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Title: In the camp of the black rider
Author: Capwell Wyckoff
Release date: January 26, 2025 [eBook #75217]
Language: English
Original publication: United States: A. L. Burt Company, 1931
Credits: Bob Taylor, Tim Lindell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE CAMP OF THE BLACK RIDER ***
Transcriber’s Note
Italic text displayed as: _italic_
Bold text displayed as: =bold=
[Illustration:
“I have a feeling that we’ll never be bothered with them again,” said
Buck.
(_Page 234_) (_In the Camp of the Black Rider_)
]
IN THE CAMP
OF THE
BLACK RIDER
By CAPWELL WYCKOFF
AUTHOR _of_
“The Mercer Boys Series,” “The Secret of
the Armor Room,” etc.
[Illustration: Decoration]
A. L. BURT COMPANY
_PUBLISHERS_
New York Chicago
Printed in U. S. A.
ADVENTURE AND MYSTERY SERIES FOR BOYS
12 TO 16 YEARS OF AGE
=Tom Blake’s Mysterious Adventure.= By Milton Richards.
=Barry Dare and the Mysterious Box.= By Gardner Hunting.
=The Black Skimmer.= By Philip Hart.
=The Wreck of the Dauntless.= By Philip Hart.
=The Valdmere Mystery.= By Milton Richards.
=The Flight of the Mystic Owls.= By Philip Hart.
=The Secret of the Armor Boom.= By Capwell Wyckoff.
=Adventures of a Patriot.= By Philip Hart.
=Donald Price’s Victory.= By L. P. Wyman.
=The Mystery of Eagle Lake.= By L. P. Wyman.
=In the Camp of the Black Rider.= By Capwell Wyckoff.
=The Mystery at lake Retreat.= By Capwell Wyckoff.
Copyright, 1931
By A. L. BURT COMPANY
IN THE CAMP OF THE BLACK RIDER
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. TED TAKES A POST 5
II. IN THE CAMP OF THE BLACK RIDERS 16
III. FOLLOWING THE LIGHT 26
IV. A STARTLING SIGHT 33
V. SETTING UP CAMP 44
VI. A PROWLER IN THE NIGHT 56
VII. WEIRD SOUNDS 66
VIII. A GRIM FIND EXPLODED 76
IX. TED LAYS DOWN THE LAW 88
X. MOUNTAIN CHASE 99
XI. THE LONE LIGHT 110
XII. HEAVEN’S ARTILLERY 119
XIII. BUCK MAKES A DISCOVERY 129
XIV. THE STORY OF THE BLACK RIDERS 140
XV. MUTINY 152
XVI. THINGS ARE SETTLED MAN-FASHION 165
XVII. BUCK’S SQUAD TAKES THE FIELD 177
XVIII. AN UNEASY CAMP 188
XIX. DRUMMER SAVES HIS CHIEF 198
XX. A VISIT TO HOGS’ HOLLOW 210
XXI. THE WATCHING POST 220
XXII. GHOST MEETS GHOST 229
XXIII. A GAME OF NICKY NIGHT 238
XXIV. MYSTERIES ARE CLEARED UP 249
IN THE CAMP OF THE BLACK RIDER
CHAPTER I
TED TAKES A POST
The noon whistles blew in the little inland town of Ridgefield and the
sound, flung from many a hoarse factory siren, reached the ears of the
few men who worked at piling lumber in Thorn’s Lumber and Millwork
Company yard. The work of the men was instantly suspended and most of
them walked off to look into well-filled lunch pails. A few, fortunate
enough to live close by, started off for their homes.
At the first sound of the whistles two clean-cut young fellows at
the far end of the yard had just lifted a long plank, preparatory to
tossing it on a towering pile beside them. They looked smilingly at
each other as the whistles, joined by others, increased in volume of
sound.
“That’s what we have been listening for!” smiled Ted Thorn, son of the
owner of the lumber yard.
“Be careful!” warned Buck Dalton, his constant companion and devoted
chum. “You will come under the heading of a whistle-listener! That’s
the next worse thing to being a clockwatcher!”
“Can’t help it,” grinned Ted. “My stomach has been listening for that
sound for some time past.”
“Mine has, too,” confessed Buck. “Let’s heave this last board up.”
With a concerted heave they sent the long board flying upward to the
top of the pile and then, after washing at the nearby faucet, they set
off for home and the noon meal. It was a noontime in late July and as
they walked along they talked of summer plans.
“I hope we can get in some camping before long,” Ted said, as they
turned down the shady street upon which they both lived. “We’ve made a
little extra money this summer so far and we’re in fine shape for the
football season this year. I think that it is time we knocked off our
work and figured on a little camping trip.”
“I agree with you on that,” nodded Buck. “I’m just about ready for a
good outdoor trip and a few weeks under canvas. There is nothing I like
as well as the woods and a tent.”
“That, and a fire which glows a dull red,” cried Ted, his eyes shining.
“You bet! Well, here’s your gate, so the best of friends must part. See
you after dinner.”
Ted Thorn went into the plain old house while Buckley Dalton continued
on his way to a house a little way further along the street. These two
boys had been loyal comrades since they had been old enough to play
together. Ted was the son of the owner of the local lumber yard, a man
of quiet personality and moderate means, who was wrapped up in the
lives of his two children and his wife. Ted’s sister Dorothy was one
year his junior and his companion of more than one good time in the
events of the local school. The household was a happy one and in such
an atmosphere Ted had grown up to be a clean-cut, manly fellow, now
eighteen, and about to enter upon the last year at the local academy.
Buck was Ted’s age and was a worthy companion, a fun-loving fellow who
was honest and generous to the core. In physical proportions he passed
Ted, weighing a few pounds more and being gifted with a wider span of
shoulders. Both of the boys had been working throughout the summer
at Ted’s father’s lumber yard, to store up a little money to their
accounts at the bank and to keep themselves in trim for the coming
football season. On the Ridgefield Academy team Buck played fullback
and Ted had been for the past two years the quarterback of the team. It
was the intention of the boys to work at least a month or more and then
to spend some time during the summer on a camping trip, to round off
their summer training in that way. Now, with August near at hand, they
were beginning to think more seriously of the trip into the woods.
Ted entered the house quickly and washed up, after which he reported
to the dining room table. His father and mother were there, though
his sister was visiting at another house. With all the evidence of a
healthy appetite Ted attacked the food which his mother placed before
him.
“The foreman tells me that you and Buck are becoming first class men,”
his father, a middle-aged man with heavy gray hair, told him.
“Glad to hear that,” Ted smiled. “When we first started to work at
the yard it seemed that all we could do was to collect sore hands and
blisters! I guess that after we finish at the academy you may be able
to hire us for good, Dad!”
“I shouldn’t wonder if you might be able to do something else beside
pile lumber, after you graduate from the academy,” returned his father.
“Hope so,” his son said. “Pretty soon we’ll have to pick out a
preparatory school or college for me, won’t we Dad?”
“In another six months,” his father nodded, deriving pleasure from the
thought. The fact that Ted was going to college outweighed the thought
of personal expense with Mr. Thorn.
“Ted, there was a telephone call for you today,” his mother, a fine
looking, sweet-faced woman, put in. “Mr. Calvert called up and left a
message for you.”
“Mr. Calvert?” frowned Ted. “Let’s see, he’s the president of the Boys’
Club of the town, isn’t he?”
“Yes, and also a prominent lawyer,” replied his father. “I wonder what
he wants you for?”
“Can’t guess,” Ted shook his head. “What message did he leave, Mother?”
“He asked to tell you to get in touch with him as soon as possible,”
she replied.
“All right, I will. I suppose I had better go to his house this
evening.”
“Go to his office this afternoon,” his father said. “It may be
something important and there is no use keeping Mr. Calvert waiting. I
guess the lumber yard can spare you for a little while.”
“I guess you won’t lose any money while I’m gone,” grinned Ted.
“All right, I’ll call him and make an appointment with him for this
afternoon.”
After the noon meal Ted called up the lawyer and made an appointment
with him for an early hour. He then went out to the gate and waited
for Buck to come by. In a few moments his chum came swinging along the
street.
“Come on, back to the field of battle,” he called, gaily.
“You go ahead,” Ted advised him. “I won’t be over there right away.
I’ve got an appointment with Lawyer Calvert.”
They discussed the item for a few moments before they parted. “He must
want you for something pretty important,” Buck thought. “Maybe he wants
you to work for him during the rest of the summer.”
“If that is what he wants, he won’t get it,” Ted shook his head. “I’m
going camping with you, Buck old boy.”
“Well, don’t be foolish about that,” Buck advised. “We can go camping
some other time, you know, and Mr. Calvert doesn’t offer jobs every
day.”
“We’re getting a bit ahead of the game,” Ted smiled. “We don’t know yet
what he does want. I’ll see you later in the day and tell you all about
it.”
Buck went on the way returning to his work in the lumber yard, while
Ted waited until it was time to go downtown to see the lawyer. Promptly
at the appointed hour he reported at the office of Mr. Calvert and
after his name had been sent in, he was admitted to the presence of the
man.
Ted had seen Mr. Calvert before but he was not personally acquainted
with him. The lawyer was a fine, upstanding man, a power in the little
community, and a great lover of boys and their activities. Ted was a
little surprised when the handsome, middle-aged lawyer got up from his
deep leather chair and smilingly shook hands with him.
“How do you do, Thorn!” he asked, giving Ted a hearty pressure of the
hand. “I’m glad you found the opportunity to drop in and visit me. I
suppose you have no idea why I sent for you!”
“None at all, sir,” Ted confessed.
“Take a seat,” the lawyer directed, and when Ted had seated himself
opposite him the man went straight to the point.
“Thorn, you know that I am president of the Boys’ Club of this town, an
organization of young fellows numbering about twenty young fellows, all
pretty wide-awake boys who are banding their activities together and
learning some pretty useful things in life. These boys are younger than
you are and that is the reason that you and some of your particular
friends have never been asked to join. Well, the time has come when
these boys are asking for a regular summer camping trip, and the
officers of the club have agreed that the boys shall have a month of
camping life this year, under the direction of the club. We want some
one trustworthy to take these boys off on a camping trip and take care
of them, and we feel that we couldn’t get a better leader than you.”
Ted’s face flushed with pleasure but he hesitated, questions surging
in his mind. “That’s a very kind thought, Mr. Calvert,” he said. “But
don’t you think I am a little young?”
“No, I don’t, and besides, you’d have help. We know that you travel
constantly in the company of Buckley Dalton and if you accept the post,
we want your comrade to go with you. Between the two of you, you’d have
no trouble in handling the boys. You speak of being young. Well, we
wouldn’t consider anyone as young as you are unless he was the power
among younger fellows that you are. For the past two years you have
been quarterback on the academy team, and the boys in the club have
looked at you with eyes of worship! Your clean playing, your clear head
work on the field, has captured their imagination so that they will hop
with joy when they are told that you will lead the camping trip. We
propose to pay you and Buck a small salary for your work. How about it,
Thorn?”
“On one condition,” said Ted, instantly.
“What is that?” Calvert asked.
“That you withdraw what you said about the salary. Buck and I were
planning to go for a camping trip very soon and this plan which you
propose would simply be a bigger trip than we had planned. If you pay
all expenses for food, as I suppose you will, that will be enough.”
“Nonsense, Thorn! If we hired a professional man, we’d have to pay
him,” the lawyer said.
“Yes, but we’re not professionals. Buck and I have camped before,
and this trip will be a new experience for us. Now, if our food and
equipment is to be furnished, Buck and I will be saving, and that will
be plenty as it is. How do you know that we’ll make a success of it?”
“The men in this town notice a thing or two, Thorn,” was the quiet
answer.
“This is something new,” Ted said. “But we’ll try it—with no salary! I
think we’ll both feel more like doing the job right if we do it for the
benefit of the club and the boys, than if we do it because we are paid
for it. The Boys’ Club is a fine institution, and Buck and I will be
glad to help it along.”
“I appreciate your good spirit,” smiled the lawyer. “I am glad that we
are able to get leaders like you two. And now I want to speak to you
about the camping site.”
“I was wondering where the camp would be,” Ted nodded.
“Have you ever heard of Black Riders’ Camp?” the lawyer asked.
Ted considered. “That is the place where a number of patriots used to
meet in a band at the time of the Revolutionary War, isn’t it?”
Mr. Calvert nodded. “Yes. This state played a big part in the
Revolution and a band of mounted men, known as the Black Riders, used
to meet in a camp near here and sally forth to worry the British all
over the countryside. That camp is now owned by the members of the
Boys’ Club Trustee Board, and it is on that spot that we wish the
camp to be pitched. A large and beautiful stream of water, called
Bear Creek, runs through the hollow where the camp was, there is an
excellent natural swimming hole, and all in all the spot is ideal,
except in one particular.”
“What is that?” Ted asked.
“Unfortunately,” replied Mr. Calvert slowly. “The camp of the Black
Riders is said to be a haunted spot!”
CHAPTER II
IN THE CAMP OF THE BLACK RIDERS
“The camp is haunted!” Ted asked, quickly, leaning forward in interest.
Mr. Calvert smiled. “It is said to be, at any rate. There are all sorts
of foolish stories connected with the place, and I have no doubt that
people residing in the surrounding country could tell you many of them.
It is all probably nonsense, but I thought it better to tell you.”
“Do any of the boys who are going on the camping trip know that the
camp is supposedly haunted?”
“As far as I know they don’t, but they will be told of it by someone.
You may have a little difficulty on that score, but not much, I think.”
“I don’t think that we will,” affirmed Ted. “Most of the boys are
sensible fellows and they will take care of the rest. The camp is some
little distance away from here, isn’t it?”
“About forty miles. Some of the parents may wonder why we select a
spot so far away, but there is not much real fun out of a camping
trip unless the camp is some distance away. There are other spots
nearer, but none of them is as ideal as the Black Riders’ Camp, and
the trustees wish that particular spot to be used. The creek that
runs through the natural basin has a fine curve in it which makes the
swimming hole I spoke of and seldom have I seen anything to even equal
it for attractiveness. If our boys get a month in a place like that,
with constant outdoor work and play, I’m sure that it will do them a
world of good.”
“There is no doubt of it,” Ted agreed. “I’m very glad to be in on the
thing. Buck and I have had enough camping experience to swing the job
and I think we’ll both enjoy the experience of handling a big crowd
instead of just a few fellows. How will we get to the place?”
“A couple of trucks will take you there and all of the necessary
equipment will be provided. Anytime that you desire fresh food you
can call me up and it will be sent. I’m very glad that you are going,
Thorn, because I feel sure that the camp will be in the hands of two
trustworthy fellows. I wasn’t sure whether your friend Buck would be
free to go along and so I only asked you to come and see me.”
“Buck will be glad to go along,” smiled Ted. “We don’t go very many
places without each other! By the way, do you think it would be wise
for me to run out and look over Black Riders’ Camp before the camp
actually settles there?”
“I think it would be an excellent idea. Take the Black Horse Pike out
past Montvery, turn off on a dirt road which you will find on your left
as you leave Montvery, and you’ll have no trouble locating the camp. If
you see the site of the location you will have no trouble in setting up
camp, because you have time ahead to figure out space.”
“All right, I’ll do that. How soon will the boys be ready to go?”
“In a week. There are some few details to be worked out and then
everything will be in readiness.”
After some more talk Ted left the lawyer’s office, well pleased with
the project which loomed up before him, and made his way quickly to the
lumber yard. The sense of responsibility which would rest upon him gave
him something serious to think about, but the more he thought it out
the more it seemed to him that the experience would be a good one. On
the other camping trips there had always been a few fellows and every
one had had his own affairs to look out for, but this club camping trip
promised to tax his executive powers. There would have to be system and
obedience and he liked the prospect of organizing such a camp.
“Buck and I will learn a whole lot out of this trip,” he thought, as he
entered the lumber yard.
Buck was in the yard office, busily checking up on some lumber when Ted
came in, and he looked up with his customary grin. “Here comes the big
boss!” he cried. “Good morning, Mister Thorn!”
“Good morning is right!” flashed back Ted. “Arriving to work at three
o’clock in the afternoon is quite a privilege, isn’t it? Never mind,
when you get to be an old and trusted employee, as I am, you can do the
same!”
“I’ll do that. What did Mr. Calvert have to say, if it is for me to
know.”
“It is very much for you to know, Buck,” replied Ted, seating himself
on a stool beside his chum. “You and I have been appointed camp
leaders for the Boys’ Club during their August encampment!”
“Get out! You’re fooling!”
“I thought Mr. Calvert was, but he wasn’t. No, he wants us to go and
take charge of the camp, which will be out in the woods at the camp of
the Black Riders.”
“Hello, the haunted camp!”
“Where did you hear that it was haunted?” Ted asked, quickly.
“Oh, a cousin of mine told me, but it is just some foolishment, as our
friend Jake Meyers would say. Some countryman went to sleep there one
time and a rock rolled down hill, passing close to his head. It was a
big rock and the man wouldn’t believe but that some ghost or goblin
or something did it, and I guess from that time on there have been
stories. They don’t amount to anything, though.”
“They don’t with us, but I don’t know how things will be with younger
boys. You and I will have to laugh off any such feelings if they do get
around, and if possible, we must do our best to see to it that they
don’t get around. You’ve never been there, have you?”
“No. Have you?”
“No, but in accordance with a suggestion which Mr. Calvert approved,
I’m going to run up there on Saturday afternoon and look the place
over. Want to come along?”
“I won’t be able to, because I’m going visiting with the family. But
you go ahead and look things over. Now, let’s have the whole story of
what Mr. Calvert said.”
Ted told Buck the arrangements and his companion was enthusiastic.
“We’ll get a good insight on how to run a big camp,” he declared. “Of
course, in some respects, it won’t be as much fun as camping alone,
because when you are with one or two fellows you can do pretty much as
you please, but we’ll try our hand at something new. I’m all for it.”
“I knew you would be, and I told Mr. Calvert so. What I’ll do is this:
I’ll drive up there in the Rattletrap and look over the spot, to get a
fair idea of the place. Then you and I will figure out just where we
want the tents to go and how we’ll want things arranged.”
That night the two boys told the news at their respective homes and
the plans for the rest of the summer were approved. Buck was the only
son of his parents and they were very proud of their stalwart son.
Between the two families there existed a warm friendship which was of
years standing. And although Buck went to Ted’s house presumably to see
Ted, it was no secret that he hoped on each visit to see Ted’s sister,
Dorothy.
