Laura Lee Hope

“ The car was now descending a slope, and soon Shadow Valley was out of sight, as was the strange old mansion. The girls breathed easier, and perhaps the boys did also, for, though nothing had actually occurred, the reputation of the place, and the sudden and startling appearance of the old man, had given them all a thrill.
"This is the second time some one has tumbled out almost under our auto," said Mollie, as they turned on a road toward Deepdale. "The third time may not be so lucky for them—or for us." ”

“ Mollie offered the man some change, but he declined with a laugh and reddened under his tan.
"Then do have some lunch!" said Betty, understanding his embarrassment.
"And chocolates," added Grace, generously.
"I will," he said. "It's hard work driving a big car like mine—all alone."
"Oh, is it your car?" asked Mollie. "I thought——" and as the young man nodded she understood why he had refused the money. He was the owner.
"Oh, girls!" exclaimed Mollie, when he had gone, "and to think that I wanted to pay him—maybe he's a millionaire." ”

“ But I want to do that later, when I can better appreciate what I see, so I asked mamma if I couldn't use the money for a car, and she allowed me to. The result—you now behold," and she patted the steering wheel.
"We do more than merely behold it," said Grace. "It was sweet of you to ask us for a spin."
"Why wouldn't I, when Betty has been having us off on a criuse in her motor boat?" replied Mollie. Then she cried: "Oh, dear! There's a dog!" for one was in the road ahead.
"He can't bite us—up here," said Betty. "Unless you are afraid of your tires." ”

“ Mollie was a practical girl, as must needs be one who drives an auto. She had pockets—a woeful lack with many—and matches.
It was the work of but a few seconds to set aglow the extinguished lantern, and how Mollie blessed the thought that had prompted taking both side lights with them. Otherwise she would have had to remain in the gloom. The lantern had not broken in the fall, and soon a cheerful glow made the room less gloomy, though it was a large apartment, and there were many flickering shadows, while the corners seemed in total darkness. ”

“ How could she be here?" asked Mollie.
"Well, it's not very plausible," admitted Betty. "But some one is certainly in this place."
"Don't say that!" cried Grace.
"Don't be silly," advised Betty. "Why, of course some one is here, or has been here. Else how would that food get here? That is not ghostly, at all events. It was very material, and satisfying, and I'm deeply grateful for it. It stands to reason that some one expected to eat it.
"My theory is that some one, traveling perhaps like ourselves, only maybe not in an auto, was overtaken by the storm. ”

“ You should have thrown the candy in her mouth—not in her face," laughed Betty, and then Grace smiled instead of frowning, and the four chums—the Outdoor Girls, as they had come to be called from living so much in the open—walked across the lawn to the waiting car."
"It certainly is a beauty!" declared Grace, as her eyes, and those of her friends, took in all the details of the auto. "Mollie, you are a lucky girl, and so is Betty with her motor boat. Amy, I wonder what good fortune is coming to us?" ”

“ The car had stopped in front of her house, and Mollie had said she would leave the other girls at their residences.
"Oh, don't bother," Betty had protested. "You must be tired, and it's only a step."
"No, we must do this in style!" decided Mollie. "What is the use of a motor car if one can't bring one's friends home in the proper mode?" And she had her way.
The auto was to be kept in a public garage until Mrs. Billette could have one built on her own premises, and, leaving her machine with the man in charge, Mollie walked home. ”

“ Maybe they can get us a meal—if we pay for it."
"There's no one living in this house—I'm sure of that!" declared Amy. "Smell the musty odor—and—see——" she pushed open a door leading from the hall, and directed Betty's hand so that the lantern flashed inside. The room was bare and empty. "No one at all," she insisted. "The house is deserted."
"Well, so much the better," declared Grace. "That is, if there are no—no——" she did not finish, but looked around rather apprehensively.
"Ghosts—say it!" commanded Betty, sharply. "The oftener you use the word the less it will frighten you." ”

“ If we could get a man, now——"
"Or even a good-sized boy," broke in Mollie.
"Yes, even a boy would do," conceded Betty. "We could get him to go with us into the other part of the house. There was where all the manifestations seemed to come from."
"Well, let's go to the front door and look," proposed Cousin Jane. "That can do no harm, and really I don't like to think of anyone being in distress."
"Especially after we've eaten his lunch," put in Grace.
"How do you know but that it is a 'her' and not a 'him'?" asked Mollie.
"Nobody but a man would come in here after dark." ”

