Page:Betty Gordon at Boarding School.djvu/145

Rh three or four old packing boxes furnished the girls with seats. Bob and five of his friends disappeared, whistling. Gilbert and Sydney were investigating the ramshackle fireplace to see what the prospects were for starting a fire when a shriek from Libbie brought them to their feet.

"A ghost!" cried the girl. "A ghost! Over there in the corner!"

Frances Martin gave a cry, and Betty and Bobby went white. Even Gilbert afterward confessed that his scalp prickled when a figure stepped forward from a narrow closet against the wall.

"Ugh! Howdy!" he grunted, and they saw that he was a very old and very dirty Indian.

"Rain," he said slowly, pointing to the door. "Stop soon now. Go get supper."

He shuffled over the doorsill and at the edge he turned.

"Howdy!" he said, apparently with some vague idea of farewell. "Much rain!"

Petrified, they watched him hobble away through the woods.