On the following Saturday both boys terminated their work at the mill
yard and that afternoon Ted went to the old barn back of his house and
took out his battered old car, which he capped with a fitting name when
he termed it the Rattletrap. It was of an ancient vintage and rattled
before each start and halt with singular energy and application. But it
always went and it had more than once taken the two boys to school and
other events, keeping to date a record for performance of which any car
might well be proud.
In this old wreck of a car Ted left Ridgefield and headed out for the
Black Horse Pike, one of the oldest roads in the State. He followed
this for the forty miles which Mr. Calvert had told him of, and reached
the small town of Montvery. Traversing this same road he passed through
the village and came to a grass-grown old road that led away toward
the encircling forest. Judging this to be the road in question, Ted
followed it, and after passing about a half mile of fields, the road
dipped into thick woods. As soon as he left the open grounds the gloom
seemed to wall him in and the woods were cool.
A farmer was approaching and Ted brought the Rattletrap to a stop,
hailing the man. “Am I anywhere near the camp of the Black Riders?”
“Keep going for another half mile,” was the answer. “Then you’ll get
to the end of the road and you’ll have to hike down the path into the
gully.” He rested his foot on the runningboard of the shaking car.
“Don’t many people come up to see the camp any more,” he confided.
“How is that?” Ted asked.
“Oh, people get tired of lookin’ at nothing but an open space. If it
was a building or something else it would be different. You going to
take a look at it?”
“Yes,” Ted nodded. “A bunch of fellows are going to camp there in a
week or so.”
“I see. Well, you won’t have nobody bothering you.”
“That is comforting news,” Ted thought, as he left the farmer and moved
on. “That will be something like real camp life.”
He came to the end of the rough road and left the car, starting out
on a steadily descending path until he came at last to the camp of the
Black Riders. Before going to the bottom of the basin he paused to
look around him. The place was a perfect bowl, the sides of which were
sheathed with fine pine trees. At the bottom ran Bear Creek with its
curve that made the swimming pool. On all sides, sloping upward, the
forest rippled away into the distance, solid and green.
Ted descended to the bottom of the basin and looked closely over the
camp site. His satisfaction was complete as he discovered two fine
springs at a little distance above the spot where he figured that the
tents should go. The streams from the springs flowed down and into Bear
Creek.
“Two dandy springs,” he reflected. “That’s fine. The water goes into
the creek, and I guess that makes the water pretty cold, but I suppose
we won’t mind that.”
He continued to look over the spot, noting all the natural advantages
of the place. As far as he knew there were no disadvantages attached
to it. The ground was carpeted with soft pine needles and the air was
charged with a fragrant tang. Lost in his thoughts, Ted did not notice
the swift passage of time.
The gloom of the woods increased and he awoke at last to the lateness
of the hour. His start that afternoon had not been an early one and he
realized that he must hurry back. The suddenness with which darkness,
aided by a group of dull clouds, came up, amazed him. He could scarcely
see before him as he turned to leave.
“Golly, it certainly did get dark in a hurry,” he thought. “I must be
getting out of here. I must be the only one for miles around.”
But a moment later, as he glanced up the towering mountains to the left
of the camp site, he knew that he was mistaken. In the darkness above a
lantern bobbed and swung.
CHAPTER III
FOLLOWING THE LIGHT
The sight of a lantern high up in the mountains captured Ted’s
imagination as well as his attention. The region seemed to be a
particularly lonely one and he wondered who the lantern-carrier could
be. While there had been light he had looked along the mountain side
but had seen no house or barn. The wooded slopes had appeared untouched
by the hand of man and altogether too dense and forsaken for a house of
any kind. Yet the bearer of the lantern was going somewhere.
The light flashed in and out among the trees as the bearer carried it
onward and upward, winking at irregular intervals as it passed back
of trees. The gleam was yellow and a trifle dim, yet there was power
enough to it for the watching boy to see. Although it was perhaps
perfectly natural for someone to walk the mountains with a lantern,
Ted’s mind pondered it.
“Wonder where he can be going? It really isn’t any of my business, and
I suppose that the person carrying the lantern knows what he is up to,
but it looks a bit mysterious. Still, it isn’t necessary to follow it.”
His mind had already considered the possibility of following, but at
first he rejected the idea wholly. In the first place, the action would
probably end in his seeing the man enter some hidden barn on perfectly
proper business, and in the second place, it was the right of anyone to
walk along the mountain at any time. But the upward twist and turn of
the tiny, bobbing light fascinated him.
“I guess I will follow it,” he finally decided. “I’d like to see where
it goes to. I may learn something about the region if anything can be
learned on a dark night like this, and anyway, I’ll feel a little more
satisfied if I see where the light is going. Now, let’s see how good I
am at finding my way around here in the dark!”
Centering his eyes upon the light’s feeble gleam Ted started on his
climb up the side of the mountain. As soon as he plunged into the trees
he lost sight of the gleam which he was trying to trace, but from time
to time he caught sight of it again as he came out into a cleared
space. It was no longer moving up but was keeping on a level of the
mountain side and he took an abrupt cut across the contemplated line of
march. The light moved slower and slower now and he gained upon it.
In one stretch of his climb Ted lost sight of the light altogether and
for some moments he was unable to locate it. He was about to give it
up as a bad job when a fleeting flash came to him through the trees.
Now he made out that the lantern-bearer was standing still and in this
interval he hoped to catch up. With this in mind Ted rapidly climbed
the last slope and stood on comparatively level ground on what was a
great shoulder of the mountains, heavily wooded as was the rest of
the region. Before him the lantern, hung in an invisible hand, cast a
circle of light around the ground.
In the shelter of some bushes and trees Ted crouched and looked at the
lantern. It was an extremely old-fashioned one, with three rounded
sides open and the fourth blank. Due to this structure of the lamp
Ted was unable to see who it was who held the thing. The uncompleted
circle cast by the lantern showed only the tips of two large shoes and
the shadowy outline of a pair of trousers which seemed much the worse
for wear. Above this, the bearer was invisible and might have been
looking in Ted’s direction as well as in any other, for all that the
boy knew. In fact, the continued silence of the man, combined with his
motionlessness, made Ted somewhat uneasy, for it was possible that he
was simply standing there and looking around. Ted imagined that he had
made a lot of noise in his climb.
At last the lamp was slightly shifted, much to Ted’s relief, and he saw
at once the object of the man’s search, or at least the goal of it. The
feeble rays from the old lantern showed dimly the outline of an old
house. In the fitful gleam there was revealed a short section of the
foundation, which was crumbling away, and a limited view of the warped
boarding on the side of the house. It was to this spot that the lone
prowler had come and he seemed to be intent upon his job.
As Ted remained at his post watching the lantern and the man moved
away, passing along the side of the house. The watcher had a hurried
glimpse of broken masonry and rotting boards occasionally obscured by
masses of bushes and creepers. The man went around to the back of the
house and for a few moments the light was entirely withdrawn from Ted’s
sight.
By this time Ted had entered fully into the sense of adventure of
the thing. Surely, there was something unusual going on. Something
important must be bringing this man out with his lantern to look around
an old house. The building itself aroused Ted’s curiosity. Who could
have built it up in the solitary fastness of the woods and how long had
it been standing idle? Something beside the beauty of the place must be
responsible for the intent prowling of the man with the lantern.
“I must see this house by daylight,” Ted decided.
The light winked suddenly around the far corner of the house and moved
along the front. Rough steps were revealed and the man with the shadowy
legs mounted the steps, crossed the porch and passed through a gaping
doorway into a front door. A swift glimpse was afforded Ted of white
plaster on the walls and then the light disappeared.
It was gone for some little time, finally appearing briefly in an upper
window. After that it disappeared again and was gone so long that Ted
grew highly impatient and seriously contemplating leaving. He knew that
he should be getting back to the town, for it was late and he had a
long drive before him. But the subject in hand fascinated him and he
wanted to see it through.
“I’ll give the gentleman a few more minutes,” he thought. “If nothing
shows up then, I’ll have to beat it.”
Crouching there in the bushes he waited straining his eyes toward the
blackness of the house. The whole mountainside had now become so black
that the house was not even distinguishable as a darker blot, and if
the man with the lantern had not revealed it, Ted could not possibly
have become aware of its presence except by bumping into it. With the
light out of sight the darkness was a solid wall.
Just as Ted’s impatience was nearing the breaking point he heard the
man with the light returning. There was a sound of crunching footsteps
and he came down a staircase in the house and before long the flashing
beam of the lantern showed. Man and lantern crossed the front porch and
without hesitation approached the bushes off to the left of where Ted
was concealed.
Now the lantern was placed on the ground and the man, still invisible
and keeping out of the rays of the lamp in a manner that was
particularly irritating, crashed his way into the bushes. Something was
hauled forth with a rustling, crackling noise. For a brief instant the
sides and rungs of a ladder were disclosed and then the thing passed
out of the light circle. But there was a bump which led Ted to believe
that the ladder, an old common farm ladder, had been placed against the
side of the house.
In this guess he was correct. The lantern was lifted from the ground
and the two mysterious legs sought the bottom rung of the ladder. As
Ted watched, the light and the legs went up step by step, the side of
the house, briefly illuminated, sliding by as the man mounted to the
top.
CHAPTER IV
A STARTLING SIGHT
A flash of the lantern showed the slope of the roof and a broken tin
gutter. Plainly the intention of the man was to mount this roof and the
watching boy wondered how he was going to do it, as there was a decided
slope to the house covering. But the man with the lantern evidently
knew his territory, for he stepped from the top of the ladder and his
foot descended to the roof, resting in a hole which the elements had
eaten through the shingles. He began to climb upward, picking his way
along the top of the roof with a certain foot, knowing the breaks and
the rough spots where he could travel in safety. Without wavering he
pressed on and reached the top of the house, where a crooked chimney
was shadowily revealed in the glow of the light. The man raised the
lantern.
Ted peered eagerly from his post in the bushes, hoping to get a good
look at the man but he was doomed to disappointment, at least as far
as the man’s face was concerned. He had his back to the boy and only
the general outline was disclosed by his act of raising the lantern. He
was outlined against the sky in a blurred picture, and he seemed to be
tall and thin. His clothing was of the roughest sort and his hat was a
relic which might, at one time, have been a soldier’s campaign hat. The
roof seemed to be familiar to the man, for he proceeded to business as
coolly as though he was standing on the firm ground instead of on the
slope of a rotting roof on a solitary house in the mountains.
He rested the lantern on the top of the tilted chimney and then dropped
his hands to his waist, fumbling there for a few moments and puzzling
Ted, who could not make out this latest move. At length the question
was cleared up, for the man began to pull on something which revealed
itself as a rope and which was coiled around his waist. In a few
minutes it slipped off of his person and then he proceeded to tie one
end of it to the handle of the lantern. Then he dropped the lantern
down the mouth of the chimney, paying the rope out gradually, his body
bent over so that he could look down the shaft.
Ted was rooted to the spot by the strangeness of the thing. The light
had ceased to shine abroad, instead, it now shot up a feeble shaft from
the interior of the chimney, bathing the head and shoulders of the lone
man in its wavering, uncertain gleam. The lower part of the man’s body
was lost to sight and the upper portion, half disclosed, gave a weird
appearance, as though the man was a half-spirit materializing in the
air. With absorbed attention the man lowered the lantern until the end
of his rope put an end to the process and then he began what looked
to be a profound search of the depth of the brick shaft. He moved the
rope from side to side, backward and forward, the ray of light shifting
as he did so, becoming larger and smaller as the man persisted in his
efforts.
Whether or not his work proved profitable Ted never knew, for he could
not see the face of the man and there was nothing to be learned as long
as the purpose of the thing was a mystery. But the man concluded his
search in short order, drawing up the rope rapidly and pulling out the
lantern. Rapidly he untied the rope, wound it around his waist and
then descended the roof, finding the places where he dared to walk. His
foot found the top rung of the ladder and he reached the earth a few
seconds later.
The lantern was once more deposited on the ground. The ladder was
removed and placed in the bushes, and the work of the man seemed to be
finished. He picked up the lantern and walked off, passing so close
to the hiding Ted that the boy felt the perspiration start suddenly
as he realized that the faltering rays of the lantern might disclose
his hiding place. The looks of the man were unknown and the prospect
of being seen by a man whose features were still formless in his mind
did not look inviting to Ted. But the man passed the spot while he was
thinking of these things and started down the mountain, leaving him to
lie there and wait until it was safe to go on.
It was manifestly not safe to go on just then. The man was below him
and in the darkness Ted might start a stone down and advertise his
presence, in which case the game would be very much against him, for
the man with the light knew the country and he was a stranger in a
strange land. He watched the lantern bobbing down the slope until it
was out of sight and then he sat up, turning the whole thing over in
his mind.
“By George, that surely was a funny one!” he thought. “What in the
world should he go and lower the lantern down the chimney for?”
The whole circumstance was so unusual that he was forced to give up
the solution as a bad job and one far beyond his powers to figure out.
The house which the boy had caught brief glimpses of was apparently a
deserted old place of no value whatsoever and why any one should take
the trouble to search it with a lantern for was beyond him.
“Can it be possible that there is something of value in the house?” he
wondered, as he stood up and looked in vain for the light. “I can’t see
why else a man should look around a place in the night. I wonder why he
doesn’t look around in the daytime? Probably he would have to have a
lantern in the daytime as well as in the night if he wanted to explore
the bottom of that chimney.”
Ted glanced toward the black outline of the house, hesitating as a
thought entered his mind. He was debating the question of entering
and looking around the place. In one sense, he wanted to do so, and
in another he did not want to. The curiosity of the whole thing was
strongly upon him, yet the solitary house was not inviting. He had no
way to make a light and he knew better than to think of prowling a dark
house, yet he could make an expedition around the house and get a fair
idea of the place. Then another thought caused him to abandon that idea.
“There may be some well close to the house, and I couldn’t afford to
fall into it. No, I guess I’ll be better off to stay out and away from
it. After we have made our camp up here I’ll go through the house some
day.”
Realizing that it was becoming far later than he had had any idea of,
Ted decided to go back to his little car and drive home. For a moment
he paused, undecided. In his haste to track the man with the lantern
he had not taken time to map out in his mind the direction in which
he had come and for a moment he was dismayed at the blackness of the
woods. Anyone used to at least the partial illumination that exists at
all points in a city is apt to be disagreeably surprised at the total
blackness of the night in the woods, and Ted was experiencing this
feeling now. But he fought off his uneasiness.
“I’ll get back to the car,” he told himself. “I’ve got to! I’ll just
follow down the side of the mountain. Gosh, I never knew how dark the
woods could be!”
He began to descend carefully, feeling his way before him, covering to
the best of his knowledge the route which he had followed as he tracked
the man with the light. Once or twice he came out on ledges which ended
abruptly and he was compelled to retrace his steps and work further
down, but before long he found ground which was more level. In a few
moments he heard the murmur of the stream and recognized it as that of
Bear Creek.
“Landed almost at home!” he exulted. “Now I guess I can find my way to
the Rattletrap!”
He started to cross the long glade which had been the camp of the Black
Riders and came in sight of the springs. A light flashed there and he
stopped quickly.
Beside one of the springs the lantern rested on the ground and the
figure which had carried it bent over the spring, washing his hands.
Ted’s foot touched and rolled a stone, which made a slight noise as it
rolled.
The man at the spring bent forward without looking around and with a
single breath blew the light out.
The situation was an odd one and not at all a comfortable one. The
man with the lantern was there in the darkness, crouching beside his
darkened instrument, doubtless peering around him to ascertain who it
was who had approached. Ted stood on the spot where he had first seen
the man at the spring, undecided as to what to do, his nerves tingling.
The one comforting thought that he had was to the effect that the man
did not know who it was that had come up behind him and so he felt a
certain reassurance. But if the prowling man knew from what direction
the sounds of approach came he might take it into his head to explore
in the dark, a thing which might be very bad for Ted.
In silence they both kept their positions—at least Ted hoped that the
man was keeping his, and as for the boy he never moved a muscle, but
listened with straining ears. No sound of a footstep or anything else
reached him, the woods were silent and as far as sound went Ted might
just as well have been in another world. But he knew that the man was
there near him and the feeling was not a happy one.
It was always possible for him to call out and explain his presence
there, trusting to luck that the man before him was no madman and
that his explanation would be accepted on its face value. But the
actions of the man were so stealthy, so mysterious, that they could not
possibly be honest ones. For any man to bend forward and blow out a
lantern in one, swift decisive breath was worthy of comment by the most
unsuspicious, and it would be reasonable to suppose that explanations
would not be accepted by a man engaged in the type of business that
this was employed in.
So he waited for what seemed an age and when the situation had become
almost unbearable he heard a stone roll and a twig snap some distance
away from the spring, conclusive proofs that the man with the lantern
was stealing away. Other sounds, accidental but informing, came to him
in the distance which the man was trying to put between himself and the
boy and Ted felt a sense of relief.
“But he knows that I am here,” he realized. “He must be up to something
so shady that he doesn’t want to see anyone, no matter who they may
be. Maybe he is one of the fellows who gives this camp the reputation
of being haunted, and I don’t wonder that anyone would think of such
a thing if they saw him dodge around with his lamp. I hope he doesn’t
show up and give the boys a scare, because some of them are pretty
young.”
Guided solely by a sense of direction, Ted found the path and located
his car in the same spot where he had left it. A rapid inspection
convinced him that the little machine had not been harmed and he got
in, starting his engine and leaving the spot as rapidly as possible.
“I must get home,” he thought. “My folks will be worrying and I don’t
want them to do that. Tomorrow I must hunt up Buck and tell him what I
saw out there. I think that he will agree with me that we ought to keep
it quiet.”
Ted’s folks were beginning to get worried but his appearance reassured
them and he gave the excuse that certain things about the camping spot
had interested him so much that he had remained at the place longer
than he had intended to. Conscious that he had told the truth and not
wishing to alarm them with any further details, he retired for the
night and enjoyed a good sleep.
On the following day he and Buck attended the local Young Men’s Bible
Class in their church and on the way back they discussed the things
which Ted had related to his chum on the way to the church. Buck was
unable to figure anything out and he agreed that they should make it
their own secret.
“We’ll take a look at that old house when we get camping there,” he
said. “Maybe when we see what it looks like in the daylight we will be
able to tell something. Whatever we do, we mustn’t allow the boys to
know what you saw and we’ll have to laugh down any silly stories that
are brought up.”
