"You see, I was right after all," Amy stated for at least the tenth time. "From the moment the idea came to me, I felt almost sure that poor crazy Professor Dempsey was this thing that was frightening us."
"But did you ever see such an awful face in all your life?" said Mollie, shuddering at the recollection.
"And the look in his eyes as he stared at Roy," Grace added in a hushed voice. "I shouldn't wonder if--if we hadn't been there, he might have murdered him."
"Oh, Gracie, don't!" Amy clapped her hands to her ears. "We are frightened enough without having you say things like that."
"Suppose," said Mollie, in a sepulchral voice, "he should come back before the boys do?"
"That's just what I was thinking," said a quiet voice behind them, and they jumped and cried out in alarm. The next moment they saw it was Mrs. Irving and felt ashamed of themselves.
"I think you had all better come into the house till the boys come back," their chaperon continued. "I shall feel safer when we are behind locked doors."
The girls shivered, but Mollie protested.
"Suppose anything should happen to the boys?" she asked, but here Mrs. Irving chose to exercise her authority.
"We will talk about that when we are inside the house," she said very firmly, and Mollie had nothing else to do but obey.