The girls hurried into suite fifty-two, as if Satan and his legions were after them, while Hilary was torn between a desire to laugh and curiosity to know what was the matter. “Get right into our beds,” ordered Hilary. So Avalon with Cathalina and Isabel with Hilary crawled into the twin beds, which proved somewhat narrow for two. “Now tell us.” At this point there came a tap at the outer door and Hilary jumped up to answer it, while Isabel hastily put the covers over her head. “Who is it?” inquired Hilary, as she unlocked the door again. “Me,—Betty,” came the reply in Lilian’s voice. “We saw you all go in, and Isabel’s door open,—what happened and what was that awful shriek?” “Come on in, we’re just going to hear about it, too. Isabel did the yelling. She was scared to death about something and the girls are in our beds with us. I don’t know what we’ll do with you!” Hilary laughed and pulled some blankets out of her cedar chest. “Here, take these and pile on the bed. I shut the windows down, but it’s pretty chilly.” By this time Isabel had recovered from her first terror and felt strengthened by the number around her. She sat up in Hilary’s bed and leaned over toward the other girls to say solemnly, “Well, girls, you know the ‘Woman in Black,’ don’t you? I saw her!” “Nonsense, Isabel, what is the ‘woman in black,’ a ghost?” This was Hilary, of course. “You and Betty know about her, don’t you?” persisted Isabel, turning to Lilian. “Why, yes,” said Lilian. “There’s a tradition at Greycliff about a ‘Woman in Black’ that walks around the halls sometimes, so they say.” Avalon shivered and Cathalina put an arm around her. “Hurry up and tell us, Isabel. What did she look like and how did you happen to be in the hall or did she come into your room?” Cathalina was laughing, yet it was “sort of spooky”, as she admitted later. “No, she did not come in. Avalon was feeling sick and finally had such a headache that I said I’d get up and go over to see if one of you did not have something that would help her. I didn’t want to go up to the third and wake Miss Wood and maybe have Avalon taken to the pest house, and anyhow I don’t like these old dark halls. So I was kind of sleepy and didn’t turn on the light in our room for fear some teacher would see it—and I just got out into the hall when I heard a sort of moan and something all black and floaty and tall, like a big shadow whisked by me and disappeared around the corner. So there!” “What’s your story, Avalon? Got your headache yet?” “Not much; scared out of me, I guess. Why, I just heard Isabel scream and went to the door and saw you and Cathalina.” “Maybe it was a thief.” “Or one of the servants.” “Maybe it was the ‘mysterious girl’!” “What would she be doing snooping around on this floor at midnight?” “It’s a wonder all the girls are not awake—the way you screamed, Isabel.” “I couldn’t help it. Wouldn’t you have screamed too?”