“Don’t bother to take us to the door,” she commanded. “Start for Chilton this minute!”
“I don’t like to leave you here until I know everything is O. K.,” he protested.
“It’s only a step to the door, Dave. Be a good boy and don’t wait.”
“Well, since you insist, I will start, because it looks like a storm and the roads may get slippery.”
Hastily the three said goodbye and Dave sprang into the roadster. He slammed the door shut and was gone before the girls had managed to unfasten the gate.
“It does look spooky,” Kitty quavered.
Doris laughed uncertainly. She managed to open the gate and it swung back on creaking hinges. A sudden breath of wind struck her face and went whistling through the trees.
The house, half-hidden by shrubbery, was shrouded in deepest gloom, and no light glimmered from the windows. Doris hesitated as she picked up her suitcase. Kitty held back, and even Wags seemed reluctant to venture down the path.
“Come on, Kitty,” Doris admonished, “Everything is all right.”
As she spoke, a gust of wind whined through the trees, and to the girls it sounded strangely like the wailing of a human being in distress.