The Mystery at Dark Cedars

She heard a chair being moved away from the window, and the screen being taken away… She twisted her hands again… Her right hand – was free!

In spite of her terror, Mary Louise almost sang out with joy.

The next sound she heard was a dear, familiar noise, a sound that sent a thrill through her whole body. It was the infuriated bark of her little dog Silky from the cellar.

Mary Louise lost no time in freeing her other hand and in untying the knot about her chin which fastened the bag over her head. She was free at last – as far as her limbs were concerned. But she was still locked securely in Miss Grant’s closet.

Through the crack of the door she perceived a streak of light; the intruder had not worked in darkness. But in a second it was extinguished, and she heard a noise at the window.

Then – utter blackness and silence again!

Mary Louise raised her voice now and screamed at the top of her lungs. She was rewarded by the sound of hurrying footsteps and the incessant bark of her dog, coming nearer and nearer. In another moment she heard the girls in the room and saw the gleam of a flashlight through the crack.

“I’m locked in the closet!” she shouted. “Let me out, Jane!”

Her chum turned the key in the door. Thank heaven, it was still there! Blinded by the light from the flash, Mary Louise staggered out.

“What happened?” demanded Jane, her face deathly pale with terror.

Mary Louise stumbled towards the bed. “No bones broken, thank goodness!” she exclaimed, sitting down carefully upon the bed. But she jumped up immediately.

“What’s happened to this bed?” she demanded. “It’s full of pins and needles!”

Her chum turned the flashlight upon the ugly piece of furniture, and Mary Louise perceived at once the explanation of the ripping sound she had heard. The bed clothing was literally torn to pieces; the mattress was cut in a dozen places, and straw strewn all over the floor. No wonder it felt sharp to sit down on!

“So the ruby necklace was hidden in the bed!” she muttered.

“What ruby necklace?” demanded Jane.

“That’s what the gypsy said Miss Grant was treasuring so carefully. She probably just made a guess at it – to seem wise. It may be a diamond ring, for all I know… Anyhow, somebody stole it. Who could it have been?”

“Tell us exactly what happened,” begged Jane.

Briefly Mary Louise told the grim story. Elsie had lighted the lamp, and the girls sat about on chairs, listening intently. Silky, who had stopped barking now, climbed into his mistress’s lap.

“Funny Elsie didn’t hear you try to scream the first time,” remarked Jane. “She was awake.”

“You were?” asked Mary Louise. “What time is it?”

“It’s only quarter-past eleven,” answered Elsie. “I couldn’t go to sleep – too much chocolate cake and apple pie, I suppose.”

“It was Silky who waked me up,” said Jane. “I heard him barking. And I looked for Elsie and saw she wasn’t in bed. So I thought he was just barking at her, prowling around the house.”

Mary Louise opened her eyes wide.

“Where were you, Elsie?”

“I – was down in the kitchen, getting some baking soda.” She burst into tears. “You don’t think I did that fiendish thing, do you, Mary Louise?”

“No, of course not.” But Mary Louise knew that Miss Grant would not be so ready to accept her niece’s innocence.

“We better make a tour of the house,” she suggested, standing up and going over to the window, where she noticed that the screen was out, lying on the floor. “I think the intruder must have gotten out this way.”

“But that’s not the window with the porch underneath,” objected Jane.

“No, but he could have used a ladder,” returned Mary Louise.

The girls slipped coats over their pajamas and put on their shoes. With Silky close at their heels, they went downstairs and out the front door, around to the side of the house.

The first thing that they spied was a ladder, lying on the ground perpendicular to the wall.

“That’s William’s ladder,” announced Elsie. “He often leaves it around. It seems to me he had it out yesterday, nailing up a board on the porch roof.”

“If only we could find some footprints,” said Mary Louise, flashing her light on the ground.

But she could see no marks. If the intruder had made off that way, he had been wise enough to walk over the rounds of the ladder. And everywhere cedar needles covered the ground, making footprints almost impossible.

“Wait till Aunt Mattie hears about this!” sobbed Elsie. “It’ll be the end of me.”

“We won’t tell her till she gets better,” decided Mary Louise. “Maybe by that time we’ll discover a clue that will help us solve the mystery.”

“Oh, I hope so!” breathed the young girl fervently.

All this time, however, Jane said nothing. But she was watching Elsie closely, as if she was beginning to believe that she might be guilty.

“Let’s go to bed,” concluded Mary Louise when the tour of inspection was finished. “I’m going to sleep in Hannah’s room – and I’m going to keep Silky with me this time.”

“I wish you had taken that precaution before,” sighed Jane.

“So do I. But it’s too late now. Let’s get some sleep, for tomorrow we have to get to work – and work fast!”

CHAPTER XIII

Detective Work

Sunday morning dawned clear and peaceful. As Mary Louise wakened to hear the birds singing in the trees outside the window of Hannah’s old room at Dark Cedars, she could hardly believe in the terrifying experience of the previous night. It was just like a horrible dream, incredible in the morning sunshine.

“I believe I’d like to go to Sunday school,” she said to Jane at the breakfast table. “It’s a lovely day, and we’d see all our friends. Don’t you want to come along too, Elsie?”

The young girl, still pale and nervous from the night before, shook her head.

“No, thank you, Mary Louise,” she replied. “I’ll stay home and help Hannah.”

Mary Louise glanced up apprehensively. As yet the servant had not been informed of the mysterious intruder.

“Will you tell her what happened last night?” she asked, in a low tone. “Or shall we?”

“No, I will,” agreed Elsie. “She’ll be sure it was Mrs. Grant’s ghost again… And I’ll help her fix up the bedroom.”