“ Girls, did you ever see such glorious hair!' Betty caressed it. Truly there was a mass of it, and it was of beautiful silkness and softness. It was still partly bound up, but the autoists could easily tell that it must reach almost to the ground when the girl stood up.
"What in the world could she have been doing up the tree?" asked Grace, as Mollie came back with more water.
"It is the oddest thing," agreed Betty, bathing the stranger's face and wrists.
"Are you sure we didn't hit her with the auto?" asked Mollie, tremblingly. ”

“ But Betty paid no heed to her chum. Instead she exclaimed:
"Mr. Blackford! It's Mr. Blackford—the man who lost the five hundred dollar bill!"
"What!" cried Amy.
"I certainly am that same Mr. Blackford," answered the young man, "and if these aren't the Outdoor Girls, I miss my guess!"
"That's who we are—all but one of us," spoke Betty. "Oh, it's true. Some one has Mollie a prisoner here! We tried to open the door, but it's locked. Will you come and help us try to batter it down?"
"I certainly will. But what are you doing here? Are you camping?" ”

“ The girls bought a few other things they found they had overlooked in starting off, and once more they got under way.
"Don't forget the ghost!" pleaded Mr. Lagg, as he waved farewell. "Get rid of it for me."
"Poor old man—he really means it," said Amy, "I wonder what can be in that house?"
"Bats and rats, most likely," said "Cousin Jane," as they all called her. "Bats and rats!"
"Worse than spooks—when they get in your hair," spoke Mollie. "Give me a nice clean ghost, that waltzes around in a two-step. Oh, girls, I hope we can go to a dance of two on our tour." ”

“ Then she advanced the spark and gas levers.
"Well, so far—so good!" spoke Amy, with a sigh of relief.
"I knew Mollie could do it," declared Betty. "Look out for that wagon, my dear," she cried, a second later.
"I see it," and Mollie gave it such a wide berth that she sent her car needlessly to the grassy part of the country highway that led out of Deepdale.
"I don't want more than my half of the road," good-naturedly called the farmer who was driving the horse-drawn vehicle. "If all motorists were as generous as you there'd be no complaints," and he smiled and lifted his cap. ”

“ As they waited and listened to the whining of the wind, the swish of the rain and the angry muttering of the thunder, and saw the vivid lightning, it was no wonder they did not want to decide hurriedly to go out in that out burst of the elements. But it was also trying on the nerves to stay in the stalled auto, exposed as it was by the lack of side curtains.
"Oh, let's try it!" suggested Betty in sheer desperation. "We can't any more than get drenched, and our rain coats will be some protection. Come on, girls." ”

“ The child, with a glad cry, dropped the goggles on the grass and sprang for Grace. Paul, too, joined in the race, and while Mollie picked up her recovered property the twins, with a new matter to contend about, gravely sat down on the lawn, and proceeded to divide the candy.
"Now come on!" cried Mollie, "before something else happens. Be good children!" she cautioned them, "and don't go away."
"No," they chorused, while Paul added:
"Bring us more tandy—not bery much here."
"Which speaks well for the appetite of Grace," murmured Amy. ”

“ The flashes were reflected from the room where he worked into the smaller house, by the big window panes."
"But why did he dress like a ghost?" asked Mollie.
"That was a big white garment he put on to avoid soiling his colthes when he made his hair-tonic mixture. And he really did mistake you for Carrie, Mollie. He admitted as much, and asked to be forgiven. It was his lunch you ate. He had prepared for a long stay in the house."
"Well, I guess we won't bother to pay for it," said Betty. "He's made trouble enough. Then the mansion isn't haunted, after all?" ”

“ Only the storm raged outside.
"Well, let's—let's——" began Mollie.
"Oh, come on!" cried Betty, as her chum hesitated. "At least we have lights."
"And I'm going to take off my wet coat," said Grace.
"Oh, if we could have a fire!"
"There's a fire place," said Betty, flashing her lamp into the room the door of which Amy had opened. "And, I do declare, some old boards and boxes! Why can't we have a fire?" ”

“ Will alighted from the auto, and, going as far as the edge of the muddy road, looked critically at the stalled wagon. Then he asked:
"Have you a long rope?"
"Not a very long one," said the boy peddler, "but I have one that may do. I'll get it," and he delved in the rear of his vehicle.
"What's the game?" asked Frank.
"I was going to see if we couldn't pull him out of the hole," replied Will. "If the rope is long enough to reach from his wagon to the auto, and the rope holds, and his wagon doesn't pull apart with the strain, we can do it."
"Oh, I hope we can!" cried Mollie. "We must try." ”

