His wandering gaze rested on the door of Kathrien's room, in the gallery above. His lips parted in the old whimsical smile. Lifting his voice, he gave the odd call that had for years been a signal to Kathrien of his presence in the house and his desire to see her.
"Ou-oo!" rang out the familiar cry.
And, before its echoes could die away, Kathrien was out of her room and at the stairhead. She stood there an instant, dazed, wondering, like some one half-awakened from heavy sleep.
Looking down into the room below, she slowly descended the stairs.
"I thought some one called me," she said.
And though she spoke the words in her own brain and not from the lips, Peter Grimm heard and answered her.
"You did," said he. "I called you."
Filled with a sense that she was not alone, yet seeing and hearing no one, she came down into the seemingly vacant room. And, still without words, she said:
"I thought I heard a voice like—like——"
"Yes," answered the Dead Man again, "you wanted me, little girl. That's why I have come. There, there!" he soothed, as she stood with troubled face trying to formulate and understand the strange sensation that had suddenly taken possession of her. "Don't worry, Katje. It'll come out all right. We'll arrange things very differently. I've come back to——"