linen. As they made up the beds, neither Mrs. Leeds nor her daughter
offered to assist. It was after one o'clock when the girls went back to
their own room.
"Mrs. Leeds means to make trouble about the inheritance," Penny remarked
in an undertone as they snapped out the light once more. "I wonder if by
any chance she could have picked up your letter and key?"
"Oh, I doubt it," Rosanna returned. "I remember when we were at Mt.
Ashland she dropped the hint that she was going to Raven Ridge. At least,
she acted strangely when we mentioned the place."
"Yes, she did. I had forgotten for the moment. Oh well, in the morning
we'll learn exactly what she intends to do."
Penny rolled over and soon was sleeping soundly. Toward morning she awoke
to hear a clock somewhere in the house chiming four. At first she thought
nothing of it, then it occurred to her that no one had wound any of the
timepieces the previous evening. While she was musing over such an odd
happening her keen ears detected the sound of soft footsteps in the long
hall outside.
"It's probably Mrs. Leeds or her daughter," she reasoned.
The sounds persisted. At length Penny quietly arose and tiptoed to the
door. She looked out into the dark hall. No one was within sight. Mrs.
Leeds' door was closed.
Penny went back to bed, taking care not to awaken Rosanna. Scarcely had
she pulled the blankets up than the soft pad of footsteps could be heard
again.
"I hope it isn't that ghost Caleb warned us about," she thought uneasily.
"Oh, bother! I know there aren't any ghosts!"
Penny closed her eyes and tried to sleep but found it quite impossible.
Even after the noise in the hall ceased she caught herself listening for
the footsteps. At a quarter to seven she dressed and stole downstairs to
see what she could find for breakfast.
At eight o'clock when Rosanna came into the kitchen, Penny had coffee,
cereal and crisp bacon ready.
"The larder seems very well supplied," she informed cheerfully. "Someone
left milk on our doorstep too. I imagine it must have been Caleb."
"I'm hungry enough to eat anything," Rosanna declared. "Shall I call Mrs.
Leeds and Alicia?"
"Yes, do, although I don't know how they'll take to my cooking."
Rosanna went upstairs to rap on Mrs. Leeds' door. She returned a minute
later, reporting that neither of the guests would be down for breakfast.
"They were quite put out at being disturbed so early," she told Penny
ruefully.
"We'll let them get their own breakfasts then. Come on, we'll have ours
anyway."
Penny had learned to cook very well under the tutelage of Mrs. Gallup.
She had done remarkably well with the meager supplies at her disposal and
Rosanna declared that the breakfast was excellent.
The girls had finished the dishes and were stacking them away when Alicia
came down the stairs.
"Mother and I will take our breakfast now," she informed.
Rosanna started toward the kitchen, but Penny neatly blocked the way.
"Sorry," she said cheerfully, "but we've just finished ours. You'll find
supplies in the kitchen."
Alicia started to reply but without waiting to hear what she might have
to say, Penny and Rosanna went out the back door.
"While she cools off we may as well look over the grounds," Penny
laughed. "If Mrs. Leeds and Alicia expect to get along with me, they'll
have to learn that this household is going to operate on a cafeteria
basis."
From the rear door a sandstone path led down a steep incline to the brow
of a high cliff. A river wound its way directly below, emptying into a
crystal blue lake. Deep in the pine woods, some distance from the path, a
cabin could be seen. The girls decided that it must belong to Caleb
Eckert.
While they were admiring the rugged scenery, someone came up behind them.
They wheeled about to face Caleb himself.
"Well, well, you both look bright and gay this morning," he greeted
heartily. "Sleep well?"
"Quite well," Rosanna told him shyly. "That is, we did until the visitors
arrived."
"Visitors?"
Rosanna explained about Mrs. Leeds and her daughter while Penny added
omitted details. For some reason they both were beginning to feel that
Caleb was their ally.
"All this talk about letters and keys and inheritances certainly has me
puzzled," he proclaimed, shaking his head. "It's hard to believe that
Jacob Winters is dead. I think I'll walk back to the house with you and
have a little talk with Mrs. Leeds."
"Did you leave milk at our doorstep this morning?" Penny questioned as
they returned together.
Caleb admitted that he had placed it there.
"You've been very kind," Rosanna said gratefully. "I want to thank you
before we leave."
"You're not aiming to leave today?" Caleb asked quickly.
"Well, yes, I imagine we will. I don't feel right about staying here."
