do," said Mr. Bobbsey dryly.

"That is so." Bert grew red in the face. "Did you see the ghost after
that?" he asked to hide his confusion.

"No."

"Not at all?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey.

"No, mamma. I stayed under the covers for about a minute--just like Bert
did--and when I looked the ghost was gone."

"I will have to investigate this," said Mr. Bobbsey seriously. "It is
queer that neither I nor your mamma has seen the ghost."

"I ain't seen it," said Flossie.

"Don't want to see it," piped in Freddie.

Dinah, in the kitchen, had heard Nan's story and she was almost scared
to death.

"Dat am de strangest t'ing," she said to Sam, when he came for his
dinner. "Wot yo' make of it, hey?"

"Dunno," said Sam. "Maybe sumbuddy's gwine to die."

The matter was talked over by the Bobbsey family several times that
day, and Mr. Bobbsey remained awake nearly all of that night, on the
watch for the ghost. The following night Mrs. Bobbsey watched, and then
Dinah took her turn, followed by Sam, who sat in the upper hall in a
rocking chair, armed with a club. But the ghost failed to show itself,
and after a week the excitement died down once more.

"Perhaps you were dreaming, Nan," said Mrs. Bobbsey.

"No, I wasn't dreaming, mamma, and Bert says he wasn't dreaming either."

"It is strange. I cannot understand it at all."

"Do you believe in ghosts, mamma?"

"No, my dear."

"But I saw something."

"Perhaps it was only a reflection. Sometimes the street lamps throw
strange shadows on the walls through the windows."

"It wasn't a shadow," said Nan; and there the talk ended, for Mrs.
Bobbsey knew not what to say to comfort her daughter.

In some way the news that a ghost had been seen in the Bobbsey house
spread throughout the neighborhood, and many came to ask about it. Even
the boys and girls talked about it and asked Nan and Bert all manner of
questions, the most of which the twins could not answer.

The "ghost talk," as it was called, gave Danny Rugg a good chance to
annoy both Nan and Bert.

"Afraid of a ghost! Afraid of a ghost!" he would cry, whenever he saw
them. "Oh, my, but ain't I afraid of a ghost!"

"I think it is perfectly dreadful," said Nan one day, on returning from
school. Her eyes were red, showing that she had been crying.

"I'll 'ghost' him, if he yells at us again," said Bert. "I'm not going
to stand it, so there!"

"But what will you do, Bert?"

"I'll fight him, that's what I'll do."