it won't go. Of course
you can't use the self-starter, since your storage battery is out of
order, but we can crank up in the old-fashioned way."

"The car generates its own current when it is running," said Mollie.
"But to-day I have been running on an extra battery, as something
seemed to be the matter with the other one. T must have it looked to."

Mr. Blackford whirled the crank, and at once there sounded the welcome
throb of the powerful motor.

"Oh, joy!" cried Betty. "Now we can go!"

The auto was indeed in running order again.

"What are your plans?" asked the young man.

"We'll go on to Wendell City, the next town, and stop there for the
night," said Mollie. "We are very damp and miserable, and need rest,
and----"

"Food!" said Grace. "That little lunch we had was not very substantial."

"There were no chocolates for Grace," spoke Amy.

"I think I will drive on to the next town also, since it has stopped
raining," went on Mr. Blackford. "I will see you in the morning, and
we'll talk over this business some more. I want to lay that ghost if we
can. You'll get to the town ahead of me in your car."

"And we'll see you at the Lafayette House," suggested Mollie. "We are
going to stop there."

Four weary and much exhausted girls, and a rather used-up chaperone,
were soon enjoying the comforts of the hotel. They had 'phoned on ahead
for rooms that morning, but the proprietor had about given them up.
However, it was only eleven o'clock.

"Wouldn't you think it was--next day?" asked Betty, as she noted the
time.

"A great deal happened in a short space," said Mrs. Mackson. "Oh, but it
is good to be in a house again."

"One that isn't haunted," added Grace.

Morning, as Betty put it, "dawned clear and bright," and with it came
refreshment to the Outdoor Girls. They almost forgot the terrors of the
night, and when Mr. Blackford met them in the parlor, he having arrived
about an hour after they did, he found a very different set of young
ladies.

"Well, are you ready for the ghost hunt?" he asked, with a smile.

"I am!" declared Mollie. "I think that ought to be investigated. The
authorities should be notified, not so much for what happened to me--to
all of us--as because of what might happen to others. Then there's poor
Mr. Lagg--he'll lose what money he put into that property if the value
goes down because of the ghosts. I say let's try to discover the
secret."

"I'm with you!" exclaimed Betty, an