"Girls! Miss Betsey!" called Mrs. Preston from the veranda, "it is time to come into the house to get ready for tea."
As the watermelon party scrambled to their feet Madge waved one hand dramatically. "Pause, kind friends," she commanded. "Who among us has the courage to find out whether David Brewster's 'spooks' are real? I have always longed to spend a night in a haunted house. Now, here's our chance!"
"I'm with you," answered David. "I'll go."
"So will I," announced Phil.
Miss Jenny Ann, who was in for most larks, hesitated. "Of course, I don't believe in ghosts, children; there are no such things," she declared. "Still, I shouldn't like to meet them at night."
Before the laughter at Miss Jenny Ann had ceased reinforcement for Madge's ghost party arrived from an unexpected quarter. Miss Betsey Taylor offered her services as chaperon, and suggested that the "spook investigation" take place the very next night.
CHAPTER XIX
GHOSTS OF THE PAST
IT was nearly ten o'clock the following evening when four excited adventurers set out from the Preston house. They carried dark lanterns, while practical Phil had a package of lunch stored away out of sight. She had an idea that sitting up all night in a forlorn, dirty old house was not going to be half as much sport as enthusiastic Madge anticipated.
The little captain was not the only enthusiast in the ghost party, which was composed of herself, Phil, David and Miss Betsey. Miss Betsey Taylor had cast from her the sobriety of years. She was as eager and as interested in their midnight excursion as any young girl could have been. Not that the pursuit of ghosts had been a secret passion of Miss Betsey's. It was only that, at the age of sixty, she was at last beginning to understand how it felt to be young, and she was as ready for adventure as any other one of the party of young folks.