“Calm yourself, my dear—calm yourself,” said the astonished Peggy. “You’ve been talking for days about these books, and now that you have them, you go all up in the air. What a changeable person you are!”
“I’m not changeable. I’m glad I have the books, and I’m going to study them—very carefully, too, but I can’t stand this suspense any longer. I want to find out something definite about this house right now. I know exactly how to get the information I want, and I’m going to get it—maybe tomorrow. I’m almost tempted to do it this very night.”
“What are you talking about?” cried Florence, alarmed by the determined expression on Jo Ann’s face. “What wild thing are you planning to do?”
CHAPTER IX
THE SEALED DOOR
The stillness of the night was suddenly shattered as a booming noise vibrated through the silent old house. There it was again. Boom! Boom! It echoed and re-echoed through the great hall and high-ceilinged rooms.
“What was that?” whispered Peggy as she and Jo Ann sprang up in the darkness, wide awake in an instant.
“I don’t know,” Jo Ann whispered back. “It sounded like shooting. Do you suppose someone’s starting a revolution? You never know what to expect next down here.”
“I knew you shouldn’t have read those old histories last night, Jo,” murmured Florence drowsily, with a hint of amusement in her voice. “You seem to have war on the brain.”
“Well, what in the world was that noise, then?” retorted Jo Ann. “I know perfectly well I did hear something that sounded like a gun or a——”
Before she could finish her sentence the booming noise sounded again in rapid succession.