Madeline considered. “First, we’ve got to choose our ghosts—there are such quantities in London. Then we must seek out their haunts and conjure them to appear. If they won’t, we shall have to go back some evening, and try again by moonlight. Let’s each write the name of our favorite London ghost on a slip of paper. Babbie can draw one, because ghosts are her dominant interest, and then we’ll all start out in pursuit.”
This arrangement suited everybody, and Madeline hunted up pencils and paper. She wrote the name of her favorite ghost without an instant’s consideration, but the others had to think hard, and Babe was caught slyly consulting a London Baedeker. John chewed his pencil in solemn silence until the rest were through. Then all at once he banged the table triumphantly with his fist, scribbled a name on his slip, and handed it to Madeline, who was acting as mistress of ceremonies.
“You’d better choose my ghost, Babbie,” he announced. “If you do, I invite you all to have luncheon with me at an appropriate place.”
“It’s not fair offering bribes,” cried Babe. “My ghost did that, and it got him into a horrible scrape.”
“My ghost is a lady,” said Betty. “I think she deserves some consideration on that account.”
“The special advantage of mine,” put in Madeline, “is that his haunts are miles away from here. Think of the lovely long ’bus ride we could have.”
“Mine is both a lady and a royal personage,” said Babbie impressively, “so she really ought to come in ahead of any of yours. But I’m going to be perfectly fair; I’ll draw out a slip with my eyes shut. Dr. Samuel Johnson wins,” she announced a minute later.
“And he’s mine!” cried John. “Now remember, everybody, the meal-tickets are to be on me. Did you girls ever hear of the ‘Cheshire Cheese’?”
No one had but Madeline.
“What ignorance!” laughed John, and then confessed that he never had heard of it either, until Mr. Dwight mentioned it the night before. “It seems it was quite a haunt of old Dr. Johnson’s,” he explained. “It’s a queer little eating-house just off Fleet Street. You girls may not like it, but if you don’t we needn’t stay.”