“When the gentleman with the lantern sees that there is a camp around
he’ll probably stay away,” replied Ted.
“You’re not even going to tell Mr. Calvert, are you?”
“No, I’ll just tell him that I am impressed with the camp site itself.
No use in spreading alarm, and it might get out. After all, that man
might have had a good reason to walk around in the woods at night, and
we’d only look silly making a big story out of it.”
“Sure. Well, I’m all set for the trip. We start this week, and it can’t
come too soon for me.”
CHAPTER V
SETTING UP CAMP
One morning later in that same week the two chums arose early and
gathered up their camping outfits. Ted said goodbye to his folks, swung
his pack on his back and sallied forth to meet Buck, who was standing
at his own gate and waiting for him. Buck was rigged out in a style
similar to Ted’s, with a good camping pack, a campaign hat, buckskin
blouse, stout trousers, heavy shoes, pick and camp shovel, and an axe.
“Well, here we go at last!” hailed Buck, delightedly, eager for the
trip before them. “Seemed like this morning would never come!”
“I was awake a couple of times myself,” smiled Ted, as they swung along
toward the club house in town. “We have a dandy day for a start.”
It was a cool morning, bright and clear, and a more promising day could
not have been ordered. Their blood tingled as they looked forward to
the coming encampment.
“Are they going to have one or two trucks?” Buck asked, as they turned
down the street upon which the club house was located.
“One big one,” Ted replied, “for the fellows, and a little one for
supplies. The tents and the grub will take up plenty of space and I
guess the number of boys who are going will fill up the big truck.
Eighteen boys have given their names and with the two of us we’ll have
twenty, a big enough crowd to handle.”
“It surely will be,” murmured Buck. “Especially if you have never done
that sort of thing before.”
“We won’t have any trouble if we start right,” said Ted. “If we show
the right authority and set up a sort of military discipline we’ll get
along very well. Most of these club boys are just small fellows and
things shouldn’t be so difficult with them.”
By this time they had arrived at the club rooms of the Boys’ Club and
there they found about half of the young boys assembled. Mr. Calvert
was with them and the two trucks stood at the curb. With interest the
two camp leaders looked the boys over.
They were young boys of the age ranging between twelve and fifteen and
there was one boy sixteen. They seemed to be a lively bunch of young
fellows who were all obviously keen for the trip before them. Some of
the boys Ted and Buck knew, either by sight or by name, but there were
several that they did not know. The boys all had variously assorted
packs and kits with them and while waiting they were amusing themselves
by chattering and tossing around a large hand medicine ball.
But if the two leaders did not know the boys, the boys knew them. There
was an immediate rush toward them as they entered the yard before the
frame building which housed the club. A number of boys plied them with
questions.
“You’re really going to be the leader, Thorny?” a boy asked Ted, who
nodded in smiling assent.
“I am, along with Buck,” he said.
“Gee, that’s great!” was the enthusiastic reply. A stout boy of
fourteen pushed up to Ted, with an anxious look on his face.
“Mr. Thorn, is it true that we won’t have anything but oatmeal and
bread on our camping trip?”
“Why, I don’t know!” puzzled Ted, looking toward Mr. Calvert, who
winked. “Why do you ask that?”
“All these fellows been telling me that,” said the chubby one. “I don’t
like just oatmeal and bread! I guess they’re fooling, eh?”
“I hope so myself,” smiled Ted. “I’d like something else beside that!”
Mr. Calvert joined the group. “Don’t mind this boy and his demands
for food, Thorn,” he said. “This is Al Barker, but the boys call him
Drummer.”
“Why? Does he play a drum?” Ted asked.
There was a general laugh and Mr. Calvert explained. “No but he spends
his time between meals drumming up an appetite for the next one! So the
boys have always called him Drummer!”
“We’ll try to keep him so well filled that he won’t have to drum,”
grinned Buck, while the stout boy looked pleased and relieved.
The boys drifted away to various occupations and the two chums talked
over details with Mr. Calvert. A few more boys had arrived and the
lawyer remarked that they were almost all on the spot.
“Are all of the boys of this same age?” Buck asked.
“All but one of them,” Mr. Calvert said, lowering his voice. “Or I
should say, two of them, for we have one young boy of eleven and one
boy of seventeen. It is of the older boy I wish to warn you. His name
is Ralph Plum and he is actually too old for the club boys, but an
uncle of his gave quite a bit of money toward starting the club and
so has always been allowed to join in with them, though none of the
trustees have felt very cheerful about it. He is a big hulking fellow
and apt to be a trouble maker, so keep your eyes on him and use your
own judgment. We’re hoping all the time that he’ll get tired of the
club and leave, but so far he hasn’t, and it was with much regret that
we learned that he was going to go on this trip. We’ve tried here to
teach him something in the manly line, but haven’t progressed very far,
I’m afraid. Speaking of bad pennies, there he is now.”
They turned to look at the boy who walked into the club house yard and
were not impressed. He was as Mr. Calvert had described him, a huge
fellow with wide-spreading shoulders and a rolling, careless walk. His
camping outfit was brand new and his axe and knife were of the best. A
fine pack was strapped to his back. But his face was a discontented one
and he chewed gum with an assurance that was insolent. He passed them
easily, nodding to Mr. Calvert and immediately took the ball away from
the smaller boys and kept it for some time.
“Something of a bully,” murmured Ted, his eyes narrowing.
“Quite a bit, I’m sorry to say,” was the reply.
The boys all seemed to be on the ground, Mr. Calvert said, as he
glanced around. “All except the smallest boy, the eleven-year-old I was
telling you about,” he went on. “Little Tom Clayton, but I guess he
isn’t coming, although he was eager to come.”
But at that moment the small boy appeared in company with his father
and Mr. Clayton was introduced to Ted and Buck. He had come with his
boy for a purpose.
“I heard that you two boys were going to lead the camp,” he told the
boys. “It was only because Mrs. Clayton knew you that she allowed Tom
to go along.” He smiled in a somewhat nervous manner. “Tom’s our only
boy—only child, in fact, and we set a lot of store by him. His mother
would spoil him by not letting him go anywhere and certainly never
on a trip like this, but I want Tom to grow up to be a real man.” He
glanced down at his son, a somewhat pale and sensitive-looking boy, and
then went on: “We had a hard time getting permission for this camping
trip, didn’t we, Tommy? But we finally made it. I just want to ask you
fellows to see to it that the boy is well taken care of and that he is
properly developed. I know you will, but I just wanted to make sure
that everything will be all right, you know.”
The two leaders made haste to reassure him. They could visualize
without any trouble the condition of the boy’s home and they
sympathized with him. The father’s desire to have the boy grow up to be
a fine, strong man was evident.
All of the boys were now assembled and Mr. Calvert called for their
attention. “I want you all to file into the club room and sit down
for a last word of instruction from me,” the president of the club
announced, and with more or less noise they obeyed, pushing and
scrambling to the seats inside the long frame club house. In the front
of them Mr. Calvert and the two chums stood.
“Now, boys,” the president announced, when he had obtained their
attention. “I simply want to give you some last minute instructions.
Most of you know that Mr. Thorn and Mr. Dalton will be in complete
charge of the camp to which you are going, and you are to give them
your very best support in making the camp a good and effective one.
This point I want you to get clearly in your minds: these two young men
are in absolute charge. Their word is law. If they do something that
you don’t feel is the right thing to do, you do it anyway, and if you
think it is so bad that you can’t stand it, you write to me or call me
up somewhere before you refuse to obey orders! We want this camp to be
a credit to the Boys’ Club of this city, and it can’t be that unless it
is an orderly one!”
“You will have a certain amount of camp work to do, and these leaders
will be in charge of that. Obey them without question. In that way
you will make the most out of your camping trip and I’m sure that in
another year you’ll want to go again. Any questions, before you start?”
“This Black Riders’ Camp is said to be haunted, isn’t it?” Ralph Plumb
spoke up, from where he was lolling around on a bench.
There was a moment of silence and the two boys felt some annoyance. But
Ted spoke up.
“There used to be some silly stories about that,” he smiled. “But they
were just old women’s tales! We’re too sensible to give any thought to
anything like that. If twenty fellows couldn’t scare away a poor little
ghost or witch or whatever it is they used to say hung around the
place, then we’d better go camping over in the City Park!”
There was a laugh at this and Plum muttered something, but no attention
was paid to him. There was a scene of confusion as packs were slung and
then the big truck shook as the boys swarmed over the sides and into
it. The smaller truck with the supplies had already started off.
It had been agreed that Ted would drive the big truck to the camp and
that the driver of the supply truck would drive it back. The little
truck was the property of the club and would remain in camp with them,
in case they wished at any time to drive to town for fresh food. The
big truck, which was a hired one, would go back to the city and return
at the end of the month for the boys.
“Buck, maybe you had better get into the body of the truck and see
to it that none of these fellows get to fooling and fall off,” Ted
said, as the boys pushed and jostled in the truck. “I’d like to have
you drive along with me, but we had better have somebody on duty back
there.”
“Guess you’re right,” nodded Buck. “I’d like to drive alongside of you,
but I’ll get back.” He tossed his pack on board and climbed into the
truck. “All shipshape back here!” he sang out.
Ted warmed up the engine, shaking hands in farewell with Mr. Calvert.
“Lots of good luck!” smiled the lawyer.
“Thanks! I’m sure we’ll have a fine time!”
The president leaned nearer. “If there is any trouble, Thorn, let me
know at once.”
“I will,” Ted nodded, “but I’m sure everything will be fine. Goodbye.”
The truck rumbled off in a cloud of dust and gasoline smoke, the boys
gave a shrill cheer, and the journey to Black Riders’ Camp had begun.
The ride was a long one in the truck but the boys did not mind it. In
the back of the truck the boys talked and sang and Buck joined them in
their conversation, answering a number of questions concerning camping
life in general.
Outside the last town on their route they met the supply truck waiting
and in company they proceeded down the bumpy wood road until the autos
could go no farther. They were in the shelter of the trees and a
stone’s throw from the camp of the Black Riders.
“All out and grab some equipment!” shouted Buck, and they descended
from the truck in a torrent, making shrill demands for their packs from
those who were still in the truck. These were supplied and then Ted and
Buck ordered them to unload the supply truck. This was soon done and
the boys began to descend the slope to the camping spot.
The driver of the supply truck took the big truck back to the city,
leaving the smaller vehicle alone there in the woods. Ted then made his
way to the camping grounds and heard with pleasure the cries of delight
as the boys looked over the spot.
“It surely is a dandy,” Buck told him. “Well, I suppose we had better
step to it and get the tents up.”
To this work they fell with a will and before long four big brown tents
had been pegged down tightly. They were on a slight slope facing the
creek, with the springs off to one side and back of them. By the time
the canvas shelters were up it was growing dusk and Buck and a squad
made haste to gather a big load of wood for night. Others, under Ted’s
leadership, built a fine, substantial fireplace. By the time that this
was done the darkness had settled over them like a blanket, and the new
fires tossed a yellow and flickering light to the sky.
“This will be our first night out here,” Ted reflected, as he looked
around him. “Wonder what it will be like?”
CHAPTER VI
A PROWLER IN THE NIGHT
An event for which the boys had long been waiting now came, after some
confusion, to pass. Several requests had been made for something to eat
but Ted turned a deaf ear to it until the camp had been put in shape.
The noon meal had been a sandwich affair and now the hungry stomachs
were demanding something solid. Ted gave orders for the meal.
He and Buck took care of the cooking for that one meal and they had
a big job on their hands. The two fires were used to cook beans and
soup and warm up coffee and before long the fragrant smell of the food
floated through the woods around them. Impatiently the boys awaited
their meal.
“Seems like I never was so hungry before!” sighed Drummer, gazing at
the big pot of cooking beans with wistful eyes.
“You drummed up a good appetite this afternoon, didn’t you?” someone
asked, and the stout boy nodded.
They used a flat stump to cut the bread on and for a general table,
finding that its location to the fires made it a handy natural object.
Buck organized a number of the boys to go and bring pails of water so
that they could be put on the fire as soon as the food was off, to heat
for dish water.
“Do we have to wash dishes here?” was an innocent inquiry.
“Well, I want mine washed,” grinned Buck. “If you want to eat from
yours without washing, why, go right ahead!”
“Who is going to wash them, Mr. Dalton?” a boy asked.
“We’ll have a volunteer gang tonight,” responded Buck, seeing to it
that each boy had a pail. “After that, we’ll have regular squads to do
the work. Go to it, boys.”
Ted had found that the supply truck was well filled and figuring even
recklessly he was of the opinion that they would not soon have to renew
their main supplies, though things such as butter and eggs and milk
would have to be taken care of from day to day. Much care and thought
had been taken by the leaders of the Boys’ Club in the selection of
the goods, and Ted was pleased.
At length the supper was cooked, the beans lifted from the fire and the
coffee pushed back to keep warm. “Come and get it!” called Buck, and
they obeyed loyally and enthusiastically. Forming in a line they pushed
their cups and plates toward Buck and Ted and for some minutes the two
leaders were busy dishing and pouring. Within the circle of the fires
the boys sat around, most of them silent as they applied themselves to
the subject at hand.
“Golly, nothing ever seemed so good at home!” declared Drummer,
munching contentedly.
“I don’t think so much of beans,” struck in Ralph Plum. “I wouldn’t eat
’em home!”
“You aren’t home,” was Drummer’s retort. “What do you eat them here
for?”
“There isn’t anything else, is there?” retorted Plum.
“I guess not,” replied Drummer. “Any time you don’t want your beans you
just let me know, Ralph.”
The little fellow, Tom Clayton, sat close beside Ted as they ate and
Ted smiled down into his serious face. “How are you enjoying it, Tom?”
“Great!” was the answer. “I’m glad I could come along, Mr. Thorn!”
“So am I,” agreed Ted. “We’ll have a lot of fun out of this camping
trip. You won’t get homesick, will you?”
“No, I guess not,” was the slow answer. “I’ve only been away from home
once before this, but I guess I won’t be homesick. Anyway, if I do, I
won’t let these fellows see it, because they’ll kid me about it!”
“That’s the spirit!” approved Buck.
After the meal was over came the task which was not welcomed any too
cheerfully. A multitude of greasy tin plates and cups lay piled up near
the creek and the pails of water were ready. Ted asked for volunteers,
and a few of the boys helped the two leaders do the washing and drying.
Most of the boys were content to lie around and chatter. When the
camp work was finished they all gathered around the fires while Ted
addressed them.
“Now, fellows,” he began, when he had claimed their attention. “Tonight
is rather an informal time and we’re just getting acquainted. Tomorrow
we’ll settle down to real business. Up to now I don’t even know the
names of all of you, but I’ll get on to them pretty quickly. In order
to get the best results out of our encampment we’ll have to have good
discipline and willing workers. For instance, we’ll have to have a
wood-gathering committee, a fire committee, a cooking committee, a
water committee, and a dishwashing committee. Some of these committees
won’t be as popular as others, I know, but we won’t be on the same
committees all of the time. Frequent changes will give us all a chance
to work at something different. Buck and I will take our share of the
work along with the rest of you.”
“That makes me think of something else. Some of you are calling me Mr.
Thorn and calling Buck, Mr. Dalton. That’s very nice, but we want to be
all fellows here together and so we are just plain Ted and Buck to you.
We’ll all work together and have a good time. Now about the tents: we
have four of them and that means that there will be five in a tent. We
have plenty of room, and Buck will sleep in one of the tents and I in
another. For the other two tents I’ll appoint a captain and he is to
be in complete charge of that tent. To him you will make any complaint
or suggestion and he can take it up with me. We’ll want to go to bed
early at night so that we’ll get plenty of good sleep. We’ll be up
early in the mornings.”
“Why didn’t we put the tents up in between the trees?” a boy asked.
“Because there will be such things while we are here as thunder
storms,” smiled Ted. “And if we do have them we want to be out in the
open and not under a tree which might be struck by lightning and fall
over!”
This was a thought which had not as yet struck any of them and for a
moment there was complete silence. They were all young boys and the
woods experience was new to them. Thunder storms had been witnessed by
most of them from a secure house or a comfortable bed and the thought
that they would now be almost exposed to the elements was somewhat
staggering. They looked around and up into the blackness of the
crouching mountains.
“Gee, it does get some dark up here, doesn’t it?” inquired one boy, in
an awe-struck voice.
The circle of light from the fires was not a large one and the
blackness around them seemed an immensity which held untold things
mysteriously unpleasant. Buck laughed to reassure them.
“Yes, they don’t have any street lights up here,” he said. “The animals
like dark nights!”
“Animals!” cried another boy. “Are there any animals up here? Do they
call the water Bear Creek on purpose!”
“I don’t know,” said Ted. “Some day we’ll look up the animals and see
if any of them live around here.”
The talk was resumed and under cover of it Buck and Ted conferred. “You
think I had better sleep in another tent than the one you are going to
have?” Buck asked.
“I think so,” nodded Ted. “You take the one on that end and I’ll take
the one at this end. We’ll put the smaller fellows in the two middle
tents and that will reassure them a little more.”
“Do you think they are going to be scared?”
“No, not when they get used to the camp, but you see they didn’t have
much in the way of daylight today while here and the night seems so
black. Probably a lot of them won’t sleep and it will seem an age
before the sun comes up tomorrow.” He glanced at his watch. “I guess we
had better turn in now.”
The word to this effect was passed around and the boys were not
reluctant to turn in. Ted told off Bob Gilmore as the captain of one
tent and Charlie Wells as leader of the other one.
“Each one of you will undress by the light of a single lantern which
will be hung from the pole of the tent,” he directed. “As soon as the
last man is in bed the captain of that tent will personally put out the
light. No loud talking after you are in your beds, in fact, none at all
would be better, because you’ll keep somebody else awake. Now go to it.”
The fires burned low and the four tents glowed with a subdued light
as the boys all prepared for bed. In the tent with Ted was little Tom
Clayton and three other fine young fellows and they were speedily in
their beds which they had built from boughs and packed leaves. Ted had
purposely placed the bed of the small boy beside his own. They were
all in under their blankets when he put out the light and crawled in
between his own.
The talking in the other tents died down as the lights were
extinguished. That some of the boys were restless was attested to by
the rustling turnings in their beds. One boy had gathered his boughs
with too much wood attached to the smaller branches and they made
him so uneasy and uncomfortable that he was compelled to throw most
of it out and sleep closer to the canvas covering that served as a
tent floor. Some deep breathing announced that a few boys had fallen
instantly asleep, tired out with the events of the day.
