“Well, I hope we do get a little excitement out of it,” remarked Jack. “I’ll certainly be disappointed if nothing more happens to us than to those cops.”
“Jack, you oughtn’t to talk that way,” remonstrated Daisy, who in reality was as worried as Lily and Doris. “Suppose something awful does happen!”
“Suppose we see spirits, like Anna!” remarked Jack. “And make you girls fiddle with ouija boards and go to seances in darkened rooms—”
“At least it would be thrilling,” remarked Ethel. “But I never will believe anything till I see for myself.”
“Your turn’s coming, Ethel,” said Marjorie. “You and I are going to spend a night there soon.”
“Oh, please don’t!” begged Lily; but both girls laughed at her.
The boys stayed until ten o’clock, and Marjorie and Ethel told all the gruesome, ghostly stories they could think of; but without any effect whatever, for the boys went off as cheerful as ever and as light-hearted.
It was a still night. A full moon, which seemed to be suspended in an inanimate sky, made the road before them easily distinguishable in the darkness. There was something peculiar in the appearance of the moon, and even the sky looked strange. The boys commented upon it. But they could not make up their minds that it was a feeling of suppressed excitement within them, and not the moon and the sky, which made them feel that something was about to happen.
“I’ll bet it rains tomorrow,” remarked John. “Maybe tonight. Look at those clouds up there—hardly moving. It’s sultry, too; not a leaf stirring.”
“Guess you’re right,” assented Jack. “Once we get inside the house, let it come, say I; and the spirits can bring their umbrellas with them. Gee! but it’s hot!”