“It isn’t so awfully late, and we need not talk long,” said Betty, as the pansy costume was hung in the closet, “but I must tell you what happened. It seems that I always have the queerest adventures! When I got to the bottom of the steps, I held up the mirror according to directions and the candle flickered and almost went out in the wind,—and then I did see a blurred face in the mirror! But it wasn’t the spirit of my husband to be, not a bit of it. It was somebody real, for when I squealed a bit and turned to run, my foot slipped and I would have fallen if this young man had not put our his two hands and caught my elbows!”
“A ‘young man,’ you think?”
“Yes, and I’ve been worrying ever since, for fear it was the same one snooping around again. Do you think it could be?”
“Couldn’t you see the face the least bit, enough to know complexion, or eyes, or anything?”
“Just two eyes, nose and mouth, yes, and a grin. You can imagine that with that flickering little light, and my slipping right away, and being so startled, I could not recognize anybody by that moment’s glance at a reflection!”
“Didn’t he say a word?”
“O, yes; he said ‘Pardon me,’ as he caught me, and it was really very nice of him to go away, under the circumstances.”
Cathalina laughed. “Yes, considering that you had gone out there to see the face of your future husband in the mirror, it was wise indeed for the young man to disappear as quickly as possible. But did his voice sound anything like that of Louise’s brother?”
“I couldn’t tell. It didn’t seem so to me, if I can trust instinct, but can I?”
“Don’t know, Betty dear. Let’s get to sleep as soon as possible and we can think it out later. Another mystery: Who is Betty’s future husband, the knight of Hallow-e’en?”