Then, as she endeavored to get to her feet in the darkness--for her
lantern had fallen from her hand and been extinguished--she fainted, and
fell back. Her heavy mass of hair, uncoiled and loose, served as a
cushion, and so saved her as she crashed backward.
This much of Mrs. Mackson's theory was correct. Mollie could not answer
the frantic calls of her chums, for she was insensible.
How long she remained in this condition she could not afterward tell,
but it could not have been for long, since she was strong and healthy,
and it was merely a case of overwrought nerves, and a severe mental
shock, which did not amount to anything serious.
Poor Mollie heard the ringing of innumerable bells as if from some land
beyond the clouds. Queer lights, even in the darkness, seemed to dance
before her closed eyes. She felt a pressure, a sense of
suffocation--this was the stagnant blood resuming its circulation.
Then consciousness returned so suddenly that it was painful. Mollie
raised herself by leaning on her hands and murmured:
"Where am I? What happened? That figure in white--oh, and the
girls--Betty--Grace--Amy!" she cried.
But none answered her, for by this time the others were outside watching
that very welcome man approach.
Mollie waited, and then, as her thoughts arranged themselves in order in
her brain, she began to plan what to do for herself.
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