“ Oh, please help us!" screamed Grace.
"Hello, there! What's the trouble?" asked a pleasant voice. "I'll be with you in a minute. Whoa there, Jack, old man! Don't get uneasy. Show your light, please, so I can see where you are."
Betty flashed her lantern, and in its rays a man came up the weed-grown path. The girls were almost crying for sheer relief. ”

“ I have told him time and again never to get into the car alone."
The four girls ran swiftly across the lawn—yes, swiftly, for no such creations as "hobble skirts" hindered them. Fortunately Mrs. Billette, whose French nature was easily excited had not seen the happening. Dodo was out with the maid.
"Paul! Paul!" cried Mollie. "Put on the brake! Stop the car!"
"It doesn't seem to be going very fast," panted Betty, as she kept on beside Grace.
"He hasn't thrown in the gear—that's one good thing," exclaimed Grace. ”

“ Her chums knew what it meant—that above everything else she would have preferred having the mystery of her identity solved.
"Well, if we're going to mote—let's mote!" exclaimed Mollie, perhaps with a desire to change the subject. "I'm going to take you for a nice long spin."
"Aren't you nervous to think of being at the wheel without some one beside to help you in case of emergency?" asked Betty.
"Were you, in the Gem?" retorted Mollie.
"A little, but then, you know, a motor boat doesn't go as fast as a car—somehow you seem to have a better chance in case of collisions, or accidents." ”

“ But I ought to be going."
"Then come with us," invited Betty. "We have plenty of room in the car, and we can take you to your friends, to a hotel, or anywhere you like to."
"And we can take you to our homes," added Mollie. "We have not far to go, and, as we are only touring for pleasure, we have no schedule to upset. Come with us. We have finished our ghost hunt."
"Then let us get away from here before my guardian happens to come back," suggested the girl. ”

“ Grace complained.
"Let's finish the meal," suggested Mollie. "There is some left, and there's no telling when the owner—or owners—may come along. If we've eaten it all up they can't do any more than make us pay for it, which we are perfectly willing to do. But if there's some food still left they might stop us from eating it. So let's begin again, girls."
"I've had all I want," faltered Grace.
"She's sorry because there are no chocolates," laughed Betty.
"No, I'm just too nervous to eat any more," said the tall, willowy one. ”

“ I told how Mollie, Betty, Amy and Grace, four girls of Deepdale, a town in the heart of New York State, organized a little club for camping and tramping. They went on a tour of about two hundred miles, stopping at night with friends or relatives, and on that tramp they solved a queer mystery having to do with a five hundred dollar bill—solved it very much to the satisfaction of a certain young man. ”

“ Of course you can't use the self-starter, since your storage battery is out of order, but we can crank up in the old-fashioned way."
"The car generates its own current when it is running," said Mollie. "But to-day I have been running on an extra battery, as something seemed to be the matter with the other one. I must have it looked to."
Mr. Blackford whirled the crank, and at once there sounded the welcome throb of the powerful motor.
"Oh, joy!" cried Betty. "Now we can go!"
The auto was indeed in running order again. ”

“ I wouldn't want you to run any risks, you know."
"Why don't you undertake it yourself?" asked Betty.
"I can't spare the time. I am needed at my store. That boy is sure to wrap up the wrong kind of tea or sugar, and my customers are very particular. And as for the poetry end of the business, he is no good at that at all. No, I can't spare the time."
"But if you think those doctors have an object in making the mansion appear haunted," spoke Grace, "why do you not go to the authorities and complain? Surely they would do something for you." ”

“ She saw Mollie and Grace in the car, a young man, with a professional air about him, at the steering wheel.
"That's Dr. Brown!" exclaimed Mrs. Meckelburn, "but I didn't know he could drive one of them things."
"I guess Mollie got too nervous," explained Betty.
The doctor caught up his bag and hurried toward the house, followed by Grace and Mollie.
"An accident!" he exclaimed in brisk tones, bowing to Betty and Amy, and taking in the woman in his greeting. "Where is she?'
"In my bed room, Dr. Brown," said Mrs. Meckelburn. "I do hope there's nothing much the matter with the poor dear." ”

“ Mollie was always glad to help people.
"Wa'al," said the man slowly, "if you had a new axle it would be a help. But I know you haven't. What riles me most though, is that the rascal will get away from me."
"Are you after some one?" asked Mr. Blackford, catching at the man's words.
"Yes, I am; after as slick a swindler as has been around these parts in a long time. He done me out of a bunch of money not long ago, and only a little while ago I got word that the same man is peddling stuff in Franklin. I hitched up, as soon as I could, intending to go to Franklin and have him arrested. ”