There was no talking on the part of the boys in Ted’s tent, inspired
probably by his presence and the little boy at least did not remain
awake long. Ted’s eyes began to close and the last sounds and
impressions were somewhat dim. The fire snapped once or twice, the
wind blew with a very faint rustle of leaves, and a katydid started
his endless fiddling, being joined by several others who tried to
out-fiddle him. Then Ted went to sleep.
He slept on for what seemed to be some hours and then a light struck
quickly and fleetingly across his eyes. The flap of the tent was
half open and he could look out, but there was no repetition of the
incident. He was puzzled and sat up.
“Was that from the fires?” he wondered, poking his head out of the tent
and glancing towards the two fireplaces.
It was not. Both fires had gone out and not a single spark glowed to
show even where they had been. But there was no question in his mind
as to whether there had been a light, for the thing had been very
definite. He stepped out of the tent, unmindful of the cool, damp earth
under his bare feet, and stood there in his pajamas, looking keenly
around.
A wandering beam of light came from around the last tent, the tent in
which Buck was sleeping, and Ted frowned. “Now, who the dickens can be
prowling around with a lantern?” he wondered, starting forward. “I’m
going to find out.”
CHAPTER VII
WEIRD SOUNDS
The faint shaft of light vanished as Ted made his way along the line
of the silent tents and for a moment he almost doubted that he had
seen it. His total glimpses had consisted of flashes and nothing more,
and the fact spurred him on with greater curiosity. When he had first
seen the light he thought it might have been one of the boys or even
Buck prowling around, but the way the gleams came and went he began to
doubt it seriously. Remembering the man whom he had previously seen,
he became cautious as he stepped to the end of Buck’s tent and looked
around.
He was not able to see a thing, for the darkness was so dense that it
presented to him only a solid wall. His ears were listening keenly but
he heard nothing. He supposed he had better look back of the tents, but
this thought brought a problem. There was no use in doing that unless
he took a lantern with him, and he might alarm the boys if he did so.
The question was not an agreeable one.
A low hiss reached his ears, a sound which came from the tent. He
thrust his head inside the flap.
“That you, Buck?”
An answering whisper came back to him. “Yes. What are you doing up?”
“I’m just looking around, that is all. Can’t you sleep?”
“I was sleeping until you flashed your light in here! What are you
looking for?”
“Come on outside a minute,” directed Ted, still in the same low
whisper. Buck made motions which led his chum to think that he was
tossing aside his blanket and then he joined him outside of the tent,
grunting as his feet touched the cool earth.
“Gosh, this ground is cold! What in the world are you—”
“Buck, did you see a light before?”
“Yes, when you passed by with the lantern.”
“That’s just the point—I didn’t pass by with any lantern! I was
awakened by a flash in my eyes and then as I looked out of the tent
flap I saw the light dodge down this way. Somebody who doesn’t belong
to the camp is prowling!”
Buck was impressed at once. “But we don’t know if everybody is in their
tents,” he pointed out.
“They are all in my tent and I suppose they are all in yours, but we
don’t know about the others. The worst part of it all is that we can’t
go snooping into the tents to see, because if we wake the youngsters
up we’ll throw a scare into them. I guess we’ll have to do all the
investigating ourselves.”
“I’ve got a flashlight inside and I think I can locate it,” whispered
Buck. “Hope I don’t wake anybody up!”
He felt his way into the blackness of the tent and located the
flashlight, appearing with it immediately afterward. “All right, let’s
go,” he whispered. “I don’t like this barefoot business though.”
“Best we can do. Keep your light shaded away from the tents.”
Buck carefully switched the light on, keeping the glare of it away from
the tent, playing the beam on the undergrowth in back of the tent.
Nothing out of the ordinary was disclosed to their view and they walked
with tense muscles around in the back of the shelters. Here the light
was played around the bushes and trees but everything around the camp
was normal. In silence they moved away and even went as far as the
springs, but their trip was in vain and their only reward wet and cold
feet.
“Nothing doing,” shrugged Buck, turning off the light.
“I’m glad that you saw the light, though,” said Ted. “I would have
begun to think that I was seeing things. Well, I don’t know what we had
better do.”
“The only thing that we can do is to go to bed and sleep as lightly
as possible,” returned Buck. “We are on the ends and if anyone comes
into the camp we should hear ’em. Funny thing, though, we didn’t hear
anything out of that prowler after he put his light out. Confound it,
looks like somebody was trying to make this a haunted camp!”
“Well, we won’t let the boys know anything about it. Suppose we get to
bed and keep our ears open as much as we can.”
They parted, each to return to his own tent, and in his Ted carefully
eased himself into his bed listening intently. There were no sounds
abroad, however, and for a long time he managed to keep awake but at
last the effort was too much for him and he went to sleep.
Morning came without incident and early the whole camp was astir. The
day was a fine and clear one, a little warm but not too much so. Some
of the hardier souls went for their initial swim in Bear Creek but to
most of the boys the black waters looked too cool. Ted and Buck were
among those who went in, and Ted, after probing for depth with a pole,
was perfectly satisfied that it was deep enough at one point to dive
in. He led the way in a splendid dive.
The water struck a sharp shock through him and by its very coldness he
knew that springs surely fed the brook somewhere. But he showed no sign
of his shock when he bobbed to the top, shaking his head and clearing
his eyes.
“How is it?” Buck cried, from his post on the bank.
“Fine!” replied Ted. “Warm as toast!”
“Doesn’t feel like any toast I ever had to my feet,” Buck replied,
poising for his dive. “But I guess it is all right when you get in.
Here goes!”
He flashed downward in a fine dive and when he appeared on the surface
of the water he looked at the grinning Ted. “Wow! what nice cold
water!” he shouted. “This may be Bear Creek, and I’ll say it is a bear!
Warm as toast, eh?”
After the invigorating swim they dressed and the task of preparing
breakfast was undertaken. The effects of the camping trip were
beginning to tell, for all the boys had developed hearty appetites and
looked in a fair way to sinking the provision pile alarmingly.
Ted and Buck managed to take a quick look back of the tents but there
was no trace of the night visitor. They were inclined to think that it
was merely some neighboring farmer, though they confessed that his zeal
must have been great to have brought him in curiosity to that spot at
such a time.
“Anyhow, nobody knows about it,” Buck said, but he was mistaken. Plum
spoke up as they were eating breakfast.
“Who was going around with a lantern last night?” he asked. There was a
general stir of interest.
“Who says anybody was?” Buck asked, coolly.
“I saw it,” was the confident assertion. “I slept in your tent and you
went out and talked to Ted, only I couldn’t make out what you said.
Then you two went for a walk around the tents.”
“You didn’t do much sleeping, did you?” inquired Buck.
“No. But how about the light? Was somebody walking around the camp last
night?”
Ted and Buck exchanged glances. They were annoyed that Plum had brought
up the subject but they saw that he was not to be denied. Ted took it
upon himself to answer.
“We think somebody did pass the tents,” he was forced to admit.
“Perhaps it was some farmer who took a shortcut or something, because
we didn’t find him. That is all there was to it.”
But Plum had ideas of his own. “But you two were worried, weren’t you?”
he pressed. “I heard you talking and then Buck got his flashlight and
you went exploring. How about it?”
“Do we look very much worried over anything?” Buck grinned, secretly
angry with the insistent one.
“You were last night,” said Plum doggedly.
They turned the conversation and the meal was soon over, but the boys
talked of the unknown prowler more than Ted and Buck cared to have
them talk. There was one good remedy for their fears, however, and that
was tried. Hard work soon made them forget about the previous night.
Squads were told off and the labors of the day were begun. A group
spent a few hours cutting and piling fire wood and others washed the
dishes. One group under Buck went to work in deadly earnest on the
tents. The bedding was all strung on lines to air and the boys were
taught that cleanliness is as important in camping life as in private
life. The beds were all more carefully remade and then ditches were dug
around the tents so that the water from a rain storm would run away
from the tents and not come in over the canvas floors. All these tasks
took up most of the day and late in the afternoon all of them went
swimming.
The two leaders found that few of the boys could swim well and some
could not swim a stroke, so they organized a swimming class at once
and the next two hours were spent in giving instructions. Some of
the boys were timid and clearly afraid of the cold water, but Buck
and Ted patiently taught them, stressing the value of a thorough
knowledge of swimming. The small boy was very much afraid and shivered
pronouncedly, but he kept his lips tightly closed and made a valiant
effort at it.
In this way another day wore to its close and while they were eating
supper the darkness folded down over the camp. But by this time they
had become used to the “feel” of camp life and the location became
somewhat familiar to them. Now that the hardest part of pitching the
camp was attended to they began to plan more than one tramp through the
mountains which encircled them.
When the dishes were piled away they sat around the fire, enchanted
by the red magic which emanates from glowing embers and the darkness
closed in more tightly. There were no stars on this night and there
was even a little oppressiveness in the air, as though it was charged
with something not altogether pleasant. Not wishing the boys to dwell
on subjects which would worry them Ted and Buck kept the conversation
going rapidly and they talked of football and baseball, camping and
canoeing.
But Plum was the trouble maker. His mind reverted to things which the
leaders wished to avoid. His eyes roved around the dark camp.
“This camp could easily be haunted,” he remarked, patting an instant
stop to the cheerful conversation.
“Who believes in ghosts anyway?” snorted Drummer.
“Nobody with any sense,” retorted Plum. “But just think of this place
in the old days, when the Black Riders were meeting here to plan out
raids on the British. There must be something scary about a place like
this.”
“Never mind any such talk about foolish things, Plum,” called Ted,
sharply. “This is a fine place and everything around is as it should
be.”
Hard on the heels of this statement there came a sound which made the
faces of the boys, old and young, blanch with fear. A wild, dismal howl
rose on the air, seemingly overhead, and echoed in a sobbing wail as it
was tossed to the mountains. The silence which succeeded was almost as
bad as the shuddering shriek.
CHAPTER VIII
A GRIM FIND EXPLODED
The silence lasted for what seemed to be a long moment and then Buck
and Ted sprang to their feet. A dozen tongues were unloosed and an
exciting chorus went up, in which uneasiness prevailed.
“What in the world could that have been?” Buck asked Ted, as they
peered into the darkness beside the camp, in the direction from which
the sound had seemed to come.
“You’ve got me,” was the perplexed answer. “I never heard anything like
it before in my life. Let’s get the lanterns and go look around.”
They went to the tents to get the lanterns and Bob and Charlie got
out the ones in the middle tents and lighted them. The boys were now
standing in a huddle around the fireplace and talking.
“I knew that this was no place for us,” Plum was telling the other
boys. “I always heard that this camp was haunted. I guess I’m going
home.”
“Maybe we had all better go home,” suggested another boy.
“Yes, go home and let the whole town have the laugh on us!” snorted
Drummer.
The four lanterns were lighted but before they sallied forth another
sound reached their ears. It was that of an object which had apparently
just fallen, for they could hear it strike the rocks and break. This
came from the same direction as the weird call had come and for an
instant they simply stood and looked in the direction, waiting for some
further sign. But the silence was unbroken.
“Well, let’s go,” said Ted, starting off towards the woods with his
lantern. “We’ll see if we can learn anything.”
He and Buck took the lead, the two smaller boys bringing up cautiously
in the rear, fearful but curious. The two older boys plunged straight
into the bushes that fringed the camp and mounted the slopes of the
mountain, looking before them as they went, on the alert for something
unusual. There was no further sound and they proceeded to the spot
from which the sound had come, to find it a high and bare rock which
commanded an excellent view of their camp.
“Somebody stood here and looked down at the camp,” said Buck, with
conviction.
“You’re right about that,” nodded Ted. “I think they must have dropped
something at the bottom of this big rock. Let’s go and see.”
“Here come the rest of the boys,” said Bob.
The others had become tired of standing around the fires and now, as
their courage began to return, they climbed the short slope and joined
the boys with the lanterns. The lightbearers had made their way down to
the base of the rock and there they flashed the light around, resulting
in an instant discovery. On a smaller rock lay some fragments of a sea
shell, now broken into several sections.
“Just an old sea shell!” cried Drummer. “What good is that?”
“Do you know what it is?” Ted asked Buck.
“Can’t say that I do,” he shook his head.
Ted picked up the fragments, fitting them together until the large
shell was nearly whole. “This is a conch shell,” he said. “It is often
used as a horn, and when it was blown it makes plenty of noise, as we
just found out! This is the horn which was blown to scare us.”
“That’s a seashore shell, isn’t it?” Plum asked.
“Yes, a large marine shell, a univalve shell, and it can be blown into
and makes quite a good horn. Somebody from up on top of that rock saw
us down in the camp and just tooted that shell to scare us.”
“Didn’t they use those shells a lot in the Revolutionary war, to call
people?” a boy asked.
“Yes, and this may be one as old as that. Some farmer around here must
have owned it.”
“I’ll bet anything that those Black Riders had shells like that and
maybe all that stuff about the camp being haunted is true,” argued
Plum. “It sort of seems as though a spirit of one of those fellows is
trying to warn us away!”
“Do you believe in ghosts, Plum?” Ted asked, looking straight into the
eyes of the big boy.
“Well, no, but——”
“If this was a ghost he was a pretty careless one wasn’t he? Couldn’t
even hold on to his conch. I guess we don’t have to worry about anyone
as careless as that.”
Plum muttered but no further attention was paid to him. They hunted all
around the rock and even went a short distance into the surrounding
woods, but not a single clue was to be found. The woods were dark and
silent, breathing an air of mystery.
Ted ordered them back to the camp and to bed. There was a bit of
protest at this, but Ted put it down at once.
“There is no need to sit up and talk about it all,” he told them. “It
is already past the hour for retiring anyway, and you need sleep,
because some of you didn’t sleep any too well last night. I guess
everything is over and you’ll have nothing to worry about.”
“You guess!” grumbled Plum, expressively.
Ted looked at him sternly. “We’re not going to sit up like a bunch of
frightened old maids looking for something to happen,” he said. “Into
your tents, now!”
There was much chattering as the boys reluctantly obeyed this order.
Buck and Ted met for a final word.
“Looks as though somebody didn’t want us around here,” Buck said.
“I’m afraid that is the whole point,” nodded Ted, speaking in a low
tone. “But we have every right to be here and no one is going to make
us go. The bad part about this whole thing is that we can’t ask any of
these little fellows to stand guard at night. They’d fall asleep and
be scared to death in the bargain. Neither can you and I do all the
watching, so we’ll have to just trust to luck and be on the lookout.”
But the balance of that night passed quietly away. The two leaders
tried to sleep lightly and some of the boys slept fitfully and
fearfully, but there was nothing to disturb them and when the morning
came the events of the night did not seem so black as they had seemed
at the time.
After camp chores had been completed the two older boys and a small
squad set out to make a thorough search of the immediate neighborhood,
but nothing was found although their search was an exhausting one. It
was finally given up as a bad job and the afternoon was devoted to
swimming. That evening and night were undisturbed and for the first
time since they had struck camp everyone got a good and satisfactory
sleep.
On the following day they took a hike, leaving a reserve force back at
the camp under Buck. Between themselves they had agreed that one of
them was to stay in camp if the other was out of it, and Ted felt safer
knowing that the camp was well protected. They made a long trip of it,
climbing the mountains, finding a deep valley and a cave and when it
was growing late in the afternoon they came back, tired but satisfied.
Ted had purposely led them around by the old house where he had first
watched the man with the lantern and as soon as the boys saw the place
they wanted to explore it.
Nothing suited Ted better and they roamed all over the house, finding
it of great interest. It had evidently been furnished at the time of
its abandonment, for there were beds and bureaus, tables, chairs and a
sofa in the house, all the worse for the wear and tear of the elements
which had found unobstructed entrance through doors and broken windows.
It was not a farm house, for there was no barn near it and it appeared
to be more on the style of a private house. On one corner, just above
the front porch, there was an octagon tower or cupola and they entered
that from the front bedroom, obtaining from its glassless windows a
fairly good view off across the mountains. Whoever had lived in the
place had left it fully furnished and the storms of a few years and one
or two visiting and curious persons, possibly small boys, had made a
wreck out of the glassware and the furniture.
Ted looked around carefully to see if there was any clue as to why the
man with the lantern should have lowered the thing into the chimney but
he could learn nothing definite. There were several open fireplaces in
the house and he could see no reason why anyone should want to lower
a lantern to them. When they finally left the place he had obtained a
working knowledge of it but was none the wiser as to the intentions of
the mountain prowler.
The others were preparing the fires for supper when they returned and
everyone helped in the process of getting the evening meal. Buck and
the camp squad planned a hike on the following day while the others
took their turn at guarding the camp.
Once more the night passed without incident and they were beginning
to feel reassured. If someone did not desire their presence they had
undoubtedly tired of the attempt to oust them and they were now able to
enjoy the camping trip unmolested.
Buck’s squad went for their hike on the following day and came in
late in the afternoon. They had taken an entirely different direction
and they had but one incident of importance to report. In a sheltered
valley about a mile away they had come upon something that excited
their curiosity.
“It was a good sized log cabin,” Drummer related. “There was a high
barbed wire fence around it! Can you imagine a log cabin way out in the
woods with a barbed wire fence around it?”
“Anyone living in it?” Ted asked.
“Yes, I guess so, at least it looked as though somebody was. A couple
of windows were open and a curtain was flapping out in the breeze. The
gate on the fence was padlocked. Whoever lives way out there doesn’t
want any company.”
“It surely is a queer looking place,” Buck said, thoughtfully “Right
in the midst of wild country, too. There is a little cabin that looks
like a stable in the back of the place, and a steamer chair was out in
front. We went up and looked in but nobody came out, though if there
was anybody at home they must have heard us talking.”
“Funny that anyone should want to put up a fence like that out in the
mountains,” Ted thought. “And with curtains and a steamer chair in
evidence, it doesn’t look as though it was some wild mountaineer. I’d
like to know who it is.”
“Maybe someone around here knows about the place,” suggested Buck.
“When we go for eggs and butter we’ll find out.”
“Yes, and we will have to go tomorrow,” nodded Ted. “By the way, we
must build a good ice box. I think we can sink one in the mud down near
the creek.”
