in that room, we certainly
ought to find out what's making it."

And with this plausible excuse for satisfying her curiosity, she opened
the door cautiously, and peeped inside.

CHAPTER III

A Strong Suspicion

If Lindsay and Cicely had counted upon finding something interesting
behind the closed door, they were much disappointed. The room was
absolutely bare and unfurnished. It was not panelled, as mysterious
rooms ought to be, but had an old-fashioned and rather ugly wallpaper,
adorned with big bunches of grapes and flowers; and there was a plain,
whitewashed ceiling. At one side a window overlooked the garden, and at
the other was a shallow store cupboard, the open door of which revealed
rows of empty shelves, probably intended for jam or linen.

There was nothing to give the least suggestion of romance, or the
possibility of any concealed hiding-place. There was no carved
overmantel nor four-post bed; in fact, the only article of any
description to be seen was a large horn lantern that hung from a hook in
the ceiling. The curious noise had ceased, and although the girls looked
round most carefully, they were not able to find anything which would
account for it.

"There isn't a corner that even a cat might hide in," said Lindsay. "It
was so loud, too! I can't understand it in the least."

"I call it rather uncanny. Let us go!" said Cicely.

She was stepping down on to the little landing again, when, to her
dismay, she almost ran into the arms of Mrs. Wilson, who, still in black
bonnet and mantle, had returned from the village sooner than they
anticipated, and must have come unheard up the winding staircase.

"The Griffin's" surprise at seeing them seemed as great as their own.
She gave a gasp of consternation, peeped hastily inside the empty room,
then turned to Lindsay and Cicely with a look of mingled relief and
wrath.

"What were you doing in the lantern room?" she asked sharply. "You know
perfectly well you've no right to be up here. You must mind your own
business, and keep to your own places, instead of poking and ferreting
about into matters that don't concern you. I can't have you rambling
about wherever you please, and the sooner you understand that the
better. It was sorely against my advice that the Manor was let for a
school!"

She spoke rudely, and seemed more upset and annoyed than the occasion
warranted. She swept the two girls downstairs before her, muttering
angrily as she went