It was almost dark when Darry did finally return, and all that afternoon Jessie had been feverishly restless. She was unable to give her mind to anything. Even her beloved radio had lost much of its fascination for her, and she listened apathetically to a really fine concert from New York.
The other girls did not notice her mood, for the reason that they were considerably stirred up over the mystery of Darry’s actions. Then, too, though they would not for the world have acknowledged this to each other, they were rather dreading the approach of dark. They could not, however much they tried, put from their minds the memory of that dreadful wailing lament which had reached their ears from the direction of the swamp. Constantly before them was the mental vision of those ghostly figures, flitting among the trees.
“Looks a good deal like having a ghost hunt this afternoon, I must say,” Nell remarked once, as they scanned the mountain road for a sign of Darry’s roadster. “I can’t say that I relish spending another night here with those spooks wandering loose around the place.”
“We can go now if you want to,” Burd suggested. “There is still time to get to the swamp and back before dark, and perhaps you would rest easier to-night if you could see that there was nothing alarming there.”
“Ghosts aren’t supposed to walk till after dark, anyway; so I don’t see any use going down there just to look at the place,” was Amy’s ungracious response.
After that Burd and Fol left the girls to their own devices and went off to enjoy a little quiet fishing.
Later Amy declared she was tired after having slept so little the night before and went to lie down. Miss Alling was listening in to a concert, completely absorbed in her new fancy.
Jessie and Nell wandered down to the dock, embarked in their favorite green canoe, and drifted out upon the water.
It was there that Amy found them some time later when she came running down to the water’s edge, waving something in her hand.
“You will never guess what I’ve got,” she shouted, as the girls paddled nearer to the dock. “Darry is back and he brought me a present.”