Mollie paused with a dazed look in her eyes.
"She's gone," whispered the girl.
"Yes, she's gone, all right," answered Tom. "I know what she has done. She's played a trick on all of you. I know her. She is a sharp one. She'd catch you napping when you were looking right at her. She must have gone downstairs after you did, and——"
"No, no," protested Ruth excitedly. "She never left this attic by the stairway."
"Calm yourself, my dear," begged Mr. Presby in a somewhat more gentle voice, at the same time laying a hand on Ruth Stuart's shoulder. "Now let us understand this affair. You say Barbara was up here—she did not go downstairs with you?"
"No, no!" exclaimed Mollie. "She was reading that old journal when we went down. We left her sitting right there. Don't you remember, you asked us to call Barbara downstairs? You wanted to see the diary of old Mr. Presby, and Ruth went upstairs to call her."
"Yes, yes. Ruth, how do you know that Barbara was here when you called to her?"
"Because she answered me," replied Ruth.
"What next? Did her voice sound as if she were here in the attic?"
"Yes. I know she was here."