And so, leaving the cars where they were, the girls approached the house with shaking knees and hearts that hammered their fear aloud.  The Outdoor Girls were ordinarily afraid of nothing real and human, but to be held up at the point of a pistol would unnerve almost any one, and the struggle the girls had made not to give way to their fears at the time had made them more nervous still.  And this thing that had startled them now, added to what had gone before, seemed a little more than could be borne.  It seemed, in fact, like nothing human.

Mrs. Irving turned the key in the lock, opened the door and stepped inside the dark place, motioning to the girls to follow her.

Fearfully the chums obeyed and Betty and Mollie pulled out their electric pocket torches, filling the place with a weird light.  Mollie, being acquainted with the place, naturally took charge of the situation.

“There are matches over there,” she said, “and candles over the fireplace.  For goodness’ sake, let’s get a regular light, folks.  Perhaps that will make us feel more natural.”

“So say all of us,” echoed Amy.  “The dark makes everything worse, when you are not well acquainted with a place.”

Mollie touched a match to the candles, and in the answering flare turned to face her chums.

“Girls,” she said, determinedly, “I don’t know how you feel about it, but I vote that before we do anything else we get something to eat.  We all look like ghosts just now and I’m sure we feel much worse than that.  But a little food makes a monstrous lot of difference.”

“You know it does,” cried Grace, relaxing into one of the big chairs that were scattered about the room and covering her face with her hands.  “I think if I don’t get something to eat soon, I’ll die, that’s all.”

“Well, we are none of us going to die,” said Mrs. Irving vigorously, as she threw aside her coat and hat.  “Show us the way to the kitchen, Mollie, and if there is anything there to eat, we will get it.”

Accordingly Mollie took one of the candles and led the way into a little room beyond while all the girls but Betty crowded in after her.

For the Little Captain slipped back for a moment and very quietly closed the door, shutting out definitely the shadow beyond it.

“I suppose it is foolish,” she said to herself, “because if there is anything out there that really wants to get in there are plenty of ways that it can do it, without coming in through the door.  But,” and she turned the key in the lock, “it certainly makes one feel more comfortable to have the door closed.”  Then she followed the girls into the other room, and the sight that met her eyes was certainly more cheering than anything she could have imagined.

Mollie’s Uncle John had surprised them.  In the exact center of a table set for five lay a young pig, roasted whole and browned to a turn!  Nor was this all.  The table was littered with covered dishes of all sizes and descriptions, and as the contents of each one of these dishes was disclosed, the girls became more and more excited and hilarious.