Salt stooped to raise the lid. As he did so, Penny, who stood close beside him, suddenly clutched his arm. At his look of surprise, she mumbled:
“I thought I heard something just then—like the rustling of silk!”
Salt listened a moment and chuckled. “That old imagination of yours is working overtime, Penny! Relax!”
“But I did hear a rustling sound as if someone were moving along the wall. Listen! There it is again!”
“No one could—” Salt began, and broke off. The queer look that came over his face told Penny that he too had heard the sound.
Then whispering began, and seemed to issue from the very cottage walls. At first the stunned pair could not distinguish a word. But gradually the words whispered in a throaty voice became audible.
“Go!” the warning voice commanded. “All is forbidden!”
CHAPTER
8
GHOST OF THE DARK CORNERS
Salt was the first to recover from surprise at the whispered warning. Convinced that someone must be crouching beneath the open cottage window, he strode across the room to peer outside.
No one was in sight.