“Will you please state, young lady,” said Ned, imitating a lawyer questioning a witness, “just what you saw?  Confine yourself to the question.”

“I saw a light—­l-i-g-h-t.  And I saw it all over the place at the same time.”

“A flame, like a fire?” asked Nat “Perhaps the place is all up in smoke by this time.”

“No, no,” said Tavia.  “It was about as big as a candle and as rapid as a—­a—­”

“Searchlight,” suggested Joe.

“See here, children,” exclaimed Mrs. White, leaving her place on the cushioned leather couch and going toward the library, “if you do not stop telling ghost stories you will have the most dreadful dreams.”

“Oh, I’m not afraid, Aunt Winnie,” said Roger, taking the caution, as intended, entirely for his benefit.

“But you might walk downstairs,” insisted his aunt, “and you know how dreadfully frightened you were the night after the party, when you did walk down in your sleep.”

“Oh, that wasn’t ghosts, auntie, dear.  You said, don’t you remember, that was cake with frosting on it.”

“Do you prefer ghost-walks?” asked Nat.  “I do believe most fellows like ‘the ghost to walk.’  That’s what they call pay-day, you know.”

“Well, that will be about all,” said Tavia as a finish to the recital of her queer ride.  “There is really nothing more to tell.”

“Oh, pshaw!” exclaimed Roger, “you didn’t tell us—­about the light.  When it—­”

“Went out—­” interrupted Ned, teasing his young cousin.

“Didn’t wait for that,” explained Tavia, “for the old man made the horse go, I tell you, when he saw that light floating ’round.”

“Well, we will have to go and interview that ghost some day, dear,” said Dorothy, putting her arm around her small brother.  “Doro is not afraid of ghosts, and neither is her great big brother, Roger.”

Interview the ghost?  How little Dorothy knew that her promise would be fulfilled, and how little she dreamed how the strange interview would be brought about!

With the arrival of Tavia at The Cedars Dorothy felt her Christmas vacation had actually begun, for the days spent in expecting her guest were almost wasted in the little preparations that Dorothy always loved to make to welcome Tavia.  But now the real holiday had come, and it was with hearts and heads filled with a joyous anticipation that the young folks at The Cedars finally consented to go to bed that night and start out on the morrow to fulfil at least some of the many plans already arranged as part of the Christmas holiday.

CHAPTER IV

THE TANGLED WEB SHE WOVE

The day following was clear and crisp, with biting, wintry air, but there was no sign of snow to make the boys happy, and give them an opportunity of realizing the much wished for sleigh ride.

“We had better go to town and get some of the shopping over with,” suggested Dorothy to Tavia, when they had convinced the boys that it was too cold to go auto riding, and that this was the very best day in the week to do Christmas buying.