Arden Blake fairly jumped into her bedside slippers, drew on a dressing gown, and in an instant was at the window.
"What's the matter?" sleepily inquired Terry, who was in the other twin bed. "Has anything happened?"
"It's snowing again," Arden answered. "I awoke a little while ago and I heard tiny tappings against the window. I wondered what it was and I waited a decent time, so I shouldn't awaken you, to find out."
"Nothing to do with the mystery, has it?" yawned Terry.
"No, silly! It's just snowing. It's going to be a glorious storm, much better than the other little fairy we had, I believe, and oh, don't you just love snow for Christmas?"
"That's so, Christmas is coming," Terry admitted as she sat up in her bed and watched Arden, still at the window. "What time is it?"
"Nearly eight. Too sleepy still to see the faithful clock right before you," teased Arden.
"I haven't heard them moving." Arden inclined an ear toward the room across the hall where their hostess and the other girl slept.
"Well, then, come on back to bed," urged Terry. "No use getting up until Sim does. And we stayed up so late last night, talking to Harry Pangborn, that I'm sleepy yet."
"I'm not, and I'm going to dress. I have something to do," declared Arden with a purposeful look on her face.
"What? Going to see Harry? I think he's awfully nice."
"He is, but I'm not going to see him. I'm going to the woods to get some holly branches. I noticed a lovely lot of bushes some distance back of the old Hall when I was wandering around by the cellar door that time Betty Howe popped up out of it."
"With horror on her face, as they say in books," drawled Terry.
"Yes, she was terrified all right," admitted Arden. "Who wouldn't be, coming upon what looked like a dead man? And that's another thing we must do."
"My, aren't we the busy girls!" laughed Terry. "What else, for goodness' sakes? I might as well get up and dress, I suppose. There'll be no sleep for me now with you barging around."
"Another thing we must do," said Arden as she began to dress, "is to see to it that Jim Danton's poor little family gets some relief from Mr. Callahan or somebody. He was hurt while working for the contractor, and the contractor should pay. That's the law."