“It wasn’t that,” said Mr. Hodges. “The maple is too far off to strike our bedroom.”
“There’s only one explanation,” declared the seamstress with conviction. “It was a psychic sign—the first.”
“I don’t believe in such things myself,” announced Penny. “Surely there must be another explanation.”
“That’s what I told Jenny,” nodded Mr. Hodges. “But since the letter came, doggoned if I don’t think maybe she’s right.”
“What has the letter to do with it?” inquired Mrs. Weems.
The seamstress pointed to the postmark on the envelope.
“The hour at which we heard the strange tappings was eleven-thirty! Pa looked at the clock. And it was three days ago, June fifteenth.”
“Corresponding to the marking on this envelope,” commented Penny. “That is a coincidence.”
Mrs. Hodges shook her head impatiently.
“You surely don’t think it just happened by accident?” she asked. “It must have been intended as a sign—an omen.”