“Whither now, Lily Ann?” Diane was strolling out of classroom number five behind Lilian.

“I don’t answer to that name,” replied Lilian, pausing, however, and linking her arm in that of Diane. “How becoming that crimson frock is.”

“Do you like it?”

“Yes. It matches your cheeks and brings out the shepherdess complexion.”

“Shepherdess yourself, Lilian, and you have the golden locks as well. Going up to the library?”

“Yes; I have to read a little for Lit. We have a perfectly terrible book to write on it, all our notes in class and on our collateral reading. The first half has to be ready to hand in at the first of the second semester. I pity the girls who haven’t written up their notes right along.”

“I was sorry that I did not take that advanced course in Literature. It wasn’t required, so I did not try it. I have so much to make up, anyway. But your book prospect does not look so inviting,—I’m not so sorry after all.”

The two girls were climbing the stairs of the library building, tripping up the wide steps with light feet.

“Did you hear about the ghost?” continued Diane.

“No, is that the latest thrill?”

“Yes; Greycliff’s old standby, the Woman in Black, has appeared again. One of the academy girls nearly went into hysterics the other night, they say, after she saw it, or thought she saw it. She said that it moaned and waved black arms, with wide sleeves or something, and glided by as ghosts are supposed to glide, but very rapidly.”

“I haven’t heard anything about the Woman in Black for some time. Let me see. It was Isabel that declared she saw it two or three years ago. How many times has it appeared this time?”

“Several times, according to all accounts. There are all sorts of wild tales about it. One girl said that it started toward her, then turned back and just disappeared.”

“Around a corner probably. If there is any appearance of the sort, I’m sure it’s human. Somebody is trying to trick the girls. The other time, when we had such an excitement about it, Miss Randolph just put some extra folks on guard at night and there was no more ghost.”

“All the same, the halls are sort of spooky at night, and I don’t believe that I’ll watch for it. Diane is going to keep to her little cot!”

“All the more reason for that if it is human. Any account of its getting into the rooms, or has anything been stolen?”

“One girl tells about seeing it standing over her bed, but I think that she was having a nightmare. She had heard about it and dreamed of it!”

By this time the girls were in the library, where conversation was not desired. Lilian went to look over the reference books and Diane consulted the librarian about something. Isabel, Evelyn and Helen were sitting at one of the tables and nodded to the girls. Isabel was scribbling away for dear life, turning page after page of a tablet. Evelyn was drawing cartoons and showing them from time to time to Helen, who appeared much amused. Helen was reading, when not in consultation with Evelyn. Presently Lilian and Diane went over to the same table and drew up chairs. “What’s the fun?” whispered Diane.

Helen smiled broadly, took the drawings from Evelyn and pushed them over to Diane and Lilian. The girls bent their heads over them. Isabel looked up, amused, and continued scribbling. The first picture was labeled “The Greycliff Ghost,” and showed a skeleton, clothed in filmy black, and bending over a terrified girl in her cot. The covers were drawn up over the lower part of the girl’s face, only the big eyes looking up at the ghost. The second picture was called “The Woman in Black” and depicted a veiled figure in motion, arms stretched out before her, wide sleeves and draperies flying, the head wrapped in a veil, but showing a mask and two wild eyes. As the girls looked at these drawings, Evelyn, who was watching them, offered a piece of paper on which was printed “DO YOU BELIEVE IN GHOSTS?”

Lilian promptly wrote her reply “No. Do You?”

“YES. I’VE BEEN IN A HAUNTED HOUSE. LET’S TELL GHOST STORIES AFTER DINNER.”

“All right, but people that believe in ghosts are likely to have bad dreams.”

“WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU SAW A GHOST?”

This last query of Evelyn’s was passed around to the girls. Lilian wrote, “Watch it go by.” Diane wrote, “Run.” Isabel stopped her rapid note-taking long enough to answer, “Try one of the boys’ tricks,—stick out my foot to see if I could trip it.”

“Diane’s answer is the only sensible one,” whispered Evelyn as she read the different replies. Tucking away her pictures in her note book she proceeded with the more serious work for which she had come to the library. The other girls were also absorbed in their books. But later, when they left the library for Greycliff Hall, there was laughter, and stories of mysterious doings were told. “Of course I believe in ghosts,” insisted Evelyn, who had never outgrown the coquettish ways and naive speech with which she had come to Greycliff. “Didn’t my mother’s old Mammy bring me up on ‘ghos’es’ and ha’nts? I never saw any, but she did.”

“You just want to for the excitement of it,” said Isabel. “I wish the seniors would give Hamlet this spring, for their play, and let me play the part of the ghost.”

“That isn’t much of a part,” said Lilian. “I should think you would want Hamlet.”

“I would, but the seniors would want that themselves. ‘To be or-r-r-r-r not to be. That iz-z-z-z-z the question!’ I heard an elocutionist do it that way once. What are you girls going to give for your senior play?”

“We haven’t decided yet, but we thought of having it outdoors and giving ‘As You Like It’.”

“That will be wonderful!” exclaimed Isabel. “There are so many places about the campus that would make a fine setting.”

“Come around to our room after dinner for the ghost stories,” reminded Evelyn, as she and Diane left the other girls on their way to their respective rooms. Like Isabel and Virginia, Evelyn and Diane were occupying a large single room this year. But Greycliff seniors have not so much time for ghost stories and the like, and Evelyn herself, with her knitting, was in the parlors after dinner, listening to some singing, and chatting to Isabel, Lilian, Hilary, Cathalina and Betty.

“I believe that Evelyn has begun two or three sweaters,” said Isabel. “Which one is this for?”

