Читать книгу Virginia's Adventure Club онлайн

23 страница из 57

ssss1

“Hist. Virg, hold on a minute!”

The tall slender girl warmly wrapped in hood and long cloak turned in surprise as she was about to enter the little pine wood, beyond which lay the cabin of her beloved teacher and friend Miss Torrence.

She was indeed puzzled when she saw Betsy equally well protected from the sleet and snow arise from a clump of bushes near the path.

“How you startled me,” the older girl said, “with that mysterious sounding ‘Hist’ of yours. Do detectives always do that?”

“I don’t know,” Betsy confessed. “I never did hear my dad say it and he’s the only detective of my acquaintance.” Then stepping over a snow bank that she might stand in the shoveled path, she continued, “I wanted to waylay you. I’ve something to tell you. I really hate to. It sounds sort of sneaky, but we of The Adventure Club have just got to stand together and protect each other, haven’t we, Madame President?”

“Why, yes. I think we should. What have you heard?”

“Well, I didn’t have much of anything to do this morning, being as it’s Saturday and I thought I’d go up to the Tower Room that’s been vacant since Gwendolyn Laureat went away before Christmas. I never will know why I stole up those stairs as quietly as ever I could, unless it’s because sleuths in the movies always do steal about that way. When I got to the top of the stairs, I saw that the door was closed. There was nothing particularly strange about that, but, just as I had my hand on the knob to turn it, I heard voices inside. I tell you, it gave me a start! I remembered all the stories about that room being haunted and I was just about to dart away when I recognized one of the voices. The speaker stood so close to the door I could hear what she said. It was Kathryn Von Wellering and from what she was saying I knew that she is your enemy.”