The Secret of the Sundial Part 5

Glancing impatiently at her watch, Madge decided it was useless to wait longer for her friend. Slowly she walked on toward the mansion.

Suddenly she heard a shout from behind, and turned to see Cara running after her. She was out of breath by the time she caught up.

"Sorry to be so late," she apologized. "I was afraid I'd not get away at all. Mother and Dad were going to an ice cream social and didn't see any reason why I shouldn't go along. I'll not dare stay out later than eleven."

"Neither will I. Let's hope something interesting happens before that."

"Just what do you expect?"

"I don't really expect anything, but I'd like very much to learn the ident.i.ty of your strange ghost."

The girls slipped into a side street leading to the rear of the mansion.

They found the gate locked and since they were unable to work the trick catch, were forced to climb over again.

Under the soft, weird light of the moon, the Swenster mansion looked far different than by daylight. Even Madge was willing to admit there was something sinister about the place.

"I wonder if the spade is still here?" she thought aloud.

They found it under the lilac bush, but not in the exact place where they had left it on the previous visit.

"Someone has used it again!" Madge exclaimed. "Oh, I wish we had watched last night!"

"I'm glad we didn't," Cara said nervously. "I'm not keen on watching tonight either."

Madge paid not the slightest attention to her friend's gentle hints that they leave. She surveyed the garden, looking for a suitable hiding place.

A huge rhododendron bush offered a possibility and she went over to examine it.

"This will serve nicely," she decided. "We'll be well hidden, and if necessary we can probably slip out the front way without being seen by anyone in the garden."

Cara allowed herself to be dragged under the rhododendron although secretly she felt that it was a silly and undignified thing to do. She sank down on the ground gingerly, fearing to soil her silk frock.

"Better make yourself comfortable," Madge advised cheerfully. "We're likely to be here a long time."

The prediction came true with a vengeance. Minutes dragged like hours.

The girls talked for a time, but soon exhausted all topics of conversation. Their limbs became cramped and they s.h.i.+fted from one position to another. Cara yawned several times and once dozed off for a few minutes.

"Isn't it most eleven?" she asked hopefully. "I must be home by that time."

Madge looked at her watch which she could plainly see under the bright moonlight.

"We've been here only a little more than an hour," she informed. "It's too early to go home yet."

Cara sighed and s.h.i.+fted to a new position. The adventure had lost all its original thrill and terror. It was deadly monotonous to lie there watching for something which likely never would come. Madge cheered her friend with good natured "kidding," but she too was beginning to wonder if they had not wasted the evening.

"Let's go home," Cara said presently. "I don't care what time it is, I've had about enough. Even the ice cream social would have been more fun than this. I'll be surprised if I can walk in the morning-every muscle in my poor body is lame."

"All right," Madge gave in reluctantly. "I suppose we may as well call it a night. Not much chance-" she broke off, grasping Cara by the hand.

"Look!" she whispered tensely. "Someone is coming!"

Cara turned her head to gaze toward the rear gate. Cold chills raced down her spine. A man was standing at the fence, and she was certain it was the same person she had seen on the night of the initiation. He wore a white sweater which evidently had been the one thing that had impressed her before. At the time she had been so frightened that it had registered upon her mind as "something white" and she had jumped to the conclusion that a ghost was abroad.

The man looked quickly about in all directions, then unfastened the gate and entered the yard.

"He's been here before all right," Cara whispered, "or he wouldn't know how to get that gate open."

"s.h.!.+" Madge warned.

She had not taken her eyes from the man. He walked directly to the lilac bush and picked up the spade. He was still too far away for her to see his face plainly.

The girls watched breathlessly as he walked slowly into the garden, pausing a short distance from the sundial. They saw him gaze thoughtfully about, and then he began to turn up the earth with his spade.

"He's not digging where he did before," Cara whispered. "I wish he would turn this way so we could see his face."

Again Madge warned her friend to be silent, and they crouched motionless, watching, for perhaps ten minutes the man spaded steadily. Then with an exclamation of impatience, he refilled the hole.

"Is he crazy?" Cara whispered, forgetting the admonition to remain silent.

Madge shook her head to show that the man's actions were a complete mystery to her.

The man rested a few minutes, and with his back still toward the rhododendron bush, then began to excavate another hole, only a few feet from the first one.

"He's searching for something," Madge thought. "But what in the world does he expect to find?"

She was very curious to learn the ident.i.ty of the stranger and waited patiently until he turned toward her. The light shone full on his face.

She had never seen him before.

Madge glanced questioningly at her chum. Cara shook her head in bewilderment. The man was a stranger to her also.

It was growing late and in spite of their keen desire to learn all there was to know, the girls dared remain no longer. They decided to wait until the man's back was turned and attempt to slip around to the front of the house.

"If we're caught, it may not be so nice," Cara whispered nervously.

They awaited their chance and softly crept from under the bush. Scarcely had they emerged than the man straightened, dropping his spade. It was too late to retreat. The girls could only freeze themselves against the foliage, praying that they would not be seen. And at that moment, he turned and looked directly toward the rhododendron bus.h.!.+

CHAPTER VI The Unknown Owner

Madge and Cara felt certain their presence in the garden had been noted, but to their relief, the man looked away again. He rested briefly, then picked up his spade and resumed digging.

"Now!" Madge whispered the instant his back had turned.

They moved noiselessly along the vine-covered wall until they were hidden behind the house.

"I surely thought we were caught that time," Cara said nervously. "What can he be after anyway?"