SCARCELY knowing what to expect, Judy and Kathleen entered Calico Cottage. Everything appeared quite normal, except that a chair in the kitchen had been overturned.
“I upset it myself,” Miss Meadows explained. “I—I was rather excited, I’m afraid.”
“Tell us what happened, Aunt Mattie,” Judy urged. “What disturbed you?”
“It was a dreadful sound from the basement. A sort of moan as if someone were in pain. And then to top it, there came a series of loud thumps, very much like muffled thunder.”
“That couldn’t have been someone setting off dynamite at a distance?” Kathleen suggested. “I know the rangers were blasting trees in the park area.”
“This sound came from the cellar,” Miss Meadows insisted.
“How long ago, Aunt Mattie?” questioned Judy.
“About ten minutes, I’d judge.”
“Did you go down there to check?”
“To the cellar?” Miss Meadows demanded. “I most assuredly did not!”