“Hush! hush!” commanded Ruth. “What is the matter? What has happened?”
“Oh! it’s the ghost!” declared one girl.
“So’s your grandmother’s aunt!” snapped another. “Somebody shoved Sarah into the water. It was no ghost.”
It was Madge Steele who last spoke, and Ruth seized upon the senior, believing she might get something like a sensible explanation from her.
“You girls go into the house quietly,” warned Ruth, as they scrambled up the stone steps. “Don’t you dare make a noise and get us all into trouble.”
Then she turned upon Madge, begging: “Do, do tell me what you mean, Madge Steele. Who pushed Sarah?”
“That’s what I can’t tell you. But I heard Sarah yelling that she was pushed, and she did most certainly fall right into the fountain when she climbed up there beside the statue.”
“What a ridiculous thing!” giggled Ruth. “Somebody played a trick on her. I guess she was fooled instead of the candidates being startled, eh?”
“I saw somebody—or something—drop off the other side of the fountain and run—I saw it myself,” declared Madge.
“Here comes Sarah,” cried Ruth, under her breath. “And I declare she is all wet!”