They were on their way to the tents that night to turn in, when an odd
sound reached their ears, causing them to look toward the back section
of their camp beyond the tents. The wind had been blowing in gusts for
the last hour and there had been a distinct rustling in the trees and
bushes. But this was something different, a rattle and a click, and it
came from a section which they had never bothered to investigate with
any degree of interest, though it is probable that one or two of them
had been to the spot. They stood outside the tent and listened, and as
a gust of wind sighed through the trees the clicking came again.
“What can that be?” Buck asked.
Ted reached into the tent and took down the lantern. “We’ll soon see,”
he said. But one of the younger boys was ahead of him. Bob Gilmore, the
captain of the tent next to Buck’s, took the lantern from his tent and
taking a short cut between the tents, plunged into the undergrowth.
The light winked at them for a moment and then was gone.
The others followed Buck, Ted, and Charlie Wells in a body as they
hurried on after Bob. Then, right in front of them they heard a
smothered gasp and a crashing. Bob burst through the bushes, lantern in
shaking hand, his face white as a sheet.
“A skeleton!” he gasped, staring at them with wide eyes.
“A what?” cried Buck, sharply.
“A skeleton,” the boy repeated. “Hanging on a tree and the bones are
clicking together. Listen!”
The wind sighed, and the clicking noise reached them, blanching the
faces of the boys. Ted started forward, and in an open space he came
upon a sight calculated to unnerve anyone not gifted with feelings of
iron. A skeleton hung from an old rope, swaying in the breeze, the
skull lying on the ground upside down. In the dark glade, lighted only
by their lanterns, the sight was indeed a creepy and chilling one.
The other boys came crowding in, huddling in a group, scared but
fascinated, while Ted picked up the skull and examined it. Then he
moved all around the hanging bones, the lantern flashes stabbing
through the ribs. When he turned to the others they were amazed to find
that he was smiling broadly.
“What is the joke?” Buck asked, blankly.
“Why, this poor skeleton must feel pretty much out of place here in the
woods,” was Ted’s reply. “He belongs in, and must recently have come
from a doctor’s office!”
CHAPTER IX
TED LAYS DOWN THE LAW
“How do you know that?” Buck asked, as they all crowded closer to look
at the dangling skeleton.
“Because the person who hung it here forgot to notice that there is
a name on the lower left rib,” replied Ted, pointing. “There is some
white chalk over it, but if you look closely you’ll see the name of
Doctor Hemple. I don’t know anything about skeletons, but this one has
evidently been in this state a long time.”
“I’ll be hanged!” cried Buck. “What do you suppose anyone did that for?”
“I imagine that it is all part of what has been going on right along,”
Ted answered. “Somebody thought this would scare us. But I guess
they thought we haven’t any eyes or brains! Look at the rope which
is holding it up! It is an old one, and somewhat weather-beaten, but
not as much as it would be if this was the skeleton of a man who had
either hung himself or been hanged in the woods. I wouldn’t be a bit
surprised if whoever hung it here wanted us to believe that it was the
skeleton of some British soldier!”
“Looks like somebody is trying to impress us with the history of the
place,” smiled Buck.
“Looks more to me as though someone was trying to impress us with the
fact that we aren’t welcome around here,” grumbled Ted. “But this
act won’t get them anywhere. If that rope was supposed to have hung
there all these years while the skin dropped off and all trace of the
clothing disappeared, all I have to say is that it is a mighty fine
piece of rope, that is all!”
“It certainly was well thought out otherwise,” remarked Buck, as the
boys fell to talking it over among themselves. “The head lying on the
ground half upside down looks for all the world as though the skull
fell off and has never been touched.”
“That skull has been touched, though,” said Ted, examining it. “It has
been cut with some surgical tool. Well, that was just a lot of time
wasted on the part of someone.”
“But it is a real skeleton, isn’t it, Ted?” Drummer asked.
“Oh, yes, it is real enough, all right, but it belongs in some
doctor’s study and has been there for a long time. I never heard of a
Doctor Hemple, but we’ll try and find out if there is anyone around
here with that name.”
“What are you going to do with it?” Buck asked. Ted considered, but
shrugged his shoulders.
“Blessed if I know. We don’t want it, and at the same time we don’t
want it hanging around here to click with the wind. Let’s put it up in
the hollow above and leave it there. We can look at it from time to
time and see if anyone has taken it.”
The boys shrank from touching the thing so Ted and Buck cut the rope
down, picked up the skull, and carried the skeleton to a small hollow
well above the camp, where they left it and returned to the others.
“That skeleton was rather a clever fellow,” laughed Ted. “We found that
his joints had all been wired together with a thin wire, which means
that after his skin dropped off he got down off of his rope, wired
himself together, and then got back on his rope, if we’re supposed to
think it is a genuine affair. I think that whoever hung it there must
have hoped that we’d be so scared that we would flee from the camp in
terror, without stopping to investigate thoroughly.”
“Say, this couldn’t be a trick to draw us out of camp, could it?” Buck
asked, suddenly.
There was a moment of silence as they thought it over. Ted seized his
lantern.
“I hope not, but it might be,” he cried, bolting through the bushes.
But there was nothing to worry about on that score. The camp was
perfectly peaceful and if anyone had visited it in their absence there
was no trace of the fact. The fires were dying and everything was in
order.
“All right, let’s get to bed, and we’ll talk about it all in the
morning,” Ted called, cheerfully.
Most of the boys obeyed at once, but four or five boys clustered around
Ralph Plum, who was talking to them earnestly. Their heads were close
together and he seemed to be doing all the talking. Ted walked over to
them and they looked at him somewhat nervously.
“Well, what is on your minds?” Ted asked.
The other boys looked at Plum and he cleared his throat defiantly. As
he stood before Ted he was fully as big as the leader, with a bigger
shoulder spread. Obviously he was out of place with the smaller boys
and should have been one of the leaders, a fact that had crossed his
mind more than once as he secretly chaffed under Ted’s and Buck’s
orders. He was well aware that his relative had given a big sum of
money to the organization, and to rank simply as a member of the club
and not even as a captain of a tent had irritated him from the start.
Deep in his heart there was a fear of the camp they were in, and
although he would not go so far as to say that he feared the presence
of anything supernatural near the place, he did feel a bad atmosphere
and it made him perpetually uneasy.
“We fellows don’t like this place for a camping place,” he began. “We
want to go somewhere else.”
“Want to run away, eh!” asked Ted, as the other boys, crowding into the
open, watched.
“We aren’t running away,” returned Plum, doggedly. “But this place
isn’t healthy for anybody. Already we have received several warnings
that we aren’t wanted around here, and I don’t see why we can’t get
wise to ourselves and get out before something happens. Up to the
present time nothing has happened, but how do you know that something
won’t happen that we’ll be pretty sorry for? We don’t have to go home,
but there are places nearer home where we can camp, and I can show you
a couple of good ones, almost as good as this one.”
“And then, at the end of the month, we go back to the trustees and tell
them that we were afraid to use their own camping site and had to go
somewhere else? Let everybody in the town know that we were scared to
death? Is that what you mean?” asked Ted.
“No, because if we all agree to keep still we won’t have to let the
story out. We could even go back and make out that we did stay in this
camp all summer, and who would be the wiser?”
Ted stood with his hands on his hips, a frown of contempt on his face.
He would have thought differently about it if it had been one of the
younger boys who had made the request, but Plum was a big boy and his
counsel was dangerous for the little fellows. Ted longed to take the
big boy and shake him until his teeth rattled, but he did not feel
justified in going that far. To his mind the question just now was one
of discipline in the matter of going to bed, and he felt that he must
make good on that first.
“We’ll discuss all that in the morning, right after breakfast,” he
said. “Right now I have ordered you to bed, and you are going! I’m the
boss of this camp and you fellows are going to obey me, at least for
the present. As to the idea that I would ever sneak off somewhere else,
and then go back and tell Mr. Calvert that we had spent the month here,
that is so silly that I won’t even discuss it. You’ve heard what I said
about bed. March to your tents!”
There was one long moment of indecision. Those back of Ted near the
tents watched with breathless interest to see what the outcome would be
and Buck was prepared to back his chum up. The smaller boys with Plum
hesitated and looked at him. That Plum was angry there was no doubt,
but he did not know clearly what to do. He measured Ted up in a glance
and he felt for a moment that he was physically able to handle him, but
he was not so sure when he looked into Ted’s clear, direct eyes. They
didn’t look uncertain, and he lowered his own gaze.
“You’ll talk it over in the morning?” he asked, somewhat lamely.
“Yes, I will. But not another word tonight.”
Plum walked slowly to his tent and the other boys followed to their
own. Ted looked to see if little Tommy Clayton was with them, but the
small boy was over in front of his own tent, looking on. As Ted walked
back to his tent they all scattered and were soon undressing, the
lights going out one by one.
The night was quiet and uneventful.
In the morning something radically different claimed their attention.
One of the boys, looking out of the tent, cried in an excited voice
that there was a bear in the camp. Every head was thrust out of the
flaps, and sure enough, there near the dead embers of their fire, was
a small brown bear, sniffing around a spot where some beans had been
dropped. The cries of the boys made him lift his head, and he stared at
them with his small, piggy eyes.
“Oh, will he attack us?” a boy asked, in Buck’s tent.
“No, unless he is pretty desperate for food, and I don’t see why he
should be at this time of the year,” answered Buck. “I think I can get
rid of him.”
Buck reached into his duffle bag. Drummer stared in fascination at the
undecided bear.
“Gosh, suppose he ate one of us!” he said.
Charlie Wells grinned at him from another tent. “I think he came down
here just on purpose to get you, Drummer!” he said. “He probably heard
that you eat more than anybody else, and he is here to make a meal of
you. If we had to throw somebody out to him to keep him quiet, we’d
throw Drummer, wouldn’t we, fellows?”
“Sure!” came in a chorus.
“I don’t doubt it!” returned the fat boy.
Buck appeared in the doorway of the tent with something in his hand. He
drew back his arm and launched the tennis ball at the bear. The white
ball went straight and true, hitting the bear on the nose with a whack.
The little bear gave a grunt of surprise, shook his head in evident
perplexity, and turned and ran at a lumbering trot away from the camp,
pursued by the laughter of the boys. He disappeared at top speed in the
undergrowth and avoided the camp from that day onward.
Breakfast was eaten cheerfully, the bear incident having put them all
in good spirits, and afterward Ted addressed them as they sat around
the fire. He talked without heat, but earnestly.
“I want to lay down the law to you fellows, not in any nasty way, but
so that there will be no mistake,” he said. “From the events which have
gone on around here we know that someone doesn’t want us in this camp,
because if anyone will go to the trouble to blow a conch shell and hang
up a skeleton, they aren’t fooling. But we’re not going to run away
like a bunch of babies. I’m responsible for this camp, and if I went
back and said that I couldn’t hold you here, I would be falling down on
a trust which was committed to me. We’ll show this prowler, whoever he
is, that we have more right to be here than he has and that we won’t
pack up and move!”
He glanced briefly at Plum. “If any of you boys have any complaint to
make, make it to Buck or to me. We are the leaders and we’ll try and do
what is right. We’re not going to run away from this camp just because
someone wants us to, and we’re not going home one single day before
Labor Day! So get that straight, and also the fact that all orders
must be obeyed without argument. If there are several bosses around
any organization things jar, and while I don’t want to appear to be
overbearing, Buck and I must have your full support. We’ll be fair
with you, I promise you that. That will be all for now.”
The group broke up, scattering to the affairs at hand. Tom Clayton
spoke to the morose Plum.
“Ted is quite a leader, isn’t he?”
“He’s too much leader!” was the growled response.
CHAPTER X
MOUNTAIN CHASE
For a few days after Ted’s talk there was no further trouble of any
kind in the camp. Neither was there any further annoyance upon the part
of the person or persons who had kept them in an unsettled state of
mind for so long. After a time the boys began to feel that the person
had tired of the contest and had gone away, for the time being, at
least.
After the third day of peace one of the boys discovered that the
skeleton had vanished from the hollow back of the camp. They had
watched it each day to discover if possible the owner of the weird
thing, but apparently during one of the slack periods of watching the
owner had come and taken it. This was a relief in one sense and not in
another.
“We’ve had somebody hiding in the bushes and watching that thing almost
every day,” Ted said to Buck, as they sat apart one day. “But on the
very first day that we didn’t have somebody, away it went. That looks
as though whoever planted the thing knows our movements pretty well.”
“He probably knows more about us than we’d like him to,” was Buck’s
comment.
They had been to a farm house nearby to purchase butter, eggs and milk
and Ted had asked concerning a Doctor Hemple. No one knew the man or
had ever heard of him.
“Our local doctor’s name is Ord,” said the farmer. “Where’d you hear of
this Hemple?”
“Oh, we both know him by name and just wondered if he came from up this
way,” Ted passed it off.
Buck told of the cabin with the barbed wire and the farmer knew
something, though not much about it. The owner was a mystery to
everyone, he said.
“He built that cabin nigh onto four years ago, and he’s a mighty
unfriendly critter,” related the farmer, as he tied up their packages.
“I come through there once from huntin’ and I had my dog with me. Dog
run up to the cabin—the barbed wire fence wasn’t finished then—and that
feller was settin’ in some kind of a fancy cheer there. No sooner’d
that man see my dog than he popped out o’ his cheer and chased him
out of the yard like he was the plague. ‘Dog won’t hurt you, mister,’
I says ‘he’s a mighty friendly dog.’ ‘Don’t keer if he is!’ yells back
the man, ‘don’t want dogs or humans on my property. What you think
I’m puttin’ up a barbed wire fence for?’ ‘Well, mister,’ I sez, ‘not
wishin’ you any hard luck or nothin’, I’d like to have a couple of
thousand wild hogs to chase across your front yard!’ That’s the way I
felt, too!”
“He must be an unsociable party,” grinned Buck.
“Worse than that!” was the hearty response.
“What does he look like?” Ted asked.
“Tall feller with a heavy shock of gray hair,” replied Farmer Crane.
“Got a sort of a long face with deep black eyes. He looks like he was a
drinker or something, because he looks worried all the time, least he
did all the time I saw him.”
The supplies which the boys brought back with them from this trip
was eagerly welcomed at the camp. Then they set to work to make some
improvements in the camp itself. They cleared away undergrowth which
was too close to the back of the tents. The small truck, which was
marooned up on the dirt road was backed down into the camp by means of
two sturdy ropes, its own brakes, and convenient stones. By snubbing
the ropes around trees they were able to bear the strain of easing the
truck down hill and in its new position it made a convenient storeroom.
There was still the matter of the ice box.
“How you going to sink it?” Buck asked.
“Straight down in the cool earth beside the creek,” Ted told him.
“But the dirt is pretty soft there. How will you keep the sides from
caving in and spoiling everything?”
“We’ve had some unexpected good luck,” Ted smiled. “Under the seat
of the truck I found six large square pieces of tin, and although I
don’t know what they were intended for, I am going to use them. I
imagine that they were sent along in case we wanted to use them for a
fireplace, but I guess the use won’t matter. I’m going to floor and
wall the ice chest with that.”
With a camp shovel Ted and some of the boys dug a hole a good four feet
down into the soft earth beside the creek and here they placed one
square of tin as the flooring. On the sides they sheeted with the other
pieces of tin, fastening them down with hand cut pegs which they drove
right through the tin in the same fashion as nails. Except for a cover,
the ice chest was complete.
The cover was constructed of sections of a packing box which they
sheeted on the under side and finished off on the top with a wooden
handle. When all this was finished they had a cool and serviceable ice
chest which would never get hot or need ice. The perishable articles
were lowered into it, the cover was placed on top at a depth of about
six inches from the surface of the ground and the task was complete.
“That ought to work all right,” Ted said, casting an appraising eye
over his and his boys’ handiwork.
“Mighty nice piece of work,” approved Buck.
That night Ted called them to attention as soon as the evening meal was
over and asked them if they wanted to play a night game. The response
was instant and curiosity was expressed as to the nature of the game.
“This game is called Mountain Chase,” Ted told them. “We divide up into
two squads and both squads must have lanterns. There are ten small
lanterns in the truck, and that means that if we can divide into two
squads—that is, if you all will play—there will be a lantern to every
two men. Now, here is the point. The mountain squad goes out with
lighted lanterns and gets a good twenty-minute start, time enough in
which to lose themselves. As soon as the twenty minutes are up the camp
squad goes out after them. The object of the camp squad is to capture
the mountain men before they can sneak back into the camp, and the
mountain men will, of course, try like the dickens to sneak back past
the camp outfit and win their way into the camp.”
“The lanterns must be kept lighted at all times. If there is going to
be any prowling around these mountains without a light, it will be the
last time anyone goes out of the camp at night. We don’t want anybody
to fall in a gully and get hurt. You may hide the lanterns behind a
tree or your body if you think you hear an enemy coming, but no lights
out! That wouldn’t be fair to the searchers, for you could slip past
them in the darkness and reach the camp without any trouble. The game
is just a game of skill with the lamps, and dodging your enemies.”
“How do we capture the other side?” was asked.
“Your enemy must be touched before he is officially captured, and in
that the advantage is clearly with the camp party, because we’ll all be
travelling in parties of two. Now, if the camp couple spot a couple of
mountaineers sneaking along, the camp men can split and then run you
down from two angles, though the split isn’t to be big enough to allow
the man without a lantern to get far away from it. When the mountaineer
with the lantern is touched he and his partner are both captured. Is
everything clear?”
It seemed that it was and there was vast enthusiasm over the prospect
of an evening of fun. The two older boys told off the two squads,
lanterns were brought out and lighted, and the mountain squad prepared
to go off.
“Remember, no lights out!” Ted warned them, as they started off.
Buck was with the mountain squad, paired off with Drummer, for whom he
had a warm friendship, and at this final word from Ted they took to
the hills, splitting up so that five points of light went bobbing and
turning up into the darkness of the night, to be eventually blotted out
between the trees.
The twenty minutes seemed a long time to the boys who were waiting in
the camp. They were all eagerly interested in the game which was before
them, for on other nights they had sat around the campfire talking and
singing until it was time to go to bed. There was the thrill of the
unusual and the challenge of a combat in this, and they were enjoying
it to the utmost, impatient to get into action.
“Time is up,” announced Ted, putting his watch away and getting up from
the log upon which he was sitting.
They immediately started off in the direction taken by the other squad,
in pairs, with swinging lanterns which had just been lighted. Ted had
with him the small boy, deeming it wise to see to it that the small boy
was not entrusted to the care of any one who was not likely to be too
careful of him. The little fellow was developing under the camp life
and Ted felt a great deal of fondness for him.