“Oh, I can’t be partial, you know,” said Evelyn, smiling as she recovered a dropped stitch. “Geo’ge and Pehcy ah in the same company, and if I send one a sweatah I must send the otheh one, too. I did think that I would send this one to Cousin Francis,—I used to be engaged to him, you know. We ah only thi’d cousins.”

“Which one are you engaged to now, Evelyn?” asked Isabel, adding hastily, “You need not answer that, of course. It is rude of me to ask.”

“O, I don’t mind,” said Evelyn, putting her hand on one side to survey the sweater which she held up to view. “Do you think that is big enough to go over the head?”

“It looks pretty small to me,” said Cathalina. “Is he big or little?”

“My head just comes to his shoulder. Yes, he is pretty big, Pehcy is.”

“I wonder if that is my answer,” remarked Isabel to Cathalina.

“No telling.”

“Well, girls,” said Hilary, “I’d like to visit longer, but I have to get to work. I see a hectic evening before me. I don’t know when I’ve been so behind with everything. I’ve been doing too much knitting and letter-writing, I am afraid. However, under the circumstances, I can’t regret it. Patriotism before everything!”

“Are you sure that it was all patriotism, Hilary?”

“Quite sure,” laughed Hilary.

In Lakeview Suite there was, indeed, a busy group that evening. It happened to be near examination time. Notes were being brought up to date. Exercise books in the languages were to be put into final shape. Eloise came in to consult Lilian about some exercises in Harmony, which both were taking, Lilian because she wanted to know how to write her little songs, and to catch up with Philip in his knowledge of the subject. The girls were all tired when the first bell rang, and Hilary sat, writing on, without paying any attention.

“You’ll be in the dark pretty soon, Hilary, unless you break rules,” remarked Lilian.

“Don’t mind me,” said Hilary. “Put the lights out when the bell rings. I’ll just write till then; I’m almost through. Then I’ll use my flash light when I get ready for bed.”

Finally, darkness descended upon the suite, and Hilary, her head aching a little, tossed and turned, till finally she wandered off into a dream with Campbell Stuart, both on a vessel, on the way to France, and watching a submarine whose periscope had just appeared close by. In the middle of the night she woke, consumed by thirst, and reaching under her pillow for her flashlight, slipped quietly out of the room after some water.

Just outside of her door she paused and started a little, for around the corner came a ghostly figure, looking very much as Evelyn had pictured the “Woman in Black.” There were two corridors running at right angles to Lakeview Corridor, and it was from one of these, in the direction of which Hilary was headed, that the ghost came. And, without warning, from the other direction, which Hilary, though not the ghost, could see, came running another figure with flying hair, light slippers and pale kimono.

“Two ghosts,” thought Hilary.

It all happened so quickly that Hilary could not have prevented it even had she been able to recover from her surprise. The “Woman in Black” saw Hilary, without doubt, for she waved her hands and moaned, a high quaver of ghostly sound. And right at the corner, plump into the Woman in Black, ran the other flying figure,—bump!

It was Evelyn’s face that turned toward Hilary. The black form recovered from the shock and sped on, but dropped a little roll of papers and, with an exclamation, turned and came back. Evelyn hastened to pick up the papers first—Evelyn, who was afraid of ghosts!

“Give them to me at once!” demanded the “ghost” in a hissing whisper.

Evelyn unrolled the papers in the dim light of the hall and showed no intention of hurrying. Impatiently the black ghost snatched at the little bundle, but Evelyn put it behind her back at first, then with a bow held it out,—“Your property, I believe,—Louise Holley!”

The “Woman in Black” angrily pulled away and disappeared down the hall. Evelyn leaned up against the wall and looked after her, while Hilary moved toward her, saying gently, in little more than a whisper, “Evelyn.”

“Is that you, Hilary?” asked Evelyn, in evident relief. “Did you see that performance? I suppose Louise has been out to meet that precious brother of hers. That is why she is staging the ghost act. How do you happen to be on hand?”

“I woke up and perishing with thirst, or was. I declare I was so taken by surprise that I forgot what I was up for.”

“It’s that ham, that grand baked ham we had for suppeh. I was so thihsty too, that I just had to have a drink and we forget to get any watch for the room, as we usually do.”

“So did we.”

“I happened to think about the ghost stories after I was in the hall, and put on speed just in time to run into the actual ghost! Honestly, I’m shaking all oveh!”

“You did not act afraid.”

“I wasn’t. No ghost is as solid as what I ran into.” Evelyn chuckled. “It was the shock, and being afraid that I would meet a ghost, a real one.”

“Do you still believe in that kind?”

“I must say that my faith is shaken. Didn’t Louise look like the real thing though as she disappeared?”

“She looked like a bad spirit all right. Some of the lights in the hall have been turned out. Did you notice that?”

“I think they always do it.”

“Yes, but they always leave enough to make a little light, and you can’t see any toward Louise’s room.”

“She must have done it on purpose. My, how mad she was when I would not hand her her papers.”

“They were little diagrams, Hilary. What do you suppose that means.”

“I think that Miss Randolph ’d better send her away again. That is what I think. Shall we tell her?”

“Let’s sleep on it. Take me back to my room, will you, Hilary?”

“Don’t lose your courage now, when you were so brave.”

“I always do when I have somebody to lean on. I ought to have a lot of responsibility put on me, I reckon.”

“You nice little thing!” exclaimed Hilary, patting Evelyn’s shoulder. “Let’s get a good drink first.”

“All right. I could drink all the wateh there is! Let it run and run to get fresh and ice-cold!”

All this conversation was carried on in subdued tones. Evelyn decided that she would show her bravely by going back to her room alone, but Hilary paused at the parting of the ways and watched her scampering through the corridor to her room, which she entered, after giving one hasty backward glance to make sure that no ghost or human was entering behind her.