Hollyhock arranged, therefore, that Margaret should be her accomplice on the present occasion. Her tales of bogies and ghosties—all of them with a slight soupçon of truth in them—had excited the wonder and fearful admiration of the schoolgirls, and when she suggested, as she did suggest, that 'poor little Leuchy might wipe the ghostie's hair for her,' there was a perfect chorus of delighted applause.
'But he won't come; he won't dare to come,' said Margaret Drummond.
'Meg, hist, dear; let's whisper. Keep it to yourself. There's no ghost; only they think, poor things, that there is, and that I dry his dripping locks. Well, I want you to impersonate the ghost to-night. I 'll dress you up, and you shall cross the path of Leuchy. Why, she'll turn deadly white when she sees you at it.'
'But, oh! I 'm frightened. I 'll get into trouble,' said Margaret.
'And you won't do that for me? I thought for sure you loved me.'
'I'd give my life for you,' said Margaret; 'but this is different.'
'It's easy to talk about giving the life, for that's not asked; but what I want is the love, and the proof of the love is that you shall dress as poor ghostie, and beg in a mighty mournful voice of Leuchy to dry your dripping hair. I have got an old cloak and a peaked hat that belonged to my grandmother's family, and I 'll alter your face a wee bit, and nobody'll recognise you like that. Now come, Meg, you won't refuse? I 'd do it myself, and do it well; only I might be discovered, but you wouldn't. Who'll think of Meg Drummond turning into the ghost? You must clasp your skeleton hands and say very mournfully, "Dry my locks, sweet maid of England!" That's all. She'll be sure to go out into the grounds, and the rest of us will be close by, ready to catch her up if she swoons; and she 'll never guess to her dying day but that she has seen a ghost.'
The plot was prepared with immense care. It was the most tremendously exciting thing that the girls had ever heard of, and even the Frasers were drawn in, more particularly as the worst it could possibly do was to give that naughty, proud Leucha a fright. They were very sick of their cousin, and very angry with her; and it was finally decided that the girl who was to come to her rescue in the moment of her terrible extremity was to be Hollyhock herself. The others were all to fly out of sight. Hollyhock was to desire ghostie to go, and was to support Leucha into the house. After that—well, no one quite knew what would come!