That suits us
exactly, for he must not hear us. We are going up to the woods at the
back of the castle. First, we'll sing our challenge, then comes the
pause, to give the ghost enough time, then again and after that for the
third and last time. If there really is a ghost, he will have appeared
by then. You can understand that he won't let himself be teased by us.
So when he hasn't come, we can tell everybody what we did. Then they'll
see that it is only a superstition and that there is no wandering ghost
in Wildenstein. Forward now!"
The little crowd set out full of spirits and eagerness for the adventure,
for Kurt had clearly shown them that there could be no ghost. To go up
there and sing loudly to a non-existent ghost was capital fun.
Furthermore, they looked forward to boasting of their daring deed
afterwards. Faster and faster they climbed, so that only half of the
usual time was taken in reaching their destination. It was dark at
first, but the moon suddenly came out from behind the clouds, cheerfully
lighting up the fields.
Having reached the rear of the castle hill, they hurried up the incline
and into the pinewoods, where the trees stood extremely close together.
This made it very dark, despite the fact that the wood was small. Soon
clouds covered the moon, and the little band became stiller and stiller.
Here and there one of the children sneaked off and did not reappear.
Three of the girls, after mysteriously whispering together, were gone,
too, and with them several more stole away, for there was a strange
rustling in the bushes.
Pages:
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106