After Miss Flora had heard the whole story, she gave a nervous sigh. "It's the ghost—there's no other explanation."

      "But why," Aunt Rosemary asked, "has a ghost suddenly started performing here? This house has been occupied since 1785 and no ghost was ever reported haunting the place."

      "Well, apparently robbery is the motive," Nancy replied. "But why the thief bothers to frighten you is something I haven't figured out yet."

      "The main thing," Helen spoke up, "is to catch him!"

      "Oh, if we only could!" Miss Flora said, her voice a bit shaky.

      The girls were about to pick up the luncheon dishes from the table, to carry them to the kitchen, when the front door knocker sounded loudly.

      "Oh, dear," said Miss Flora, "who can that be? Maybe it's the thief and he's come to harm us!"

      Aunt Rosemary put an arm around her mother's shoulders. "Please don't worry," she begged. "I think our caller is probably the man who wants to buy Twin Elms." She turned to Nancy and Helen. "But Mother doesn't want to sell for the low price that he is offering."

      Nancy said she would go to the door. She set the dishes down and walked out to the hall. Reaching the great door, she flung it open.

      Nathan Comber stood there!

CHAPTER VA Puzzling Interview

      FOR SEVERAL seconds Nathan Comber stared at Nancy in disbelief. "You!" he cried out finally.

      "You didn't expect to find me here, did you?" she asked coolly.

      "I certainly didn't. I thought you'd taken my advice and stayed with your father. Young people today are so hardhearted!" Comber wagged his head in disgust.