CHAPTER XVIII The Figure in Red
Arden Blake fairly jumped into her bedside slippers, drew on a dressinggown, and in an instant was at the window.
"What's the matter?" sleepily inquired Terry, who was in the other twinbed. "Has anything happened?"
"It's snowing again," Arden answered. "I awoke a little while ago and Iheard tiny tappings against the window. I wondered what it was and Iwaited a decent time, so I shouldn't awaken you, to find out."
"Nothing to do with the mystery, has it?" yawned Terry.
"No, silly! It's just snowing. It's going to be a glorious storm, muchbetter than the other little fairy we had, I believe, and oh, don't youjust love snow for Christmas?"
"That's so, Christmas is coming," Terry admitted as she sat up in her bedand watched Arden, still at the window. "What time is it?"
"Nearly eight. Too sleepy still to see the faithful clock right beforeyou," teased Arden.
"Sim and Dot up yet?"
"I haven't heard them moving." Arden inclined an ear toward the roomacross the hall where their hostess and the other girl slept.
"Well, then, come on back to bed," urged Terry. "No use getting up untilSim does. And we stayed up so late last night, talking to Harry Pangborn,that I'm sleepy yet."
"I'm not, and I'm going to dress. I have something to do," declared Ardenwith a purposeful look on her face.
"What? Going to see Harry? I think he's awfully nice."
"He is, but I'm not going to see him. I'm going to the woods to get someholly branches. I noticed a lovely lot of bushes some distance back ofthe old Hall when I was wandering around by the cellar door that timeBetty Howe popped up out of it."
"With horror on her face, as they say in books," drawled Terry.
"Yes, she was terrified all right," admitted Arden. "Who wouldn't be,coming upon what looked like a dead man? And that's another thing we mustdo."
"My, aren't we the busy girls!" laughed Terry. "What else, for goodness'sakes? I might as well get up and dress, I suppose. There'll be no sleepfor me now with you barging around."
"Another thing we must do," said Arden as she began to dress, "is to seeto it that Jim Danton's poor little family gets some relief from Mr.Callahan or somebody. He was hurt while working for the contractor, andthe contractor should pay. That's the law."
"It wasn't exactly his fault, though," Terry argued. "Mr. Callahan mightclaim, as they say they do in some insurance policies, that it was an actof God, an unforeseen calamity, and so get out of it--I mean he might sayit was the ghost of Jockey Hollow."
"I hardly believe he would do that," remarked Arden, brushing her hairvigorously. "But it surely is puzzling. Well, we'll see what HarryPangborn can figure out of it, though I think, since we sort of promised,in a way we should try and do something for the Danton family. There isno social service agency around here."
"Yes, somebody must help them, and they seem nice folks, too. But aboutthis holly, what are you going to do with it specially?"
"Decorate this place for Christmas, of course. Coming with me?"
"I suppose so. Dot and Sim will, I imagine."
"Yes, we'll make a little party of it. Oh, I do love to walk in the snow,and it's coming down beautifully!" raved Arden. "Do come and look,Terry!"
"Wait until I get this shoe on. Though if we're going to tramp in thesnow I suppose I'd better wear heavier ones."
"You won't need them with arctics. But isn't it a glorious storm!"
Terry agreed that it was. The two chums finished dressing and went out inthe hall to go down for breakfast, which was evidently being prepared byMoselle and her dark daughter, as testified to by the rattling of dishesand the aroma of bacon and coffee floating up.
As Terry and Arden were walking toward the stairs, they heard the door ofSim's room open, and Dot came out, wearing a robe. She held her finger onher lips as a signal for silence.
"What's the matter?" whispered Arden.
"She has a bad headache," Dot replied. "She was awake a good part of thenight, and she's just fallen asleep. I thought I'd slip down and tellMoselle not to make any more noise than she can help. Sim needs quiet."
"Oh, that's too bad!" murmured Terry. "I wonder if there's anything wecan do?"
"No, I gave her some aspirin. She'll be all right. If you're going down,would you mind having that little slave bring me up some coffee? That'sall I want. I'll be waiting out in the hall so I won't disturb Sim byopening the door too often."
"It's too bad," murmured Terry again. "Can't you come down and have somebreakfast with us?"
"No, coffee is all I'll take. Some storm, isn't it?"
"Terry and I were going out for a walk in it," whispered Arden, "and togather some holly branches to decorate the place here for Christmas. Wehoped you and Sim would come, but if she has a headache I guess we'llpostpone the trip."
"No reason why you should," Dorothy argued, walking to the head of thestairs with the others to avoid whispering so much outside Sim's door."I'll stay here with her. I don't feel much like walking in the snow,though I love fresh-grown holly. Get all you can, and by the time youcome back I'll be ready to help decorate, and perhaps Sim's head will bebetter."
"All right," agreed Arden. "I have my mind set on it, and I don't like tochange. You'll come, Terry?"
"Oh, yes."
