by Carol Norton
CHAPTER X. SOUNDS IN THE LOFT
Nann half believed that the white object she had seen at the loft windowwas but a flashing ray of the setting sun reflected from the oppositewindow which faced the west, and yet, curiosity prompted her to go to theloft and be sure that it was unoccupied. This resolution was strengthenedwhen, upon reaching the cabin, she heard Miss Moore's querulous voicecomplaining that the outer stairs leading to the room above had beencreaking constantly, and she requested the girls not to go up and down sooften while she was trying to sleep. Nann, knowing that they had not beento their bedroom since morning, was a little puzzled by this, and so,bidding Dories prepare tea for her great-aunt, she went out on the backporch and started to ascend the stairway. When the top was reached, shediscovered that the door was locked. For a puzzled moment the girlbelieved that the key was on the inside, but, stopping, she found thatshe could see through the keyhole. Although it was dusk, the window inthe loft room, which opened toward the sea, was opposite and showed afaint reflection of the setting sun. Nann was relieved but still puzzled,when a whispered voice at the foot of the stairway called to her.Turning, Nann saw Dories standing in the dim light below, holding up thekey. "Did you forget that we brought it down?" she inquired.
As Nann hurriedly descended, she noticed that the stairs did not creak,nor indeed could they, for each step was one solid board firmly wedged ingrooves at the sides.
"I believe that we are all of us allowing our imaginations to run awaywith us, Miss Moore included," Nann said as she returned to the kitchen.Then added, "Instead of making our bed now, I will clean the glass lampsand fill them with the oil that Gibralter brought while it is stilltwilighty."
This she did, setting briskly to work and humming a gay little tune.
It never would do for Nann Sibbett, the fearless, to allow herimagination to run riot.
Before the lamps were ready to be lighted, the fog, which stole in everynight from the sea, had settled about the cabin and the fog horn outbeyond the rocky point had started its constantly recurring, longdrawn-out wail.
"Goodness!" Dories said, shudderingly, "listen to that!"
"I'm listening!" Nann replied briskly. "I rather like it. It's so sort ofappropriate. You know, at the movies, when the Indians come on, the weirdIndian music always begins. Now, that's the way with the fog."
She paused to scratch a match, applied the flame to the oil-saturatedwick of a small glass lamp and stood back admiringly. "There, friend o'mine," she exclaimed, "isn't that cheerful?"
Dories, instead of looking at the circle of light about the lamp, lookedat the wavering shadows in the corners, then at the heavy gray fog whichhung like curtains at the windows. She huddled closer to the stove. "Ifthis place spells cheerfulness to you," she remarked, "I'd like to knowwhat would be dismal."
Nann whirled about and faced her friend and for a moment she was serious.
"I'm going to preach," she threatened, "so be prepared. I haven't theleast bit of use in this world for people who are mercurial. What righthave we to mope about and create a dismal atmosphere in our homes, justbecause we can't see the sunshine. We know positively that it is shiningsomewhere, and we also know that the clouds never last long. I call itsuperlative selfishness to be variable in disposition. Pray, why shouldwe impose our doleful moods on our friends?"
Then, noting the downcast expression of her friend, Nann put her armsabout her as she said penitently, "Forgive me, dear, if I hurt yourfeelings. Of course it is dismal here and we could be just miserable ifwe wanted to be, but isn't it far better to think of it all as anadventure, a merry lark? We know perfectly well that there is no suchthing as a ghost, but the setting for one is so perfect we just can'tresist the temptation to pretend that----"
Nann said no more for something had suddenly banged in the loft room overtheir heads.
Dories sat up with a start, but Nann laughed gleefully. "You see, eventhe ghost knows his cue," she declared. "He came into the story just atthe right moment. He can't scare me, however," Nann continued, "for Iknow exactly what made the bang. When I was upstairs I noticed that theblind to the front window had come unfastened, and now that the nightwind is rising, the two conspired to make us think a ghost had invadedour chamber." Then, having placed a lighted lamp on the kitchen table andanother on a shelf near the stove, the optimistic girl whirled and witharms akimbo she exclaimed, "Mistress Dori, what will we have for supper?You forage in the supply cupboard and bring forth your choice. I vote forhot chocolate!"
"How would asparagus tips do on toast?" This doubtfully from the girlpeering into a closet where stood row after row of bags and cans.
"Great!" was the merry reply. "And we'll have canned raspberries andwafers for desert."
It was seven when the meal was finished and nearly eight when the kitchenwas tidied. Nann noticed that Dories seemed intentionally slow and thatevery now and then she seemed to be listening for sounds from above.Ignoring it, however, Nann put out the light in one lamp and, taking theother, she exclaimed, "The earlier we go to bed, the earlier we can getup, and I'm heaps more interested in being awake by day than by night,aren't you, Dori? Are you all ready?"
Dories nodded, preparing to follow her friend out into the fog that hunglike a damp, dense mantle on the back porch. But, as soon as the door wasopened, a cold, penetrating wind blew out the flame. "How stupid of me!"Nann exclaimed, backing into the kitchen and closing the door. "I shouldhave lighted the lantern. Now stand still where you are, Dori, and I'llgrope around and find where I left it after I filled it. Didn't you thinkI hung it on the nail in the corner? Well, if I did, it isn't there. Getthe matches, dear, will you, and strike one so that I can see."
But that did not prove to be necessary, as a sudden flaming-up of thedying fire in the stove revealed the lantern standing on the floor nearthe oil can. Nann pounced on it, found a match before the glow was gone,and then, when the lantern sent forth its rather faint illumination, theyagain ventured out into the fog.
All the way up the back stairway Dories expected to hear a bang in theroom overhead, but there was no sound. She peered over Nann's shoulderwhen the door was opened and the faint light penetrated the darkness."See, I was right!" Nann whispered triumphantly. "The blind blew shut andthe hook caught it. That's why we didn't hear it again."
"Let's leave it shut," Dories suggested, "then we won't be able to seethe lantern out on the point of rocks if it moves about at midnight."
Nann, realizing that her companion really was excitedly fearful, thoughtbest to comply with her request, and, as there was plenty of air enteringthe loft room through innumerable cracks, she knew they would notsmother.
Too, Dories wanted the lantern left burning, but as soon as Nann was surethat her companion was asleep, she stealthily rose and blew out theflickering flame.