They soon left the camp back of them and arriving at the foot of
the mountain, began the climb. They spread out in fan shape as they
continued, busily watching their step in front of them and for a sign
of a light between the trees. Sticks and small stones were avoided so
that noise did not betray them.
The woods were profoundly still, so much so that no one would have
believed that twenty active boys were hunting each other. Ted and Tom
crept steadily forward, keeping the lamp low and peering into the
thickets.
“Not a sign of them yet,” Ted began, when the small boy touched his arm.
“Look down that way, to your left!”
Ted obeyed, and saw at some yards distance the gleam of a light. It was
behind a tall and pointed rock, and he motioned to his companion to
follow as they crept toward it, keeping their own light in back of them
so that scarcely a beam from it showed before them.
Ted halted and whispered to the small boy. “You slip around in front
of the rock and I’ll drop on them from the rear. If they try to get
away from me you just touch the fellow with the lantern. Don’t make any
noise.”
As noiselessly as possible Tom slipped away around the lower side of
the rock and Ted went around the higher side, his lantern held far to
one side so that the beams would not show. Cautiously he peered over
the top and the sight pleased him. Bob Gilmore and another boy were
standing there, crouching in the shelter of the big stone, listening
and trying to cover up the lantern beams.
“I’m sure I heard somebody, even if I didn’t see a light,” Bob was
whispering, as Ted looked down on them.
“But they must be gone now,” his companion said. “Let’s make a sneak
for the camp.”
Ted waited to hear no more, but slid over the rock and landed beside
them. They started and turned wide eyes upon him, but had presence of
mind to run. But Tom stepped from the shelter of the rock and touched
Bob on the arm.
“I got you!” cried the small boy, triumphantly.
“Yes, you are ours,” smiled Ted, taking the others’ lantern away from
them.
“I guess we’ll have to surrender,” admitted Bob.
In close company they marched back down the mountain, to find that
two other couples had been captured and that one pair had managed to
return to camp. Only one couple of each squad was unaccounted for, and
presently Buck and his companion slipped into camp with the pursuers
hard after them.
“Well, I guess that means that my side has won,” announced Ted. “We
captured three of your teams.”
“You are right and we admit it,” Buck acknowledged. “I’m afraid we
didn’t spread out enough. Some other night we’ll play it and change
sides.”
“Sure. Well, I guess we are all here, aren’t we?” Ted asked.
“All present,” Buck nodded.
“There must be somebody absent,” piped up a boy. “There goes a light up
the side of the mountain!”
CHAPTER XI
THE LONE LIGHT
With one accord they turned and looked up the mountain. Just as the boy
had announced, a single light was moving up, like some firefly on a
wall.
For the moment it was in a cleared space and they could follow it. In
another moment it had passed from sight and only a fleeting glimpse was
to be seen as it flashed from between a tree screen.
Ted looked in perplexity around him, counting the boys. “Twenty,
counting myself and Buck,” he murmured. “We are all here.”
“That must be our party, the gentleman who has been annoying us,” Buck
said, as they stared up the slope.
“Perhaps it is. I wonder if he has any intentions tonight.”
“Hard to tell. Let’s follow him!”
“I don’t know as we ought to do that,” mused Ted. “Suppose it shouldn’t
be the right person? If it isn’t the one we think it is, we’ll look
silly chasing him.”
“Why not have half of the gang stay here in camp while half of us go
out and trail him?” asked Buck, eagerly. “We could see where he is
going, and if he is coming down this way for any foolishness we’ll have
him red-handed.”
“That’s true. All right, I’m willing, but we can’t all go, because he
would surely hear the noise made by twenty of us. One of us must stay
here in the camp with the boys, and four or five of us can get on his
trail.”
“Oh,” said Buck, with less enthusiasm than before.
“I’ll stay here in camp if you want to do the trailing,” spoke up Ted,
quickly, aware of Buck’s disappointment.
“I’ll stay with the boys and take care of them,” said Ralph Plum,
stepping forward. The chance of authority was a welcome one and he
had no personal desire to climb the mountain after the man with the
lantern. The two leaders looked at him in a moment of doubt, but his
size impressed them, and as both of them wished to do the trailing,
they consented.
“All right, you can take charge of the boys,” nodded Ted. “Bob and
Charlie, Drummer, Buck and I will do the trailing. See to it that the
lanterns are put back in the truck before you turn in or even as soon
as possible, Ralph.”
“All right,” said the new camp director. “You kids get busy and put
those lanterns in the wagon.”
“That’s no wagon, it’s a truck,” retorted one boy.
“Never mind any back talk. I’m in charge of this camp and I don’t want
any suggestions from anyone,” was the loud answer.
“You won’t be in charge any longer than I can help it,” thought Ted, as
he lighted his lantern.
When the five trailers were ready Ted gave Plum some final
instructions. “When we come back to the camp we’ll whistle before we
enter, so you’ll know that we are the ones who are approaching. If
anything goes wrong, blow the automobile horn, which is detached and in
my tent. We’ll surely hear that and come hotfooting it back to you.”
“Nothing will go wrong while I’m here!” returned Plum, with careless
ease.
“Glad to hear you so confident,” half-smiled Ted. “Come on along,
fellows.”
With lighted lanterns the others joined him and they set off once
more for the slopes of the mountain. Nothing more had been seen of the
vagrant light above them and they realized that their chase might be a
vain one. But none of them felt content to go to sleep that night until
they knew that everything was safe so far as the camp was concerned.
The initial climb was a hard one and they were all panting when they
reached a less abrupt slope of the mountain. Here they halted to
breathe in the air that they felt the need of.
“We’ll soon be up to the spot where we saw him cross that open glade,”
Ted said to Buck. “That is just where I saw the light on the night I
came up here alone.”
They pressed on, gaining the open stretch of the mountain and crossed
this space, looking down to where the campfires gleamed like small red
dots. They could make out a few of the boys standing around the fires
and they knew that their progress was being watched. As a signal, they
waved their lanterns.
They had just entered the higher wooded slope above the cleared spot,
when a sound reached their ears which stopped them in their tracks.
“What was that?” Bob gasped, looking around. But the others knew at
once.
“Thunder!” Ted said to Buck, raising his eyebrows significantly.
Buck looked away across the valley in which Black Riders’ Camp lay. “I
don’t see any sign of lightning,” he said. “Probably it is miles away
from here yet. We can do a little more hunting around and then go back.”
“I wonder if it is worth while?” asked Ted, looking up the slope. “I
haven’t seen any sign of our friend with his light. Maybe he has gone
home and to bed.”
“We’ll go a little further, anyway,” urged Buck. “Then we can fetch up
in a wide circle and come in back of the camp. If anything is wrong
down there we ought to arrive in time to be in on it.”
“Wait until I see what time it is,” Ted answered, and he glanced at his
watch. “Just ten-thirty. We must get back pretty soon. All right, let’s
go on.”
He wondered if he had been wise in giving in to Buck, for a more
penetrating and rolling peal of thunder reached their ears, bringing
with it a brooding sense of uneasiness that was disconcerting. The
thunder rolled back and forth between the mountains, which seemed to
toss it back and forth after a profound rolling that had a grinding
sound attached to it. The air itself had been comparatively still but
now a faint and disturbing little wind slipped in and out between the
leaves and branches of the trees. Out of the corner of his eye Drummer
caught a glimpse of a lightning flash.
“I saw that flash of lightning just then,” he proclaimed, confirming an
impression that Ted had in his own mind. Drummer was not comfortable
and longed to return to camp.
They came to a halt, uncertain, with the majority desiring to return to
camp. Buck alone wanted to chance the thunder storm which there was now
no doubt in the world was coming. But he knew that such a course was
foolish and he gave in.
“All right,” he sighed. “I do hate to give up the chase, though.”
“I guess we all do,” agreed Ted. “But we’ll have to get right back. It
will take us a good half hour as it is, even if we do have to go down
instead of up, and we will be lucky if we reach the camp in time.”
“Oh, you’re right there,” his chum agreed, glancing for the last time
up the mountain in a searching way. “We simply must get back. I was
just—Ah!”
At the sharp exclamation in his tone the others looked at him, noted
his startled facial expression, and then glanced up the slope to a
ledge some twenty feet above them, and off to one side. The lantern was
coming toward them, but even as they looked it stopped, hesitated, and
began a speedy retreat. Whoever was behind it was represented merely by
a blur.
They forgot the advancing storm at once and set off in pursuit. At the
moment of seeing the light so near to them they were too startled to
move, and had the man with the light advanced upon them, they would
have been frozen to the spot with apprehension. But now that the man
with the lantern ran from them the thing was put in a different light.
Seeing it run away put courage into them.
“Stick together and don’t get lost!” cried Buck, as he ran up the slope
to the ledge upon which the man had been walking.
This ledge could only be climbed by taking a diagonal course and
Charlie Wells complicated matters by slipping when he was almost at
the top and falling all the way down to the level upon which they had
been a minute or two previously. Not wishing to run on without him
they were compelled to wait and when he joined them, adorned with a few
cuts and scratches, they ran on again. When they rounded a knob of the
mountain there was no light to be seen and they guessed the story only
too well. The mountain man had put his lantern out and all trace of him
was lost, to the eye at least.
They stood in a cluster listening, but no sound except the wind greeted
them. The stillness inspired a new idea.
“I’ll bet he just put out his light and is hiding around here
somewhere,” said Drummer, voicing the thought.
“I’m afraid that is true,” agreed Ted. “Well, we don’t care to go
looking all around the bushes for him. I can see now where we made our
mistake in the first place.”
“Where?” asked Buck.
“By going around with five lanterns lighted, making ourselves
absolutely conspicuous,” returned Ted. “If we had had only one light
we wouldn’t have advertised ourselves as we did. Perhaps if he hadn’t
thought there were five of us he would have offered to talk or fight
instead of legging it away as fast as he did!”
“Yes, one light would have been enough,” admitted Buck.
“Sure it would have! Well, there isn’t anything that we can do about it
now. I——”
He was interrupted by an ear-splitting crash of thunder and a flaming
tongue of fire flashed across the mountains, causing them to jump
severely. Ted turned back toward the camp.
“Come on, we’ve simply got to get back there!” he cried.
They started off on a fast walk, regretting that they had chased the
man with the light as far as they had. In their enthusiasm they had
covered a long distance and they had not descended very far down the
side of the mountain before large rain drops began to spatter through
the trees upon them.
“I’m afraid we’re not going to make it!” shouted Ted, above the noise
of the rising wind.
CHAPTER XII
HEAVEN’S ARTILLERY
Ted’s guess was a perfectly correct one. Before they were half down the
mountain side the rain began to come down in sheets.
Added to the rush of wind and water there was the bewildering addition
of thunder and lightning. The thunder kept up the rolling roar as the
sound bounded from mountain slope to mountain slope, and the flashes
of lightning almost blinded them. The quality of it was deceptive. It
revealed obstacles in the path which were imaginary most of the time,
and by constant flashing made the lanterns of little or no use. Two of
them had already been puffed out by the wind and the rain drops on the
others caused them to sputter and hiss. It was with a sense of feeling
rather than seeing their way that the boys pushed on.
“Isn’t there any place that we can duck into for shelter?” Buck shouted
in Ted’s ear.
“I don’t know of any,” he replied. “This is all new country to me.”
“How about that old house?”
“We’re nowhere near it,” was the discouraging answer as Ted kept on
going.
They were frantically seeking a shelter, for there was no thought in
their minds that they could ever make camp with safety. They could see
the fires in the camp below, now rapidly being put out by the storm.
The rain had increased in violence and it gave every appearance of
being a violent summer storm.
The glass on one of the lanterns cracked and broke and the wind
promptly snatched out the dancing flame. But their chief help in their
flight from the storm was the lightning which flashed with great
brilliance. Although it created illusions it served as a guide and kept
them from running on dangerous ground.
There was a severe crack of thunder, a dazzling flash of electrical
fire hard on its heels, and a big tree near them seemed outlined for an
instant in quivering fire. The monarch of the forest split in two, and
one portion came down with a rush and a roar that bewildered them.
“That was close!” yelled Drummer, as they came to an abrupt halt.
“We have got to get under some kind of a cover,” cried Ted, peering
around him. “If we don’t we may have a tree down on top of us!”
“Let’s try that rock over there,” Buck pointed out, and they dashed
in the direction of the somewhat vague rock which loomed off to their
left. When they reached it they were grateful to find that it afforded
a slight shelter at least from falling trees, though as a covering for
rain it was a total failure.
The rock was small at the base and towered above their heads,
mushrooming out as it went up, until the top was a flat surface which
would hold all five of them without crowding, had they been in any mood
to sit on the top of the big rock. But they crouched at the base of the
big stone and there prepared to make the best of it, striving to keep
the two good lanterns going, for in their present predicament even a
little light was welcome.
“This is better than nothing at all!” declared Bob, pushing his back up
as close to the rock as it would go.
“We’re safe from falling trees, anyway,” observed Charlie, as he set
his useless lamp to one side and jammed his hands into his pockets.
“Not the dryest place in the world!” chuckled Ted.
The rain slanted right into their faces, causing them to avert them,
and the drippings from the top of the rock spattered over them. A thin
trickle oozed down the sleek sides of the big stone and made their
backs more wet than ever. Their plight was not a happy or a comfortable
one.
“What I wouldn’t do with a good old fire right now!” sighed Drummer,
shivering slightly.
“Here, hold your hands over the top of the lantern,” directed Ted, and
Drummer followed his instructions and found the warmth welcome.
“I wonder how the fellows in camp are making it?” Ted worried, as the
lightning flashes grew less frequent. “Of course they have the tents,
but I wonder if they knew enough to loosen up on the tent ropes so as
to take the strain off of the pegs? I won’t be surprised if we get back
and find that half of the pegs have been pulled out of the ground!”
“How does that work, Ted?” Bob asked, with interest.
“Why, when a storm is coming up a camper must loosen up on his tent
ropes, because when the canvas gets wet it pulls pretty strongly on
the ropes, and if they haven’t been attended to they pull right out of
the ground. If that business hasn’t been done I’ll have only myself
to blame, for I neglected to tell you all about it. Never gave it a
thought, though I should have at the time we dug the trenches around
the tents.”
“It is a mighty good thing that we did dig the trenches,” put in Buck,
all crouched in a heap. “Those fellows would be good and wet by this
time if we hadn’t.”
“I don’t doubt but what they are right now,” said Ted, seriously. “With
a fall of rain like this those trenches couldn’t possibly carry off all
of the water. I think that we’ll all have to do some drying out when we
get the fires started again and get back to normal!”
“The lightning is letting up, but listen to that thunder!” remarked
Buck. “That’s heaven’s artillery for fair!”
A full and weary hour dragged by while they remained there in the
shelter of the big rock waiting for the storm to cease. The lightning
had moved on across the mountain and the thunder was about to follow.
The rolls of the pealing concussions now came to them in a more muffled
state and the rain was beginning to thin out though it did not cease to
fall. They had hopes of making a break when the thunder and lightning
had passed away.
“We won’t stay here just for the sake of the rain,” said Ted. “We
couldn’t possibly get any wetter than we are, so as soon as we are sure
that there will be no more lightning we’ll make a dash for it.”
“Better be careful of your dashes,” warned Buck. “The ground has become
very slippery and we’ll have to watch our steps.”
“We’ll keep our eyes wide open,” promised Ted. “I guess we can go now.”
The five wet and stiff boys stood up straight, stretching their aching
muscles. After the game of the evening, the chase over the mountains,
and the thorough wetting, all of them felt worn out and stiff. It was
with genuine pleasure that they looked forward to the return to the
camp, for the exercise alone.
“It isn’t going to do us much good to get to camp,” said Drummer.
“There won’t be any wood to start a fire with.”
“This storm has taught me a big lesson,” said Ted. “Hereafter we’ll
have a shelter for a pile of dry wood, for just such an emergency as
this. But don’t forget, Drummer, there are warm blankets for us to wrap
around us when we do get there.”
“That is so,” the other realized, brightening. “That will help a lot.”
They hurried away from the big rock and made their way to the best of
their belief toward their camp. They had not gone very far, however,
before Bob cried out in dismay.
“My lantern is going out! Guess all the oil is burned up.”
With a flutter his light went out, leaving them with but one good
lantern among them. For a moment they were at a loss, for the mountains
were very dark and slippery and if the last light went out their case
would not be a happy one.
“Well, we still have one left and there must be a little oil in the
other lanterns,” said Ted. “We’ll push along with the one light and if
that goes out we’ll refill my lantern with the oil from the others.”
They continued on their way for some time, moving in the general
direction of the camp. The ground was indeed muddy and treacherous and
they were compelled to watch every footstep. As they rounded a point on
the mountain Buck paused and pointed to a light below them.
“Hello, we have certainly wandered off of our course, all right! There
is the cabin of that unsociable fellow that the farmer told us about.”
They looked down into the slight valley to the cabin before them,
noting with some envy the lighted windows, speculating on the warmth
and cheer which was inside. The light in the cabin was a good one and
the square panes of glass released broad floods of yellow illumination.
As they looked the door opened and a tall man came to the door looking
out.
“Duck the lantern!” whispered Buck, and Ted dropped it behind a bunch
of bushes.
The man looked up at the sky, apparently wishing to see if the storm
had passed over. He was much as the farmer had described him and he was
dressed in an odd costume for a backwoods cabin, for he had on a soft
white shirt and white flannel trousers.
“My, my, what a nice looking pioneer he is!” muttered Buck as the man
retired.
“Buck, do you know what I think?” asked Ted, slowly.
“What?”
“I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if that man is the one who has been
annoying us in our camp!”
There was a moment of silence and the boys all looked at Ted. “What
makes you think so?” Buck asked.
“You remember what that farmer told us about the very unfriendliness
of the man? I wouldn’t be surprised if he just resented our camping
anywhere near him and he tried to chase us away.”
“You think he is the man we chased, with the lantern, tonight?”
“I don’t know. Anyway, he had time to get back to his cabin and change
his clothes. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to find that he is the one.
But come on, we won’t get anywhere by just standing around here.”
They continued on their way to camp, talking over Ted’s theory, and the
more that they talked of it the more plausible it seemed. They felt
that they had made an important discovery.
“Maybe he has tired of his effort to scare us away,” said Buck.
“I hope so. We’re not going, anyway.”
“Hurrah, there is the camp!” cried Charlie, as they reached the bottom
of the slope and started across the basin towards the tents.
