orrected. "It made quite an
impression on me. Didn't any of you wonder what he meant?"

"I did," announced Violet; "and I remember exactly what he said. It was
this: 'I don't want them to scare you with a ghost.'"

"Those were the very words," Helen declared. "Now do you get the
connection between that remark and what just took place? Glen had heard
them talking over their plans, isn't it all very clear?"

"At least it is very interesting," commented Miss Ladd.

"Since you have got so near a solution of this affair, perhaps you'll go
a step farther and tell your interested audience who that ghost was,"
Ruth Hazelton suggested.

"Oh, no, I wouldn't be so rash as that," Helen responded; "but if I were
going to write to Mrs. Hutchins tonight, I would suggest to her that,
if Mr. Pierce Langford should return to Fairberry in the next week or
two, she might have somebody examine his head for a bump."

"A phrenological bump?" inquired Harriet, the "walking dictionary."

There was a general laugh.

"Not a phrenological bump," Helen answered.

CHAPTER XXIX.

A CRUEL WOMAN.

Katherine, Hazel, Ernestine and Azalia found it no easy task to pick
their way through the dark timber more than half a mile to the Graham
cottage. Several times, finding themselves hopelessly entangled in a
thicket, or stumbling over disagreeably uneven ground, and fearful of
losing their way, they made use of their flash lights until able to
continue their journey satisfactorily.

But after they caught their first glimpse of the light in the Graham
cottage, they made no further use of the flash lights. Guided by the
illuminated windows and their memory of the surroundings, they made
their way over the intervening space until within a hundred feet of the
house, where they halted and looked and listened for about fifteen
minutes.

First, they wished to make sure that there was no dog on the place. They
were reasonably certain that the Grahams kept no watchdog, as several of
the girls had been careful to check up in this regard when passing near
or calling at the cottage. But as additional precaution, they made a
careful inspection from a safe distance on this scouting expedition
before venturing close to the house.

The night was clear and warm, but no moon was shining. There was a
stillness in the air which alone might have been expected to cause a
dog to howl for very lonesomeness. Even while the four scouts were
waiting for eviden