Caleb lowered his voice. "Take my advice, Miss Winters, and don't leave
while that other woman and her daughter are here. From what you've told
me, I think they mean to grab the property."
"But what can I do?" Rosanna asked helplessly. "I've lost my letter and
the key. I haven't any proof that the property was left to me."
"Maybe this Leeds woman hasn't any proof that it was left to her either,"
Caleb said sagely. "Anyway, we'll find out what she has to say."
At first, Mrs. Leeds, accosted in the living room of the old house, had
little comment to make. She was out of sorts from lack of sleep the
previous night, and the breakfast which she and Alicia had endeavored to
cook had not been a success. Nor was she impressed with Caleb who wore
high boots, an old pair of dirty trousers and a crumpled felt hat.
"I don't see why I should discuss my business affairs with you," she said
aloofly. "I have inherited this property from my cousin and I mean to
remain here in possession of it indefinitely if necessary."
"May I see the letter which you say you received?" Caleb inquired.
Mrs. Leeds hesitated, then reluctantly handed it over. Caleb studied it
briefly and returned it.
"You will require more than this as evidence of Mr. Winters' death," he
said quietly. "For all I know, you may have forged this letter."
"Preposterous!" Mrs. Leeds snapped. "I refuse to discuss the matter with
you further. I shall send for my attorney and he will straighten out
everything."
"Not without the will, he can't," Caleb returned grimly. "And there's no
telling what became of it."
"The will?" Mrs. Leeds caught him up. "Are you sure there was a will?"
"Mr. Winters told me once that he had made one and hidden it somewhere in
the house."
"Then of course it can be found."
"Mr. Winters wouldn't want anyone prying around in his private papers,"
Caleb insisted. "Until I have definite word that he is dead, I can't let
anyone hunt for it."
"I shouldn't call searching for the will exactly prying!" Mrs. Leeds
retorted indignantly. "What right have you to say what is to be done
here? Are you the caretaker?"
"Well, not exactly, but Mr. Winters asked me to look after things until
he got back."
"That will must be found."
Caleb's face tightened. "Mrs. Leeds," he said severely, "I repeat, things
in this house must not be disturbed."
Mrs. Leeds drew herself up proudly. "Unquestionably, the will leaves
everything to me."
"That may be," Caleb acknowledged, "but this girl here has a claim too."
He indicated Rosanna.
Mrs. Leeds froze her with a glance. Her eyes snapped like brands of fire
as she listened to Rosanna's account of the letter and key. But a look of
relief, which was not lost upon either of the girls, came over her face
as she learned that they had been misplaced.
"The story sounds ridiculous to me," Mrs. Leeds declared coldly. "If you
can't produce the letter or the key, what proof have you that you
actually are Jacob Winters' niece?"
"I could get evidence within a few days," Rosanna declared. "The letter
and key may show up too."
"I think perhaps you dropped them in the car," Penny interrupted. "Let's
look now."
Leaving Mrs. Leeds and Caleb embroiled in another argument, they went
outside where the automobile had been parked near the house. A careful
search of the flooring and pockets of the car did not reveal the missing
letter or key. Rosanna was completely discouraged.
"Do you think Mrs. Leeds could have picked it up?" she asked gloomily.
"I don't see how," Penny returned thoughtfully. "But there's one thing
certain. She intends to make trouble. You surely don't intend to go away
from here while she and her daughter are camped in the house?"
"What else can we do?"
"Send a wire to Dad that we're staying on a day or two," Penny answered
instantly.
"But won't that inconvenience both of you?"
"No, I suspect Dad will be grateful for the rest and as for myself, I'd
enjoy seeing this thing through."
It required little urging to convince Rosanna of the wisdom of remaining
on the scene. She had taken an immediate dislike to Mrs. Leeds and her
daughter, and agreed with Penny that they were determined to claim more
than a rightful share of the inheritance.
Once the girls arrived at a decision they lost no time in driving to the
nearest town where Penny dispatched a message to her father. Noticing an
inviting looking restaurant, they ate lunch before motoring back to the
Winters' mansion. It was nearly two o'clock when they reached the Ridge
again.
An unfamiliar car stood on the driveway. Penny was certain it did not
belong to Mrs. Leeds for her mud-splattered sedan was parked some
distance away.
"It looks like more visitors," she commented as they crossed the veranda
together.
At the doorway both girls involuntarily paused. Mrs. Leeds was engaged in
conversation with a stranger.
For an instant Penny and Rosanna stood and stared. It was the same man
who had refused them help on the road.