The Secret of the Sundial Part 2

"Oh, dear, I suppose I'll never hear the last of it," Cara sighed. "I'm willing to admit it couldn't have been a ghost, but there was somebody in that yard!"

"I have a splendid idea!" Madge confided, watching her friend mischievously. "Let's go to the old mansion now and see what we can discover."

Cara shrank away.

"No, thanks. I don't care for the place."

"It's broad daylight," Madge insisted. "And remember, for a week you're supposed to obey the commands of any member of Skull and Crossbones."

"Oh, all right," Cara submitted unwillingly, "but I don't see what you expect to find there."

Madge did not respond. In truth, she could not have told what she hoped to learn. It was pure intuition that had inspired the little adventure.

Turning down Summit Street, she urged Cara to a faster pace.

"Don't look so glum," she protested gayly. "It will be fun! Before we're through, I'll warrant you'll be glad I brought you along!"

CHAPTER III The Swenster Mansion

The Swenster mansion was a large, rambling affair, set back some distance from the other modern dwellings on Summit Street. A high, untrimmed hedge at the front and large evergreen trees hid the grounds from view. The windows had been boarded up for years and most persons could not recall when the house had been occupied. It had fast fallen into decay. Shutters dangled loosely on rusty hinges, weeds choked the lawn, everything needed paint. Yet, with the pa.s.sing years, the old mansion had retained something of its former elegance.

Madge and Cara paused briefly to survey the place from the front, then walked swiftly around to the rear.

"We may get into trouble if we're caught trespa.s.sing," Cara ventured timidly.

"No danger of that when the owner hasn't been heard from in years," Madge returned, undisturbed. She rattled the back gate and was surprised to find it locked. "That's queer. It was unfastened yesterday afternoon when I stopped."

"It wasn't locked last night," Cara added with growing uneasiness. "Let's not try to get in."

Madge was not to be so easily discouraged.

"We can climb over easy as scat!" she declared.

"But if someone should see us?"

"Let them. At the worst, we can only be run out. Come on."

She swung over the fence with an ease which her friend could not hope to duplicate. Still protesting, Cara permitted herself to be helped over.

Madge looked about the grounds with keen interest. A winding walk led to a tangled, overgrown rose garden. She saw a tiny cement pool, clogged with old dead leaves and sticks. Beyond, a sundial of peculiar design and construction, attracted her attention.

"Isn't it quaint!" she exclaimed admiringly. "Let's see if we can tell what time it is."

"I know I can't," Cara insisted. "I never could make head nor tail of them."

The dial rested upon a concrete pedestal which reached waist high when the girls stood beside it. Upon the bra.s.s face appeared slightly raised Roman numerals and the triangular gnomon cast its shadow across the four.

"It's just a little after four o'clock," Madge announced.

"That's a safe guess," Cara laughed. "You know school lets out at ten till."

"You don't need to guess with a sundial such as this. Half of them won't tell time accurately. That's because they're turned out at the factory and sent all over the country. To be accurate a sundial must be made especially for the section where it is used."

"This one does look home made," Cara acknowledged. "It's nice work though."

Madge would have enjoyed wandering about in the garden but she could tell that her friend was eager to get away. Reluctantly, she gave her attention to the matter which had drawn her to the mansion.

"Tell me where it was that you saw your ghost," she commanded.

"It wasn't a dozen paces from where we're standing. Someone was digging here in the garden."

For the first time Madge carefully studied the ground. She paused a short distance from the sundial.

"There's loose earth here," she announced, stirring it with the toe of her shoe. "I guess you were right about seeing someone."

"Certainly I was right. I hope you don't think I'm afraid of my shadow."

"Of course not, Cara. I wonder who could have been digging here and for what purpose?"

"Maybe someone was burying a dead cat."

Madge shook her head and smiled.

"Folks don't go to other people's yards to bury their pets. Think of a better reason."

"Gold!" Cara cried promptly. "Perhaps there's a treasure hidden here."

"I'd like to think so, but I'm afraid that only happens in story books.

Cara, what did your ghost do when he saw you?"

"I don't think he saw me at all. Anyway, I didn't wait long enough to find out."

Madge examined the loose earth but as she had no implement with which to dig, was unable to tell whether or not anything had been buried. Cara displayed slight interest and moved away. Madge completely forgot her until she came back dragging a spade.

"Here, if you must dig around in the dirt, use this."

Madge seized upon the tool, demanding to know where it had been discovered.

Cara indicated a large lilac bush only a few feet away. "I found it beneath the branches."

"This must be the shovel your ghost was using last night! See, there's a little dirt still on it. If it had been lying there long, it would be rusty. Cara, I'll wager a cent-a good Indian cent-that you frightened someone away from here last evening."

"Then it was mutual."

"Perhaps the person who hid this shovel intends to come back again,"