e answered before her:

"They were blown out by--by----" she hesitated.

"By the wind!" exclaimed Mollie, quickly. "What else? There's an awful
draught in here. Who has the matches?"

It was the most sensible thing she could have said under the
circumstances, and it somewhat relieved the tension.

"I have some," answered Grace. "But--but what has happened, anyhow?"

"It's the thunder and lightning," declared Cousin Jane. "It must have
struck somewhere around here. It hit our barn once, and I noticed
something the same as now. Maybe that put out the lights."

"Well, let's put them in service again," proposed Betty. "I don't like
the dark."

"Neither do I--in here," spoke Mollie. "Please strike a match, Grace."

The interior of the old house was quiet now, as with fingers that would
tremble in spite of her efforts to still them, Grace lighted a match,
and applied the flickering flame to the wick of one of the lamps which
Betty opened. Then, as the cheerful yellow glow shone around them, Amy
cried:

"Oh, smell that sulphur!"

There was the unmistakable odor in the rather close air of the room.

"It's from the match," said Mollie.

"No, I didn't use a sulphur match," said Grace.

"It's the lightning," declared Cousin Jane. "I noticed that smell, too,
when our barn was struck, and I felt as if pins and needles were
sticking in me."

"Gracious! I hope that doesn't happen here!" exclaimed Betty, as she
helped Grace light the other lantern. Then the girls looked at one
another. From the faces they glanced to the table. Nothing there had
been altered, nor had the room changed in appearance.

"Well, I'm glad it's over," said Betty with a sigh of relief. "I was
certainly scared at first."

"So was I," admitted Mollie. "I really thought it was--the ghost."

Grace let out a startled cry.

"Stop it!" commanded the Little Captain.

"Well, I wish she wouldn't--blurt it out that way," 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 on