Edith Lavell

“ Alone in the room, she undressed quickly, hanging her clothing on a chair, for she could not bring herself to use that big, old closet, filled with Miss Grant’s things. She was very tired, and, thankful that the night was so much cooler than the preceding one, she blew out the lamp and crawled into bed.
The utter blackness of the room was rather appalling, even to a courageous girl like Mary Louise. ”

“ The girls started off immediately through the streets of Riverside to the lonely road that led to Dark Cedars.
“I sort of wish we had Silky with us,” observed Jane as they approached the house. “He is a protection.”
Mary Louise laughed.
“But there isn’t anything to protect us from! Elsie said nothing ever happened in the daytime.”
A stifled sob coming from under the cedar trees caused the girls to stop abruptly and peer in among the low branches. There, half concealed by the thick growth, sat Elsie Grant, crying bitterly. ”

“ The grayish-colored ivy which grew over the house seemed to emphasize its aspect of the past.
[15]
“Isn’t Miss Grant supposed to be rich?” whispered Jane incredulously. “It doesn’t look like it!”
“They say she’s a miser. Hoards every cent she can get.” Mary Louise smiled. “I believe I’ll tell Daddy to report her for hoarding. She deserves it!”
“Better wait and find out whether she really is rich, hadn’t you?” returned Jane. “Your father’s a busy man.”
Mary Louise nodded and looked at her dog.
“You lie down, Silky,” she commanded, “and wait here for us. Miss Grant probably wouldn’t like you. ”

“ We believe you.”
“Aunt Mattie did everything but torture me to get a confession out of me. She said if I didn’t own up to it and give it back she’d send me to a reform school, and I’d be branded as a criminal for the rest of my life.”
“She couldn’t do that!” exclaimed Mary Louise furiously. “If she has no proof ... I’ll tell you what I’ll do, Elsie! I’ll put my father on the case when he comes home! He’s a detective on the police force, and he’s just wonderful. He’ll find the real thief.” ”

“ Elsie began. “She hasn’t any faith in banks, she says, because they are always closing, so all her money is in this safe. I’ve often heard Aunt Grace try to make Aunt Mattie stop hoarding, but Aunt Mattie always refuses. She loves to have it where she can see it and count it.”
“A regular miser,” remarked Jane.
“Yes. It’s her one joy in life—besides the little kitten. Every morning after breakfast she opens that safe and counts her money over again.”
“Doesn’t she ever spend any?” asked Mary Louise. ”

“ If a person is missing, it’s the law’s duty to step in and try to find him or her. The loss of the necklace is a different matter, which concerns the Grant family alone.”
Mary Louise nodded and picked up her suitcase. She wanted to be alone in her own room; she felt too miserable to talk to anybody—even her father. What would be the use of telling him about her interview with Mrs. Jones, or the establishment of Hannah Groben’s alibi? He no longer entertained any suspicions about these people: the finger of accusation pointed too surely at Elsie Grant. ”

“ The girls in the attic had quieted down; the house was in absolute silence. Mary Louise, too, lay very still. Listening.... She almost believed that she heard somebody breathing!
“But that’s absurd!” she reprimanded herself sharply. “It couldn’t be a ghost, as Hannah insists, for ghosts don’t breathe. And it couldn’t be a robber trying to get into the house, or Silky would be barking. That dog has keen ears.”
She turned over and put the thought out of her mind by recalling the high lights of the picnic, and soon dozed off. ”

“ Gay drove the two adventurers over to Dark Cedars and let them out at the hedge. Mary Louise, with Silky at her heels, led the way up to the house.
“It is a gloomy-looking place,” observed her father as he followed her through the trees. “Yet it could be made very attractive.”
Mary Louise shuddered.
“Nobody would ever want to live here after all the ghost stories get around. You know how people exaggerate, and the stories are bad enough as they are.”
“The porch certainly needs paint and repairs. It’s a wonder Miss Grant hasn’t fallen down and broken her neck.” ”

“ Accustomed as she was to the street lights of Riverside, the darkness was thick and strange, for the denseness of the trees about Dark Cedars shut out even the sky, with its stars, from the windows. But Mary Louise closed her eyes immediately, resolved not to let anything so trivial bother her. ”

“ Mary Louise smiled: she was almost glad that the girl had not been found. It gave her more time to believe in Elsie’s innocence.
“Do you think she could have been kidnaped, Daddy?” she inquired. “People are, pretty often, nowadays.”
[216]
“But they’re always rich or important,” returned Mr. Gay. “No: that’s one of the blessings of being poor—nobody would kidnap Elsie Grant unless he knew that she had the ruby necklace. Then the criminal would be much more likely to steal it and let her go.” ”

“ No, there isn’t a thing anybody can do. Except wait until I’m old enough to work in somebody’s kitchen.”
“No!” protested Jane.
“But I thought if I could just see you two girls once in a while and talk to you, life wouldn’t seem so bad. If I could call you by your first names——”
“Of course you can,” Mary Louise assured her, and she told Elsie their names. “We’ll come over often. And I don’t believe your aunt will object, because she seems to like us.”
“She loves that kitten,” explained Elsie. “It’s the only thing in the world she does love, besides money.” ”

“ Hannah even counted the silver and found it was all there.”
“How does Hannah account for it? Or does she think, like your aunt, that you did it?” questioned Mary Louise.
“Hannah says it was ‘spirits.’ She says the spirits can’t rest as long as their old things are around. She wants Aunt Mattie to burn or give away all the old clothing in the house. She says dead people’s clothes are possessed.”
Jane let out a peal of laughter, but Mary Louise warned her to be quiet. “We mustn’t get Elsie into trouble,” she explained. ”

“ The Robbery
The house in which Mary Louise’s family lived was as different from the Grants’ as day is from night. It was painted white, and its smooth green lawn was dotted here and there with bright flower beds. Modern, airy, and filled with sunshine, the house itself looked like the home of a happy family, which the Gays were—as their name implied. ”