"Oh! a real ghost?" gasped Bess, deliciously excited.
"That is quite impossible, is it not?" queried Professor Krenner, in his gentle way of poking fun. "A ghost must necessarily be impalpable; then, how can it be real?"
Bess did not like being "made fun of," so she whispered to Nan; but the latter liked to hear the professor talk. That he was an odd man she was sure; but he was nothing like Toby Vanderwiller, the lumberman, or the other crude characters she had met at Pine Camp. What would Bess have said to Mr. Fen Llewellen, for instance? Or what would her chum think, even, of her cousin, Tom Sherwood?
Bess soon became anxious for a change and she begged Nan to come into the dining car for luncheon.
"But we have our lunch," Nan pointed out.
"I don't care. I don't want a lot of stale sandwiches and fruit," Bess declared.
"I don't want to waste what little money I have, when your mother bought us a perfectly lovely lunch," said Nan, cheerfully.
"It isn't nice to eat it here," Bess objected.
"I've got a dollar," interrupted Bess. "I don't see why mother wouldn't let me have more money while traveling; but she didn't."
"Good reason," laughed Nan. "You know you'd lose it." She failed to tell Bess that Mrs. Harley had entrusted her with some money to use, "if anything should happen." Nan was dependable and Bess' mother appreciated the fact.
"I'm going," said Bess, firmly, rising from the seat. "You'd better come, Nan."
"On a dollar?" declared Nan. "How far do you think you'll get in a dining car with all that wealth?"
Bess made a little face. "At least, we can have some tea," she said.
"Ex--cuse me!" exclaimed Nan. "I have a hearty appetite--and it is crying out for satisfaction right now. I know your mother did not fail to remember there were two high-school girls to feed. There is plenty here," and she took down the ample box which Mrs. Harley's thoughtfulness had supplied.
"That's all right," said her chum, slily. "There will be enough for me if I want some when I come back."
"I don't know about that," replied Nan, with gravity. "I shall try to eat it all."
There was no quarrel between them over such a small matter. Indeed, Nan and Bess had never really had a serious difference since they had sat side by side in the kindergarten.