The floor was solid, and she could see no
openings where the creatures might get in.
"So far--so good," she said aloud, and the sound of her own voice, in a
measure, reassured her.
"I wonder had I better call again?" she thought. "Yes, it will be best."
And so she sent out a ringing cry for her chums. But the room had thick
walls--the door was a solid one, and, as Betty, Amy, Grace and Mrs.
Mackson were having a surprising time of their own just then, they did
not hear the appeal.
"I'll have to depend on myself," thought Mollie. "Well, I can do it, I
think!"
She paused a moment to gather her thoughts together, and, being a girl
of method and order, she began at the beginning.
"In the first place, let me think how I got here," she mused. "Something
in white grabbed me, and thrust me here. It was a very human
touch--depart the ghost theory. I believe, after all, that Mr. Lagg was
right--it is some one trying to make out that this place is haunted in
order to get it for a lower price. The food supply proves that, I think.
"Anyhow, here I am--pushed in by some man masquerading as a ghost. That
much is certain. And what was it he said, as he caught hold of me--'So
you have come back!' That is all I remember. This would seem to indicate
that I had been here before, and that he was either expecting me, or
wanting me.
"A case of mistaken identity, at all events, for I never should have
come back, had I been here before, and that I was never here before is
positive.
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