CHAPTER XIII
THE MYSTERY OF THE ATTIC
THE sound of running feet was heard on the floor below following Ruth'scry for help. Olive, Mollie and Grace had heard it from the foot of thestairs on the ground floor. Mr. and Mrs. Presby, sitting in the diningroom, had also heard the cry and started for the stairs. Tom, who wasdown in the cellar, heard the girls running, and started up the stairsthree steps at a time, instinctively realizing that something was wrong.His first thought was that the girls in the garret had set the house onfire.
The three girls fairly tore up the stairs to the attic in response toRuth's cry, getting in each other's way on the narrow stairs as theyran. Tom was close at their heels, while his father and mother followedmore slowly.
At first they could distinguish nothing but Ruth's figure dimly outlinedin a haze of dust that filled the air.
"Fire!" cried Grace.
"No!" roared Tom. "It's dust. Somebody's been kicking up a fine smudgehere. What's the matter? Have you folks gone crazy?"
"Ruth! Ruth! What is it?" cried Olive.
"It's Bab," moaned Ruth.
"Bab?" cried the girls.
For the first time since reaching the attic their thoughts turned toBarbara Thurston. But where was she? Nowhere in sight. Mr. Presby camelimping into the room, followed by his wife very much out of breath.
"Wha--wha--what is the cause of all this uproar?" demanded Mr. Presbytestily.
"It's Bab! It's Bab, I tell you," almost screamed Ruth. "Oh, what hashappened?"
"That's what we would like to know," retorted Mr. Presby.
"Where is Bab?" demanded Tom, who had been nosing around the room like aterrier.
"She--she's gone," moaned Ruth. Her face was pale, her eyes wide withfright. Tom rushed to the windows, which were tightly closed.
"What fell?" he questioned sharply, halting in front of Ruth.
"I--I don't know. I--I wasn't here. I was at the foot of the garretstairs when I heard that terrible crash."
The dust, slowly settling, gave them a clearer view of the attic.Barbara Thurston was not in sight.
"What has become of Bab? Why don't you look behind the chests?"demanded Mollie, gathering up her skirts, darting here and there,kicking aside the heaps of old clothing that had been turned out on thefloor.
Mollie paused with a dazed look in her eyes.
"She's gone," whispered the girl.
"Yes, she's gone, all right," answered Tom. "I know what she has done.She's played a trick on all of you. I know her. She is a sharp one.She'd catch you napping when you were looking right at her. She musthave gone downstairs after you did, and----"
"No, no," protested Ruth excitedly. "She never left this attic by thestairway."
"Calm yourself, my dear," begged Mr. Presby in a somewhat more gentlevoice, at the same time laying a hand on Ruth Stuart's shoulder. "Nowlet us understand this affair. You say Barbara was up here--she did notgo downstairs with you?"
"No, no!" exclaimed Mollie. "She was reading that old journal when wewent down. We left her sitting right there. Don't you remember, youasked us to call Barbara downstairs? You wanted to see the diary of oldMr. Presby, and Ruth went upstairs to call her."
"Yes, yes. Ruth, how do you know that Barbara was here when you calledto her?"
"Because she answered me," replied Ruth.
"What next? Did her voice sound as if she were here in the attic?"
"Yes. I know she was here."
"Was that when you cried out?"
"No. That awful crash came a few seconds after she had answered me. Iran up here as fast as my feet would carry me. At first the dust was sothick I was unable to make out anything clearly. I called to Bab but shedid not answer me. I then ran about the room in search of her, thinkingthat she had fallen and hurt herself. But she wasn't here," wailed Ruth."Oh, what shall I do?"
"Calm yourself. That is the first thing to be done. There is somethingmysterious about this. I wish Bob Stevens were here."
"I sent Tom for him. Did you see Mr. Stevens, Tom?"
"No. I sent word by one of the hired hands," admitted Tom sheepishly."I--I wanted to do some work in the cellar."
"Then go at once," commanded Mr. Presby sternly.
"Wait!" exclaimed Ruth. "I'll drive the car, storm or no storm. The coldair will help me to brace up. How far is it to Mr. Stevens' house?"
"Mile and a half," answered Tom.
"Come with me, Tommy. We will be there and back in twenty minutes. Doyou know the way?"
"Yes, he knows the way. He knows too much about everything in theseparts," answered Mr. Presby testily. "I will telephone to Mr. Stuart."
"Oh, don't, please. At least--not un--until I get back. Per--perhaps Mr.Stevens may find her."
"He will, if anyone can," declared Olive. Everyone in the room wasoverwhelmed with the mystery of it all. That a person could disappear socompletely from a room that had only one entrance and with that entranceguarded at the moment passed all comprehension.
Once more Mollie set herself to examining every nook and corner of theroom. She even raised the lids of the closed trunks and chests, thinkingthat possibly Barbara might have hidden in one of them. There was notrace whatever of the missing girl.
"Has anyone found the diary?" questioned Olive.
"Could it be that she fell through a trap in the floor?" queried Grace.
"There are no traps in the floor," answered Mr. Presby sharply.
"If there were, and Bab had fallen in, she would have dropped into oneof our rooms," explained Olive. "I believe I will go all over thehouse," she decided as an afterthought.
"We will go with you," declared Grace. "Oh, Bab, Bab; where are you?"Grace broke into a paroxysm of heart-breaking sobs. This was too muchfor Mollie, who began sobbing also.
"Come, come, girls; this won't do," chided Olive. "We must keep ourheads clear. Something has happened to Bab, but I'll venture to say thatshe is all right, no matter where she is."
"But--but if she _is_ all right, why doesn't she call to us?" questionedMollie, gazing at Olive through her tears.
Olive was unable to answer that question. The same thought had occurredto her. Now Mr. Presby began thumping the sides of the room with hiscane. They understood his purpose and waited in breathless silence untilhe had gone all the way around the room.
"All sounds alike," he announced. "I didn't know but there might beanother of those secret passages up here. I see, however, that it is notpossible. Come, there is nothing to be gained by remaining here. Come,Mollie. Do not take it too much to heart," soothed Mr. Presby.
Mollie was now leaning against the wall with head buried in her arms,crying softly. The others had started for the stairway. A servant cameup the stairs and announced that Ruth had telephoned from the Stevensplace saying that Bob Stevens had gone to Brightwaters, and that she wasgoing there to find him.
"Good gracious! What was that?" screamed Mrs. Presby, gripping herhusband's arm with both hands as a mighty crash shook the building. Aviolent current of air smote them, another cloud of suffocating dustfilled the air.
"Mollie's gone, too!" screamed Grace Carter.