Dot had her coffee, the other girls making a more substantial breakfast,and then, leaving Sim still asleep and Dot on guard, Terry and Arden setout into the storm. The flakes were coming down rapidly now, dry, smallflakes that seemed to presage a heavy fall. It was not yet deep, butwould be, as none was melting.
"Oh, it's so lovely!" murmured Arden raising her face to let thesnowflakes melt on it.
"You seem to have quite a yen on for storms," remarked Terry, laughing.
"I always have had. Now we must step out. It's quite a distance to theold Hall, and it's slow walking in the snow."
"I'm equal to it," declared Terry, bracing up and dashing forward.
They trudged along, laughing and talking--talking principally of theadvent of Harry Pangborn and his declaration that he would do some realinvestigating of the mysterious happenings in Jockey Hollow.
"I wonder if he'll really discover anything," said Terry as they nearedthe place.
"He might," was Arden's opinion. "He has a good head, I believe."
"He has nice teeth, anyhow."
"To bite ghosts with, I suppose!" laughed Arden.
"Yep! Well, I can see the place now," remarked Terry as they topped alittle rise. "There doesn't seem to be any men working there, though--noplaster dust floating out of the windows as usual when men are tearingdown an old building."
"It is quiet," Arden admitted as they walked in front of the Hall. "Isuppose Mr. Callahan is wondering what sort of workmen to get next, sincehis white-collar class has left, apparently."
"Look!" Terry suddenly exclaimed, pointing. "Footprints in the snow. Atleast one man has gone in there!"
"That is very evident, Robinson Crusoe," laughed Arden. "As your manFriday, I agree with you. Someone has gone in, and one man only, judgingby the footprints. And as these are plain footprints and not littlescratchy marks in the snow I think we may safely argue that it is noghost."
"Who said it was?" countered Terry. "But what can one workman do intearing down such a big house?"
At that moment a head was thrust out of an upper and partly demolishedwindow and a voice cheerily called:
"Good-morning, girls!"
"Oh, it's Harry Pangborn!" exclaimed Arden.
"Hello, Harry!" greeted Terry. Since the episode at Cedar Ridge, thefriends had begun to call one another by their first names.
"What are you doing in there?" Arden called back.
"Investigating ghosts, as I promised. Want to help me?"
"We're after holly," said Terry, "in the back woods."
"Well, you have time for both ghosts and holly too, perhap
s."
"No, thank you," Arden decided, shaking some of the snow off her hat. "Ithink you can do your investigating alone. I mean, you come to it with anopen mind. Terry or I might suggest something to you, in our eagerness,and that would throw you off the track." They were so near the Hall theycould talk easily to the young man at the window above.
"There is something in what you say," admitted Harry with an assumedjudicial air. "I shall take it under consideration. Well, then, I'll goon investigating by myself, reserving the right to call at Sim's house tosee you all, later, and report."
"Yes, do!" invited Terry.
"Have you found anything yet?" Arden wanted to know.
"I only arrived a few minutes ago. Well, on with the ghost hunt! Stop inif you come past this way, and I'll help you carry the holly brancheshome."
"Oh, that will be fine!" called Terry. "I was wondering how we couldcarry enough to make really satisfactory decorations."
"But I draw the line at a Yule Log!" stipulated the young millionaire,whose car, the girls now noticed, was parked near a big clump of lilacbushes that nearly concealed it. He had driven in from a directionopposite that which they had traversed and so they had not seen the tiremarks.
"Did you come here this morning just to investigate?" pressed Arden asyoung Pangborn started away from the window and she and Terry were aboutto walk on.
"Well, I came to look into the matter of bird-feeding stations for thesanctuary Dr. Thandu wants to establish here, and so I decided I mightalso take in the Hall. It's quite a place."
"Killing two birds with one stone," quoted Terry tritely.
"Exactly! See you later!"
He waved a hand to them and disappeared back into the strange old house.
It was a little farther to the small grove, where the holly trees andbushes grew, than Arden realized and it was perhaps ten minutes aftertheir good-bye to the ghost-hunter that the two girls found a thicketsufficiently large to ensure a good supply of branches with their lovelyred berries and dark, prickly, glossy leaves. Holly is always just holly;hard, sharp, but magnificent on its trees.
They had good pocket knives and soon cut off a quantity--more, Ardensuggested, than they could carry even with the help of Mr. Pangborn, whenTerry, glancing off toward a little clearing, suddenly cried:
"Look!"
There was something in the tone of her voice that startled Arden. But shemanaged to ask, as she whirled quickly around:
"What is it?"
"A figure in red!" whispered Terry, pointing. "There--through thetrees--someone in red--moving. Oh, perhaps it's the ghost of PatienceHowe! She is always seen wearing a red cloak, you know!"
Arden dropped the holly branches from her hand as she looked toward whereTerry pointed.
Something was moving! Red, in all that deep, dark clump of evergreens!