Summary
A derelict mansion exhales rot and rumor; its warped clapboards, half-remembered bloodlines, and sepulchral hush conspire to repel the living. Yet two threadbare sisters—Lois and Alice Atwell—return like stubborn sparrows to roost among the cobwebs, clutching rusted keys and the last embers of ancestral pride. That midnight, the house becomes a three-ring carnival of terror: Ted Rawson, a callow fraternity initiate, slips inside on a dare; Spud Foster, a jittery courier of purloined pearls, skulks in the cellar; and Jeremy, the velvet-gloved gardener-cum-maestro of larceny, conducts his gang from the shadows. One scream ricochets, a ghost-story-in-reverse erupts, and identities swirl like soot in moonlight—burglar becomes hero, heiress becomes jailer, and the mansion itself seems to shrug off centuries of dust to reveal a cracked mirror of desire. When dawn finally bleeds through cracked stained-glass, only love and larceny remain standing, both breathless, both slightly singed.
Synopsis
The old Atwell home is said to be haunted, and Jeremy Foster, the gardener--who is actually the head of a band of thieves that use the house for a hideout--does his best to keep the superstition alive. Despite the rumors, impoverished sisters Lois and Alice Atwell decide to move into the empty family home. They take possession the same night that Ted Rawson is ordered to explore the place as an initiation rite by his fraternity. That same night, Spud Foster, a member of his uncle's gang, hides there with his stolen loot. In the middle of the night, Lois apprehends Ted and takes him captive, believing that he's a burglar. The noise awakens Spud who, mistaking Lois for a ghost, flees the house. After much confusion, Lois' fears about Ted's character are allayed when he helps fight off the thieves; relieved, she confesses her love to the fraternity man.
