As they did not hear the noise again for a little while, both of them plucked up courage, and they went on to the burned cabin. The sticks they had set up were still standing. Russ fastened each of the four pasteboard "letters" to a stick at the four corners of Mammy June's ruined house.
There was light enough from the stars for the two children to see quite plainly what they were about. Rose, however, was looking all about them while Russ did the work of setting up the printed signs for Sneezer Meiggs to see if he came home unexpectedly.
"What do you expect to see, Rose?" demanded her brother loftily.
"I don't know. Philly says ha'nts are all in white."
"I don't see anything very white around here," rejoined Russ.
"But there are so many colored folks, perhaps some of the ha'nts might be black," suggested Rose. "Then we wouldn't see them very well in the shadows."
"I don't believe——" began Russ.
The strange shriek was again heard. Russ stopped in his speech. Rose uttered a sharp cry. The screech—and it did sound like a woman's voice, the voice of a woman in fearful pain or fright—seemed very near them.
"It's right over there in that patch of woods," said Russ. "I guess she is lost—or something."
"Do you believe it is only a lady and not a ha'nt, Russ?" demanded his sister.