Grace was so serious that Sylvia wondered what it could be. "It isn't
that Estralla is going to be sold right away, is it?" she asked
anxiously.
"No. I'll tell you after supper," Grace responded and ran on to her own
home.
Sylvia's mother and father were interested to hear all that she had to
tell them about the corn-shucking, and of the wonderful cake with its
palmetto flag. She told them about poor Dinkie, and what Philip had
said: that Dinkie should not be sold away from her children, or whipped.
Mr. Fulton seemed greatly pleased with Sylvia's account of her visit. He
said Philip was a fine boy, and that there were many like him in South
Carolina.
They had just finished supper when Grace appeared, and the two little
girls went up to Sylvia's room.
"What is it, Grace?" Sylvia asked eagerly. "I can't think what you want
to tell me that makes you look so sober."
Grace looked all about the room and then closed the door, not seeing a
little figure crouching in a shadowy corner.
"I wouldn't want anybody else to hear. It's about the ghost," she
whispered. "I know all about it. It was Flora herself! Yes, it was!" she
continued quickly. "When we were in her room this morning I saw a big
hat with a long feather on it, hanging on her closet door, and a long
blue skirt, one of her mother's. They weren't there yesterday, for the
door was open, just as it was to-day."
"Well, what of that?" asked Sylvia.
"Oh, Sylvia! Can't you see?" Grace asked impatiently.
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