At last they were in the train with the boys and their parents waving to them.  Then suddenly they realized that they were moving.  They were actually on their way!

“Give my regards to the ghosts!” cried Chet as the train moved off, “and don’t scare them all off before I get there!”

CHAPTER XIII

CHERRY CORNERS

As the train drew out of the station Billie leaned back with a sigh of pure happiness.

“You know,” she said, looking at the girls with sparkling eyes, “this is the very first time that I have ever been away from North Bend without the folks.”

“But don’t forget you’ve got me to look after you,” put in Mrs. Gilligan, with a twinkle in her eyes.  “I’m goin’ to see that you don’t get into mischief.”

“I don’t know but what we shall have to look out that you don’t get into mischief,” said Laura with a chuckle.  “Mr. Gilligan told me once that you weren’t to be trusted out alone.”

“Huh,” retorted Mrs. Gilligan good-naturedly, “it’s him that I wouldn’t be trusting.  But what,” she asked, looking curiously at Billie, “did your brother mean by saying not to scare away the ghosts before he gets there?”

“Oh,” laughed Billie, “he has a sort of idea that the house at Cherry Corners is inhabited by spirits—­just because mother said that the halls and rooms were spooky.  He will be terribly disappointed if he doesn’t see half a dozen ghosts.”

“Well, I wouldn’t,” said Violet with a shudder, for now that they were on the way to their adventure, her courage was beginning to fail.

“Ghosts!” repeated Mrs. Gilligan, with a fun-loving light in her eyes.  “Better not any ghosts come around me or I’ll give ’em a taste of the rolling pin.”

The girls laughed.  The picture of Mrs. Maria Gilligan assaulting a ghost with a rolling pin was indeed a funny one.

“Well,” said Billie a little later, as she started to unpin her hat, “I don’t know about you girls, but I’m going to be comfortable.  We have a long ride before us.”

“I suppose we might as well take off our hats and stay awhile,” agreed Laura, following suit.  “Say, girls,” she added, as she stuck her hat up in the rack above her head, “I just thought of something last night.”

“Was it anything important?” asked Billie, with a wicked little look.

“I don’t know whether you would think so,” Laura retorted calmly.  “I was wondering why we didn’t take the night train that reaches Roland, the nearest station to Cherry Corners, in the morning.”

“That would have been a good idea, wouldn’t it?” said Billie.  “Now we will reach the house after dark.”

“When all the spooks are roaming,” added Laura, in a ghostly voice.

“Goodness!” cried Violet, turning uncomfortably in her seat, “if you girls don’t stop talking about ghosts I’ll just get out and go home.”