Ted was in the lead and he quickened his steps, looking ahead into the
darkness. There was a sound of scrambling and jumping which he could
not understand and the spot looked curiously empty.
“Why, the tents are all down!” he exclaimed, running forward.
CHAPTER XIII
BUCK MAKES A DISCOVERY
The one lantern carried by Ted threw but a poor light over the scene of
the camp but it was enough for the arriving boys to see that all of the
tents were down, apparently blown over from the storm. The first two
were down altogether, canvas and poles, while the last two consisted of
flapping canvas on the poles. While they looked they were joined by the
other boys, who came jumping and running from the truck, where they had
taken a poor refuge during the storm.
“Oh, boy, I’m glad you are back!” exclaimed Plum, fervently, catching
Ted by the sleeve.
“What happened here?” Ted asked.
“Why, the storm blew the tents down. We were all under the canvas and
keeping pretty dry, except for some water which leaked in from the
trenches, when all of a sudden there was a blow of wind and the tents
were down. It even carried over the poles on two of the tents, or
else we knocked them down getting out, I don’t know which. But we were
soaked and tried to get in the truck and pull a piece of canvas over
our heads, but it didn’t do us much good.”
Apparently, it had not. All of them were as wet as the five who had
been trailing. With the tents down and all of them dripping they
presented a sorry sight which even the flicker of the one lamp could
not make up for. Looking backward, the evening did not seem to have
been a success.
“Well, only one thing to do,” directed Buck, briskly. “Let’s locate our
axes and hunt dry wood for a fire.”
“There isn’t any dry wood,” a boy objected.
“We can get dry wood by taking a fairly large log and chopping off the
wet outside,” explained Buck. “In that way we’ll get down to the heart
of it and find something that we can burn. You know where that dead log
is back of the springs, and you can surely cut something dry out of
that big fellow. Come on, I’ll show you.”
Buck went to the mass of canvas which had been his own tent and lifting
the soggy material, felt inside for his axe, which he had no trouble
in locating. The other boys procured theirs and then they went off in a
body to hunt up dry wood, a seemingly impossible process. But Buck had
had to deal with wet wood before in his camping experiences.
“Now, here is this log,” he told them. “The outside looks pretty wet,
and it is wet. Start cutting it away in slices, this way.” With his axe
he split the wood along the upper side, tearing off the wet strips and
tossing them to one side. “Now, here is some that looks fairly dry,” he
went on, as they cut deeper. “This stuff will do very nicely for our
fire.”
The younger boys were surprised to find that there was indeed a goodly
supply of dry wood in the old log and they gathered a large heap of it
and took it back to the camp. Buck knew that they were going to need
lots of it, for it was impossible to think of going to bed that night.
The wet canvas could not be put up and the entire camp would have to be
dried out. They would need wood for the entire night.
“They are all excited and won’t mind staying awake all night,” he
reflected, as he carried an armful of wood back to the fireplaces.
Here he found Ted down on his knees cleaning out the wet mass of ashes
which had been the evening’s fire and when these had been raked out
and scattered to one side, some paper, which came from under the seat
of the truck was stuffed into the stone fireplaces and the wood was
piled so as to catch fire. A match was applied and the tiny spurt of
flame which immediately jumped up was a very welcome one. The one
faithful lamp was still going and had done its duty well.
Carefully they fed the flame with splinters of wood, and the building
of the fire took care, for the log wood was not thoroughly dry, but had
in it enough moisture to make it a problem. It smoked and drove them
away from the fire more than once, but they were pleased to see that
it did burn. Some good fuel was added in the form of a canned goods
box which had been under the truck and so was not very wet. Around the
blaze created by this wood they dried their clothing as much as they
could.
“We can’t go to bed tonight, can we?” Tom Clayton asked.
“No, we couldn’t get the tents up tonight, because we’ll have to dry
them,” replied Ted. “But the night won’t last so very long now. When
we do get everything fixed up we’ll put in the daytime sleeping, if we
feel that way.”
“I certainly would like to go to sleep right now!” yawned Drummer,
stretching himself.
“I guess most of us would,” nodded Buck. “But everything is against us.
How would you like to snuggle down under that canvas right now?”
“Ugh, not while it is as wet as it is!” cried Drummer. “I’d rather
stand up around the fire all night!”
“Is everything soaked, blankets, sweaters and everything?” Ted asked.
“Yes,” replied Buck. “As soon as the canvas fell on the stuff it all
got soaked, at least in the tents where the poles went down. I don’t
know about the other two.”
Some of the boys rummaged under the canvas and found that blankets were
damp and not too wet to put on, and immediately they returned with
blankets over their shoulders. Others had not been so lucky and they
crowded close to the fire. As morning came on another group went out
and hunted for wood, bringing back a large supply. The fire had been
effective but not perfect, and the smoke had chased them from side to
side of the fireplace.
It was the first really disagreeable camp experience that these boys
from the club had ever had and some were plainly discouraged by it
while others enjoyed the novelty and adventure of it. The conversation
by the fire became more cheerful and soon jokes and laughter took the
place of brooding silence. The five who had trailed the man with the
lantern told their experiences and those who had remained in camp told
theirs.
“We were just standing around watching your lights when the storm was
first heard,” related Plum. “We hoped you’d come down right away, but
you didn’t and then the old storm hit and we dug for the tents. We
sat in there pretty dry except for some water that came in around the
bottom of the tent and then all of a sudden there was a little blow and
the tent I was in came down! Seemed like the canvas on one side just
collapsed, the back pole seemed to come down in a hurry and I guess we
knocked the rest down when we tried to get out from under. The rest was
the same as we was, scrambling out of tents and looking for somewhere
to go, when we thought of the truck and climbed in there.”
“I knew that it blew pretty hard when we were up there under the rock,”
remarked Ted. “But I didn’t know that it blew hard enough to blow down
the tents.”
“The wind must have been stronger down here than it was up there,”
suggested Bob.
“That is hardly possible, because the wind always blows harder on a
higher level than in a basin, such as this spot is. I can see how a
wind would blow down one tent but it seems funny that it should blow
down four of them. However, I guess it must have just swooped down in a
sudden gust and done the job.”
“Which way did our tent buckle in?” Buck asked Plum.
“From the left side,” was the answer.
“Couldn’t have,” said a boy, promptly. “Ours went in on the right!”
“One of you must be wrong,” said Buck. “The wind must have come from
one direction to have force enough to flatten out the tents, and it
would have hit either on the right or the left side and not on both.
How about you fellows in the first two tents?”
“Ours went in on the left,” said a boy from the second tent.
“But ours collapsed on the right,” said Tom Clayton.
Buck snatched up the lantern. “I thought there was something funny
about that tent business all along,” he said. “Wait until I come back.”
He strode off with the lantern, leaving them wondering.
Buck went to the tents and placed the lantern on the ground. The canvas
had fallen in a confused mass and he was compelled to fish under it for
the ropes. He located the ropes which had been pegged into the ground
and examined them carefully. Without saying anything he examined the
others, passing from tent to tent.
“Find anything?” Ted hailed him, from the fire.
“Yes, sir!” was the vigorous answer. “These tent ropes were cut!”
“What!” cried Ted, leaping to his feet.
“That is just what happened. Come here.”
The entire group clustered around Buck as he held up ropes from two of
the tents. “Look here. One fellow says his tent collapsed from the left
and another fellow says his let go from the right. Good reason why.
Somebody stood between two tents and cut the ropes under cover of the
storm. Of course the tents went down on opposite sides, and I suppose
the man shoved the back poles and skipped to the next two tents and
cut the ropes there. He didn’t have time to knock over the uprights
there, because the boys were swarming out, so he left that to them and
probably took to the woods. Look at these ropes.”
There was not the slightest doubt in the world that the ropes to the
tents had been cut, and cut with a sharp knife which had required no
second cuts. They stared at the ends of the ropes in amazement.
“We didn’t hear anybody,” said Plum. “Probably you wouldn’t, with the
noise of the storm. If we want any additional proof that the ropes were
cut and not pulled, look at the tent pegs. They are all in the ground
as they were when we left and the other pieces of the rope are still
attached. There is no doubt that you boys had a visitor while we were
chasing!”
“It might have done us more good to have stayed at home and minded our
business,” smiled Ted.
“Maybe. Say, how near the end of the storm did this thing happen?”
“Almost at the end,” said Plum. “Just when the thunder was going away.”
“Then that kills our theory about the man in the log cabin,” Buck said
to Ted.
“Yes, it does,” replied his chum. “He couldn’t possibly be the one,
because if he had been in on this he couldn’t possibly have returned to
his house and changed his clothes.”
“No, he is out of it,” agreed Buck. “But who in the world can be doing
all this business? I tell you, I’m getting sick and tired of it and I’m
going to break loose before long and hunt somebody down.”
“The trouble with your breaking loose is that we don’t know who to hunt
down!” smiled Ted.
“No, that is the trouble. But someone is responsible. I don’t believe
it is any supernatural element, either, or if it is, that ghost carries
a fine sharp knife! When it gets light enough we’ll have to look around
for footprints.”
“It won’t be long before it is light now,” said Charlie, glancing at
the sky.
The last of the darkness was beginning to break in the east, a broad
bar of yellow-white light was appearing. Far over in the west the last
of the stars began to fade and as the minutes ticked off the band of
light spread and broadened and the aspect of the woods changed. The
darkness withdrew and the flush of a new and beautiful day appeared.
“Golly, I never was so glad to see the daytime come!” sighed Drummer,
as they stood around the fires watching the advance of the day.
“I guess none of us ever was,” agreed Buck. “And could I eat!”
“Then let’s get at it right now,” said Ted. “We’ll have an early
breakfast and then get to work. We are going to have a busy day.”
CHAPTER XIV
THE STORY OF THE BLACK RIDERS
The sun seemed to burst forth from the sky, flooding over the camp
as it did so, and never before had the great ball of fire seemed so
comforting and cheerful. The fires were going briskly and the coffee
was sending out its tempting aroma. Drummer, warming up throughout, was
inspired to joke.
“Hey, you fellows!” he cried. “Who is going to take their morning dip
in Bear Creek?”
A medley of groans greeted him and he grinned. “We ought to toss you in
for even suggesting such a thing!” grinned Buck, as he fried the bacon.
The touch of the sun turned the camp into a new place. Their spirits
rose visibly and all the uncertainty of the night passed away. No one
felt the loss of sleep, and while the breakfast squad was busy another
detachment took the wet canvas and spread it out to dry. The blankets
and all personal effects were next in line and were hung on convenient
limbs to partake of the beneficial sun.
Fortunately for them it was a warm day and things began to dry at once.
As the heat increased they began to shed outer garments so as to give
them a chance to dry also. The chill was out of their bodies and they
felt perfectly normal.
“I feel better than I did before I got all wet!” declared one boy.
“You’ll probably have a reaction later on,” advised Ted. “I mean that
you’ll probably get tired and want to sleep. We’ll all try a little
sleep after we get the tents up again.”
The call for breakfast was now issued and disregarded by no one. With
whoops of delight they trooped around, tin plates thrust forward,
and for several minutes the cooks were busy young men. Never before
had breakfast tasted so good, and there was a general satisfaction
expressed.
“The cooks are putting their best into it this morning,” said Drummer.
“No differently than other mornings,” smiled Ted. “But you are
hungrier.”
After breakfast the camp was cleaned up, the canvas reversed and the
blankets treated in the same manner. There was also another problem
before them and this had to do with the icebox. It had filled up with
water and they had to take everything out of it, pull out some of the
tin sheeting, and allow the water to seep into the ground.
“We didn’t make it water-tight,” said Buck.
“No, and the rain last night was so hard that it just settled above
the cover and leaked through. I see now where we have made a mistake.
Instead of sinking the ice chest so deep we ought to build it up a bit
and have the cover above ground, with sloping sides, so that the water
would run away from it. In that way a few drops might leak in, but not
a couple of quarts as it did last night.”
Later in the day they made the improvement and did not have any further
trouble with wet weather in regard to their provisions. Then they
turned their attention to the tents, after having looked around back of
them for footprints, but there were none, so they gave it up.
“We might find some way back in the bushes,” said Ted. “But we’ll look
’em up some other time. Let’s see what we can do with the tents.”
They presented quite a problem, for the cut rope had to be tied
together. There was no extra rope to be had and while they were tieing
pieces together Ted had an idea.
“Look here, I’ve got an idea which will keep us from using pegs or
having to tie all these ropes to the smaller pieces.”
“What is it? I don’t see how—”
“The tent ropes on one side of each tent are still tied to the pegs,
aren’t they?”
“Sure.”
“Well, the ropes have been cut on the sides of the tents facing each
other. Instead of bothering to tie new ropes and peg them down, lets
tie the ropes from each tent together and simply lay a heavy log across
the ropes. That will be heavy enough to hold down the canvas and when
it rains again we won’t have to loosen ropes because as the canvas
tightens it will simply raise the weighing logs a little bit.”
“Say, that’s fine! We’ll do that!” approved Buck.
On the sides of the tents where the cut ropes faced each other the
boys tied them together and then came the problem of logs. They did
not want to use old half-rotted logs and they did not care to cut down
good trees. Buck suggested that they seek out some trees that were dead
but still standing, and this they did, finding more than enough of
such trees. As soon as the best ones had been picked out they cut them
down to the desired length, brought them back to camp, and then laid
them across the ropes which stretched from tent to tent. Immediately
they weighed the canvas down by their pressure on the ropes much as
pegs would have drawn them tightly, and altogether proved themselves
satisfactory.
“By George, any camp where they had more than one tent, could do that,
and it would be an improvement on pegs!” approved Buck.
“Well, not exactly an improvement,” Ted shook his head. “Pegs give a
more direct and downward pull. But the logs make a good substitute. It
surely makes the camp look funny.”
The sight of the three logs hanging on the ropes between tents might
have puzzled anyone who did not understand them, but the boys were
content with their work. The camp was now in good condition and the
reaction set in soon after the noon meal. The excitement and work had
kept them all wide awake, but now yawns began to be heard from them.
“All of you fellows who want to can turn in for a good sleep,” said
Ted. “Just roll up in your blankets and snooze away! Everyone who
doesn’t feel like sleeping will please be quiet and give the others a
chance.”
“I’d like to know who won’t be sleeping,” Bob smiled, rubbing his eyes.
“I’m not going to sleep right away,” replied Ted. “Buck and I are going
over to the farmhouse where we buy the fresh supplies and get some
stuff. When we get back we’ll turn in.”
The other boys straggled off at once to their tents, and wrapping
themselves in their blankets, fell asleep without any trouble.
Fortunately, the sun had passed far enough behind the trees so that the
rays did not beat down on the tents and they had no great difficulty in
getting to sleep. Ted and Buck put empty knapsacks on their backs and
started off for the farmhouse where they bought their provisions.
“I certainly won’t mind a little sleep myself,” yawned Buck, as they
left the camp.
“I won’t either,” his companion remarked. “But we’ll get back in time
to snatch a few hours when we do get back.”
“Think we’ll learn anything from Farmer Crane?”
“I don’t know, but I hope so. This thing is getting serious. So far the
boys haven’t been bad about it, although some of them are pretty scared
at times, but I don’t know how long it will last. The uncertainty of it
wears us down. We don’t know when somebody is going drop in and play a
trick on us. I want to find out what it is all about.”
“If we find the person who is doing it,” said Buck, slowly, “we’ll
surely tell him a thing or two!”
“If we ever catch him around the camp we’ll turn him over to the
police in short order,” was Ted’s grim promise.
The farmer was glad to see them and he listened with interest to their
story of the cutting of the tent ropes during the storm. It was felt
that there was no need to tell him anything else, for fear that it
would get abroad too much. The farmer was interested and excited.
“Somebody must have a grudge agin you fellers!” he cried. “Nobody’d be
doing that for fun.”
“It must be somebody up this way, then,” said Ted. “Somebody doesn’t
want us around. We thought it was that fellow you spoke to us about,
the man who lives over in the log cabin, but he couldn’t have been the
one, because we saw him a few minutes before all this happened.”
“Can’t think of no one else, ’less it could of been old Jerry Jackson,
who lives over in Hogs’ Hollow,” mused the farmer.
“Where is Hogs’ Hollow?”
“’Bout a mile beyond where your camp is. It is a swampy sort of a place
not fit for nothin’ but hogs to live in, and old Jerry has a shack
there. But he never bothers no one and I don’t know why he’d ever want
to chase you out of there.”
“I guess he couldn’t have anything to do with it,” agreed Ted. “By
the way, what is that house way up on the mountain, the one where the
furniture is still in the place? Looks like it was furnished and never
used.”
“Oh, that’s the Bainbridge place,” was the reply. “Rich feller by the
name of Bainbridge built that house for his wife and it sure was a
handsome dwellin’! I saw it when it was first finished, and I want to
tell you it had more gilt and brass and blue and everything than any
place I ever saw. Well, Bainbridge was lookin’ forward to bringin’ his
wife up there—she’d never seen it—when she decided she wasn’t goin’ to
live up in no mountains, and she finally up and run off with somebody
else. Bainbridge spent a lot of time mopin’ around the place and acted
like he was half-crazy, and then finally he disappeared. Nobody knows
where he is today.”
“That fellow over in the cabin isn’t Bainbridge, is he?” Buck asked,
quickly.
“Oh, no! I know both of ’em by sight, and that ain’t him. No, unless
Bainbridge’s ghost is hangin’ around that old house. I don’t know where
he is.”
They paid for their provisions and then tramped back to camp,
discussing the affair between them. Nothing definite appeared to have
been learned from the farmer and they decided to keep a stricter
lookout in the camp.
“If we ever hear anybody around in the bushes we’ll have to make a dash
for them,” said Buck.
Arriving at the camp they found it apparently deserted and perfectly
quiet, but a glance into the tents showed that all of the boys were
asleep. Very quietly they packed the provisions in the improved ice
chest, and then as quietly crawled into their blankets for a nap. For
the next three hours the camp was so still that anyone looking down
upon it would have decided that it was deserted, and then, as the
coolness of the evening came on, first one and then another began to
stir, until the whole camp was awake.
Supper was eaten and then they sat around, content to remain in the
camp. Just before they turned in there was a dispute about the Black
Riders and Ted was called upon.
“It was started by a man named Simon Reed,” he said.
“I don’t think many of us know the story,” Alfred Paulson said,
thoughtfully. “Won’t you tell it to us, Ted?”
“You want me to tell you the story of the Black Riders?” Ted asked.
