Madge Turns Sleuth
Nine o’clock found Madge waiting at the pine grove which adjoined the
Swenster Mansion. She stationed herself near a street lamp where Cara
could not fail to see her. Ten minutes elapsed, then fifteen.
Glancing impatiently at her watch, Madge decided it was useless to wait
longer for her friend. Slowly she walked on toward the mansion.
Suddenly she heard a shout from behind, and turned to see Cara running
after her. She was out of breath by the time she caught up.
“Sorry to be so late,” she apologized. “I was afraid I’d not get away at
all. Mother and Dad were going to an ice cream social and didn’t see any
reason why I shouldn’t go along. I’ll not dare stay out later than
eleven.”
“Neither will I. Let’s hope something interesting happens before that.”
“Just what do you expect?”
“I don’t really expect anything, but I’d like very much to learn the
identity of your strange ghost.”
The girls slipped into a side street leading to the rear of the mansion.
They found the gate locked and since they were unable to work the trick
catch, were forced to climb over again.
Under the soft, weird light of the moon, the Swenster mansion looked far
different than by daylight. Even Madge was willing to admit there was
something sinister about the place.
“I wonder if the spade is still here?” she thought aloud.
They found it under the lilac bush, but not in the exact place where they
had left it on the previous visit.
“Someone has used it again!” Madge exclaimed. “Oh, I wish we had watched
last night!”
“I’m glad we didn’t,” Cara said nervously. “I’m not keen on watching
tonight either.”
Madge paid not the slightest attention to her friend’s gentle hints that
they leave. She surveyed the garden, looking for a suitable hiding place.
A huge rhododendron bush offered a possibility and she went over to
examine it.
“This will serve nicely,” she decided. “We’ll be well hidden, and if
necessary we can probably slip out the front way without being seen by
anyone in the garden.”
Cara allowed herself to be dragged under the rhododendron although
secretly she felt that it was a silly and undignified thing to do. She
sank down on the ground gingerly, fearing to soil her silk frock.
“Better make yourself comfortable,” Madge advised cheerfully. “We’re
likely to be here a long time.”
The prediction came true with a vengeance. Minutes dragged like hours.
The girls talked for a time, but soon exhausted all topics of
conversation. Their limbs became cramped and they shifted from one
position to another. Cara yawned several times and once dozed off for a
few minutes.
“Isn’t it most eleven?” she asked hopefully. “I must be home by that
time.”
Madge looked at her watch which she could plainly see under the bright
moonlight.
“We’ve been here only a little more than an hour,” she informed. “It’s
too early to go home yet.”
Cara sighed and shifted to a new position. The adventure had lost all its
original thrill and terror. It was deadly monotonous to lie there
watching for something which likely never would come. Madge cheered her
friend with good natured “kidding,” but she too was beginning to wonder
if they had not wasted the evening.
“Let’s go home,” Cara said presently. “I don’t care what time it is, I’ve
had about enough. Even the ice cream social would have been more fun than
this. I’ll be surprised if I can walk in the morning—every muscle in my
poor body is lame.”
“All right,” Madge gave in reluctantly. “I suppose we may as well call it
a night. Not much chance—” she broke off, grasping Cara by the hand.
“Look!” she whispered tensely. “Someone is coming!”
Cara turned her head to gaze toward the rear gate. Cold chills raced down
her spine. A man was standing at the fence, and she was certain it was
the same person she had seen on the night of the initiation. He wore a
white sweater which evidently had been the one thing that had impressed
her before. At the time she had been so frightened that it had registered
upon her mind as “something white” and she had jumped to the conclusion
that a ghost was abroad.
The man looked quickly about in all directions, then unfastened the gate
and entered the yard.
“He’s been here before all right,” Cara whispered, “or he wouldn’t know
how to get that gate open.”
“Sh!” Madge warned.
She had not taken her eyes from the man. He walked directly to the lilac
bush and picked up the spade. He was still too far away for her to see
his face plainly.
The girls watched breathlessly as he walked slowly into the garden,
pausing a short distance from the sundial. They saw him gaze thoughtfully
about, and then he began to turn up the earth with his spade.
“He’s not digging where he did before,” Cara whispered. “I wish he would
turn this way so we could see his face.”
Again Madge warned her friend to be silent, and they crouched motionless,
watching, for perhaps ten minutes the man spaded steadily. Then with an
exclamation of impatience, he refilled the hole.
“Is he crazy?” Cara whispered, forgetting the admonition to remain
silent.
Madge shook her head to show that the man’s actions were a complete
mystery to her.
The man rested a few minutes, and with his back still toward the
rhododendron bush, then began to excavate another hole, only a few feet
from the first one.
“He’s searching for something,” Madge thought. “But what in the world
does he expect to find?”
She was very curious to learn the identity of the stranger and waited
patiently until he turned toward her. The light shone full on his face.
She had never seen him before.
Madge glanced questioningly at her chum. Cara shook her head in
bewilderment. The man was a stranger to her also.
It was growing late and in spite of their keen desire to learn all there
was to know, the girls dared remain no longer. They decided to wait until
the man’s back was turned and attempt to slip around to the front of the
house.
“If we’re caught, it may not be so nice,” Cara whispered nervously.
They awaited their chance and softly crept from under the bush. Scarcely
had they emerged than the man straightened, dropping his spade. It was
too late to retreat. The girls could only freeze themselves against the
foliage, praying that they would not be seen. And at that moment, he
turned and looked directly toward the rhododendron bush!