behind her and the
latter moved up till they were close to her.

"You understand," said the leader then, "that one cannot change from a
human to a ghost in a minute. There are different stages to be gone
through. Spider!" She lifted her hand again and one of the girls
separated herself from the group and came forward. As she faced the
leader she shivered as if with a chill, raised her hands in the air,
and, still shivering horribly, lowered them to her sides again.

The girls learned afterward that this was only a sort of salute which
every member of the "Ghost Club" was supposed to give its leader.

But here at night, with the wind sighing through the trees, and weird
shadows all about, the thing looked so uncanny that once more the girls
had a wild desire to run away and hide.

"What is it, your Ghostship?" asked the one addressed as Spider, and
although the voice was disguised the girls were sure it belonged to
Connie Danvers. They began to feel more at home.

"Tell these humans," the head ghost ordered, "what they will have to go
through to be initiated into the Ghost Club. Come forward, one at a
time."

"But would it not be better to show them?" asked Spider, and this time
the girls were sure it was Connie.

"Show them, by all means," said the head ghost, and then the girls knew
they were in for it.

They had heard of initiations before and what ridiculous things the
girls and boys who were lucky or unlucky enough to be initiated had to
go through with. But in every case they had heard of the clubs and
fraternities had been human ones. The initiation into a ghost club was
sure to be much worse.

The leader of the ghost club raised her hand again, and three girls
sprang forward from the group behind her. Before the girls knew what was
happening to them they found their hands pinned behind them while huge
sheets were flung over their heads.

The girls that were doing all this to them tied something that felt like
ropes around their waists, pulled the sheets into shape and the girls
found to their great relief that there were eye and nose and mouth holes
similar to those in the strange robes worn by the ghosts themselves.

After that they went through strange and weird experiences that they
remembered in their dreams for a long time afterward.

They were taught the "shiver salute," bandages were tied over their
eyes, or rather eye holes, and queer, slimy crawly things were pressed
into their hands.