“What made me go off like that, Ireen? That woman said something beastly, didn’t she?”
“Oh she’s mad, that’s what she is. She suddenly started ranting, and you got frightened, I suppose—and no wonder. Never mind, you’ll soon be home now.”
It struck Elsie that Irene was looking at her in a strangely anxious way, and that she was talking almost at random, as though to obliterate the impression of what had passed at the séance.
Elsie herself could not remember clearly, but there was a lurking horror at the back of her mind.
“What did she say?” she persisted feebly.
“Here’s the taxi!” cried Irene, in intense relief. “Here, get in, Elsie. Thank you,” she added to the child. “Don’t wait, I’ll tell the man where to go.”
She gave the driver Elsie’s address after the little girl had entered the house again, and then climbed in beside her friend, drawing a long breath.
“Thank the Lord! We got away pretty quickly, didn’t we? Well, it’s the last time I’ll meddle with anything of that kind, I swear. I say, Elsie, had we better stop at a chemist’s and get you something?”
“Yes—no. I don’t care. Ireen, I want to know what that woman said. It was something awful about me, wasn’t it?”
“She had a—kind of fit, I think. I don’t believe she knew what she was saying—she just screamed out a pack of nonsense. And you gave a yell, and went down like a log. I can tell you, you’ve pretty nearly scared the life out of me, young Elsie.”