CHAPTER XIII
THE STORM
Silence followed an exclamation that came from the lips of each of the girls—an involuntary cry from each one, brought out by the words of Grace.
"Shadow Valley!" murmured Mollie.
"And the—the" it was Betty who began this, it being her evident intention to make a remark about the haunted house. Then her usual good sense came to her rescue, and she refrained. There was pressure enough now on the nerves of her chums, she reasoned.
"Well, what of it?" she asked in a voice meant to be cheerful, and Betty was an adept at simulation under necessity.
"Don't—don't you understand?" faltered Grace, in a low voice a tone calculated to add to the tenseness of the situation, rather than to relieve it.
"I understand that our car has balked for some reason or other," said Betty in brisk, business-
110
