"My goodness!" gasped Mrs. Townsend. Her face assumed a strange
gathering of wrath in the midst of her terror. Suddenly she made a
determined move forward, although her husband strove to hold her
back.
"You let me be," said she. She moved forward. Then she recoiled
and gave a loud shriek. "The wet sheet flapped in my face," she
cried. "Take me away, take me away!" Then she fainted. Between
them they got her back to the house. "It was awful," she moaned
when she came to herself, with the family all around her where she
lay on the dining-room floor. "Oh, David, what do you suppose it
is?"
"Nothing at all," replied David Townsend stoutly. He was
remarkable for courage and staunch belief in actualities. He was
now denying to himself that he had seen anything unusual.
"Oh, there was," moaned his wife.
"I saw something," said George, in a sullen, boyish bass.
The maid sobbed convulsively and so did Adrianna for sympathy.
"We won't talk any about it," said David. "Here, Jane, you drink
this hot tea--it will do you good; and Cordelia, you hang out the
clothes in our own yard. George, you go and put up the line for
her.
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