There was a general nod of assent. He looked at his watch, shaking his
head.
“It is getting too late now,” he said. “But I’ll tell it to you after
supper tomorrow night.”
Back of them a stick broke sharply and a few of them turned their heads
to look in the direction of the tents. But in the talk that followed no
one paid any further attention to it.
On the following evening, after the supper, Ted faced an expectant
group of boys. They were ranged in a bow formation, with the ends drawn
in toward the middle, and Ted stood near the fire. They were very quiet
and he began at once.
“Most of you fellows know something about the history of the
Revolutionary War at the time that Washington and his men were in
Valley Forge, about forty miles from here, and the British were having
a gay old time in Philadelphia. The British and the Hessians were all
around here, a fine, fully equipped army of men, while the ragged,
cold, heroic Americans were freezing over in Valley Forge. That was
in the winter of 1777 and 1778, if my memory serves me correctly, and
things in this particular part of the country were in pretty bad shape.”
“There was a man down in Germantown by the name of Simon Reed, and he
was a patriot who had never run away even in the face of the British.
He knew that up in these mountains there were some wild, hard-fighting
farmers, and he used to slip out this way nights to get them organized.
Right in this hollow they used to meet, all dressed in black, all of
them riding black horses, and here they’d make up their plans to annoy
the British. They used to go stealing out of here and lay in wait
for stray British baggage trains, and then they’d swoop down on them
and capture them. All through the winter they did such good work for
Washington that they came to be recognized as the Black Riders. You
know, during the Revolution, there were a number of cracker-jack bands
of fighting men who just hung onto the British flanks and worried them
to death, Marion’s men in the South, and Morgan’s Riflemen, Light-Horse
Harry Lee’s men, and others. These Black Riders were a smaller bunch,
but they helped a lot.”
“After awhile things got so hot for them around here that Washington
had them taken into the regular army as part of Light-Horse Harry Lee’s
division and they ceased to be known as the Black Riders from then on.
But people around here always remembered them from the days before they
joined Lee and this spot had always been known as their camp.”
“Gosh, that’s a great story!” exclaimed Drummer.
“It must have been great to have met here and planned their raids,”
said another boy, looking around him.
“Wish I could see what one looked like,” said Bob Gilmore.
The words were scarcely out of his mouth when something happened which
left the boys speechless with wonder. There was a soft flare of light
near them and they all turned their heads toward the end of the camp
nearest the foot of the mountains, to where a flat, moss-covered rock
jutted out. There on the rock, lighted by the soft, noiseless glow, was
a black horse and seated upon it, a rider dressed entirely in black,
with a wide black hat pulled over his face. The glow burned only for a
brief second, but in that second horse and rider stared straight ahead,
and then the flare went out, and the Black Rider and his black horse
disappeared from view.
CHAPTER XV
MUTINY
The silence that succeeded the vision of the Black Rider on the rock
was a vast and throbbing one, and the senses of the boys reeled
slightly under the shock. Ted still stood in his position staring
toward the rock on which the fascinating thing had showed, his heart
beating like a trip-hammer and his mouth curiously dry. In the very
atmosphere there was a sense of unreality.
The figure had been real, yet ghostly. All of them were sure that they
had seen an actual man seated on a very real horse exposed for an
instant on the rock, and yet the very immoveableness of it inspired a
feeling of awe. There was no second flush of light and nothing broke
the silence.
Then the tongues of the boys were unloosed like a flood and they all
talked at once. They scrambled to their feet, confused and uncertain.
The fire had burned so low that the darkness pressed in tightly upon
them, and a few, with more presence of mind than the rest, threw some
fresh wood on the fire, where it blazed up and dimly showed the rock
upon which the Black Rider had appeared. But there was no sign of him
now.
“What in the world do you suppose that was?” Buck demanded, bounding to
Ted’s side.
“You certainly have me,” was the fervent reply. “I never saw anything
like it in my life. Bob had just said that he would like to see a Black
Rider and one just glowed out. It is beyond me.”
“If anybody believes in ghosts, that was surely a ghost of a former
Black Rider,” said Buck. “But there is a trick in it somewhere. Look
how he just glowed and then went out. Come on, let’s investigate that
rock.”
Without argument Ted took the lantern and he had taken two strides
before Buck could catch up with him. Ted was trying to get the incident
straight in his mind and he was eager to see that rock. A few of the
boys straggled after them, but the bigger group remained near the
campfires.
Arriving at the rock the two older boys quickly bent forward and looked
at the flat top of the big stone. There was a slight film of moss on
it and the moss was marked by the feet of a horse, very faintly, but
marked, nevertheless.
“Well, it was a sure enough horse, anyway,” commented Ted, as he kept
flashing the light around the rock. “Look here!”
He pointed out a thin white line with purple edges which ran across the
rock. Buck studied it, but for the moment its meaning escaped him.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Evidently it was a line of powder, something like flashlight powder,
only calculated to burn longer,” explained Ted. “Whoever led the horse
out here set a powder train and then got on the horse and waited. He
must have been able to hear all that we said around the campfire, and
Bob’s words gave him just the cue he wanted. Somehow or other, maybe by
a small pocket battery wire, he set off the powder and played spirit,
if that is what he was meant to be.”
“I guess that is so,” nodded Buck. “Say, you remember that snapping
sound we heard last night?”
“Yes, and I guess I see what you mean. This fellow must have heard us
planning and then he planned a little plan of his own. I’ll bet that
fellow is in and around our camp more than we know about!”
“Believe me, we must lay our hands on that fellow,” said Buck, grimly.
“We had better begin to lay some traps for him when we get back.”
“Yes, we’ve simply got to get him. Come on and see if we can follow the
tracks of the horse’s hoofs.”
They were able to find the spot where the horse had stepped onto the
rock and a few hoof prints nearby, but the man who had arranged the
thing had done his work well. For yards around the ground was half rock
and no print showed.
“No use hunting around any more tonight,” said Ted, after they had
spent a half hour in fruitless effort. “In daylight we might be able to
see something worth while, but never with the light of the lantern. I
think those hoofs must have been muffled.”
“Oh, there is no doubt of that,” replied Buck. “There was no sound when
the horse was led out on the rock and no sound when he retreated. This
man knows what he is doing.”
“Yes, and do you know, we’re dealing with an educated man and no Jerry
Jackson from Hogs’ Hollow. This man knows more than one thing and when
we find a man who is a historian we’ll have our man. He knew just how
a Black Rider should be dressed and he did the thing to perfection.
Maybe he is doing it for a big joke, I don’t know.”
“But cutting our tent ropes is no joke, I don’t care how well educated
a man is!” reminded Buck, as they made their way back toward the camp.
“Oh, I agree with you there and I must confess that I can’t begin to
see his idea. If he just wants to get rid of us, he is going to a
lot of trouble, because we aren’t going. On the other hand, is there
something around there that he doesn’t want us to see or know it is
going on?”
“That is something we’ll have to find out,” Buck answered. “I hope we
find out soon, too, because this stuff is getting my goat. Well, I see
that the boys are still around the fires. They must have received a
pretty rough shock this time.”
As the two chums approached the group they noted that there were two
distinct sections of it, one centering around Drummer and the other
around Ralph Plum. They were strangely silent as the two leaders came
in and no one asked a single question.
“Well, somebody likes to play jokes on us, and that Black Rider one was
a good one,” smiled Ted.
“That wasn’t a joke, Thorn,” said Ralph Plum, quietly.
“Well, I suppose it was a joke,” countered Ted. “We found that somebody
had put some light powder on the rock and then lighted it so as to show
himself off as a Black Rider. If they didn’t do it for a joke, I don’t
know what they did it for.”
“Well, some of us are through with this camping trip,” said Plum.
“We’re going home!”
Ted counted the boys who were grouped around Plum. “Seven of you,” he
said, coolly. “All of you going home?”
“Yes, they are going home and I’m going to take them home,” sneered
Plum, his self-control breaking down. Each day had added to his
irritation at the small part he played in the camp and he was aroused
at the chance which had come his way. “These boys aren’t safe in this
camp and I’m going to take them home and let their parents know that I
brought them safely home, too!”
Ted smiled slightly. “Yes, I’m pretty sure that you’ll do that, Plum!”
Ralph Plum stepped closer and tapped Ted on the chest. “You know just a
little too much, Thorn! I don’t like the way you have been running this
camp, anyway. I’m one of the older fellows here and I wasn’t even made
a tent captain. My family gave money to this club and I don’t even get
any recognition out of it. I told you several days ago that this camp
wasn’t safe and you wouldn’t listen and go somewhere else. Now, I’m
going to take these boys home with me, and you won’t stop me!”
Ted’s temper trembled dangerously, but he turned to the other boys. “Do
you boys want to go home?” he asked them. They looked at each other and
then one or two nodded.
“I don’t think they really want to go,” cried out Drummer, angrily.
“Plum has been telling them that they ought to go home and making up
big yarns about something happening to them if they don’t get out of
here! All he wants is to get them home and get a lot of credit for it!”
“Say, you just keep your——” began Plum, lunging toward Drummer, who
immediately struck an attitude of defense.
“Wait a minute!” Ted cut in, stopping Plum’s rush. “Is it true that you
have been working up fear in the minds of the boys?”
“No!” shouted Plum. “But some of us decided that we have had enough of
this camp and that we are going home. You can’t stop us, Thorn.”
“I don’t want to stop you,” replied Ted, quietly. “If you want to go,
you can go ahead. I can’t keep you here by force and I wouldn’t try to.
Only, you are doing the very thing that the unknown person wishes you
to do. Somebody is trying to scare us out of this camp and they haven’t
succeeded in doing it yet. Now you decide that you will go home and
admit defeat to this man who wishes you to clear out. Not very brave,
is it?”
“Never mind about brave!” growled Plum. “There is only one reason why
you don’t want to give up the encampment and that is because you are
afraid the trustees will say that you gave it up and they won’t ask you
to be big boss another year!”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way,” smiled Ted. “Are you thinking of
starting for home tonight?”
“No, but we will the first thing in the morning,” promised Plum.
“All right,” nodded Ted. “When the daylight comes if there are any of
you who still think that you want to go home, why, just march right
ahead. The rest of us will finish out our vacation here in Black
Riders’ Camp.”
“You bet we will,” said Bob Gilmore.
“You are welcome to do it,” retorted Plum. “It is as plain as can be
that somebody doesn’t want us around here, so why should we hang
around?”
“Who has a right to chase us out of this camp?” demanded Buck.
“I don’t know, but I do know that I won’t stay here any longer,” said
Plum flatly, and he walked off with his own friends, one of whom Ted
was surprised to note was the small Clayton boy. He excused the little
fellow in his mind.
“Oh, well, he’s pretty young and he’s probably scared,” he thought.
The rebels hung around the tents talking and the loyal party stood at
somewhat of a loss near the fire. Buck was inclined to be more vigorous
about it than Ted was.
“That Plum needs a good punch on the nose!” he declared, with emphasis.
“I guess he’d go home, punch or no punch,” grinned Ted.
“Yes, but he’d really draw those youngsters with him just on his own
arguments. You ought to talk to them and try and keep them here with
us.”
“I’m going to wait until morning before I say anything,” said Ted. “By
that time some of the boys will have experienced a change of heart.
Tonight they are scared and that will take time to work off. Did he try
to win over all of you fellows?”
“Yes,” replied Charlie. “When you had gone to examine the rock he told
us that the place was unsafe and that he was sure that some dangerous
spirit was controlling the camp. Drummer asked him if he believed in
ghosts and he said no, but he wasn’t going to stay in the camp any
longer. He worked on the smaller fellows by saying that you would never
give up until something serious happened to somebody, because the club
was going to pay you and Buck something and if you didn’t make the camp
a success you wouldn’t be paid.”
“Well, that is news to us,” Ted smiled to his chum.
“The same old argument every agitator uses when he wants to start
trouble,” said Buck.
“Well, let’s turn in and forget it until morning,” advised Ted.
They passed the silent group near the tents and entered the shelters,
proceeding at once to get undressed. It looked for a moment as though
the ones outside were going to remain up, but they straggled in at
last and went to bed. As Ted was crawling in the small boy came in and
started to undress.
“I’m not going, Ted,” he said. “I’m going to stay with you.”
“Good boy!” was Ted’s only comment.
The night was peaceful and in the morning the two bands again formed
in groups, the ones who were going to leave sticking close to Plum and
the others working at the meal as though nothing had happened. The
rebels did their share but said nothing and they ate in an unbroken
silence.
Besides Tom Clayton there had been another desertion from the ranks of
those who were leaving. Alfred Paulson refused to go with Plum and his
party. The new section leader tried to argue him into it.
“No, Ted is the leader of this camp,” said Alfred, firmly.
“He was the leader of it, you mean!” Plum said loudly. “Pretty soon
he’ll be leading himself home all alone! Something else will happen
around here and then the rest of the fellows will come running home, so
you might just as well come now.”
“I’m going to stay right here with Ted!” said Alfred, stubbornly.
The breakfast was over and the rebels who were on committees helped to
put the camp in order. When it was over with Plum spoke to his four
young companions and they went straight to their tents and began to get
their duffle together. The others stood and watched them in silence for
a time.
“Confound it, this breaking up of the camp will give us somewhat of a
black eye!” grumbled Buck.
“No it won’t.” Ted shook his head. “But it won’t do this camp site any
good.” The ones who were about to depart were now ready and they stood
around waiting for something. Ted sauntered over to Plum.
“Going to walk all the way home?” he asked, as his own friends gathered
around.
“Sure! I guess we can do it, can’t we?”
“You can, of course. It is between thirty and forty miles, and the
fellows you are taking with you aren’t used to any such hikes as that.
You have planned to camp somewhere by the road, of course? You are
going to buy food somewhere, too, aren’t you?”
“I’ll attend to that,” was the confident reply. “I have money and we
can camp anywhere in a field. Don’t you worry, Thorn, I will manage. I
don’t do things like you do.”
“No, you don’t,” agreed Ted, softly, his hands sunk in his pockets.
Plum turned to Ted’s tent, a frown on his face. “Come on, hurry up!”
he cried, angrily, and to Ted’s surprise Tom Clayton appeared with his
pack on. The little fellow did not look happy.
“What is the matter, Tom?” Ted asked. “Did you have a change of heart?”
“No, but Plum says I better come home,” replied the boy. “He says if I
don’t he’ll tell my mother and she’ll come up here and take me home. I
don’t like to leave you, but I don’t want my mother to worry.”
The careless look vanished at once from Ted’s face and his hands came
out of his pockets. He squared his shoulders as he looked Plum in the
face.
“He won’t go home and tell your mother, Tom,” the camp leader said,
quietly. His tone changed and hardened as he pointed his finger at the
trouble-maker. “You, Plum, take off your pack, because I’m going to
give you a good thrashing!”
CHAPTER XVI
THINGS ARE SETTLED MAN-FASHION
For a moment after Ted made his announcement there was a complete
silence as the boys looked from one to the other of them. Plum just
stared at Ted, who looked him levelly in the eyes.
“You’re going to what?” demanded Plum, slowly.
“I’m going to give you a sound thrashing for being a trouble maker
in this camp and for trying to force Tom to go home with you,” Ted
repeated.
His last wish was to stage a fight in front of the small boys, for he
did not wish to set an example of fighting if he could help it. There
was no physical reason why he should not engage Plum in combat, because
the boy, though younger, was broader of shoulder and heavier than he
was, but Ted was determined that he had something definite coming
to him for his actions. He rather hoped that Plum would back down,
so that the smaller boys would not be treated to an exhibition of a
fight between two older boys, but he felt warmly that Plum deserved a
trouncing.
But as it so happened, Plum was in no mood to back down. Eagerly he
welcomed the prospect of a fight and on the previous night he had
purposely pushed Ted rather roughly on the chest with the sole object
of angering him and starting a fight. He knew now that he would have
to prove himself in the eyes of his friends and show his leadership.
Long ago and more than once he had looked Ted over with a calculating
eye and the conclusion that he could “lick” him at any time had been in
his mind for several days. It was with visible joy that he accepted the
invitation for battle.
“You’re going to thrash me, eh?” he sneered, thrusting forward his
chin. “So that’s what you think you are going to do, is it? Why, if I
couldn’t tie you up in a knot I’d go back home and join a kindergarten!”
“Join whatever you please, but take your pack off,” nodded Ted.
The pack was slipped off in a rush and the coat followed. Ted stood
ready and waiting while Plum rolled up his sleeves. The other boys
crowded around, some of the smaller ones looking a bit scared. Tom
Clayton put in a last word.
“You mustn’t fight on account of me,” he said, looking distressed.
Before Ted could reply Plum struck in with: “Don’t worry, we aren’t
going to fight over you, kid. This Thorn has had a trimming coming to
him for a long time and I’m going to give it to him! He’s been the big
boss around here for some time and he has put it on thick. Telling us
when to go to bed and when to get up and when to eat and when to do
everything, like he was the king of the country or something! When we
fellows who are going home do get home we’ll go off on a camping trip
of our own and we’ll do things to suit ourselves. Get on guard, Thorn!”
“Wait a minute!” cried Buck, who was burning to take Ted’s place, but
who kept quiet with some difficulty. “This affair has to be run right.
Two minute rounds, and I’m the boss! You start and finish when I say
so!”
Plum dropped his hands to his side. “Say, this is a fight, not a boxing
match! I want to lick him in a hurry and I don’t want to have to stop
right when I’m going strong.”
“If you want to do it in a hurry, two minutes ought to be plenty of
time,” retorted Buck. He took out his watch. “Here, all the rest of you
get back and form a big circle. When I say time you start and when I
say time again, you stop. Got that clear, Plum?”
“Sure. Let’s get going and stop all the hot air!”
Buck looked at his watch, and then, “Time!” he called.
Ted and Plum faced each other grimly, squared off for the battle.
In his crouching attitude Plum looked bulky and menacing, while Ted
looked cool and alert. Plum began to advance, his steps cautious and
his fists poised in the attitude of a boxer. He had taken lessons in
the art and was no novice at it, while Ted had confined his activities
to neighborhood scraps which had been informal affairs and in which he
had been as often beaten as victorious. But he had no fear of Plum, who
was to be counted on for more in the line of bluster and noise than for
anything else.
They were close now and Ted tried a light shot which was quickly
blocked by the other boy. Plum then jabbed quickly at the camp leader
with his right, stopped the blow halfway and landed with his left on
the shoulder. That tap, light as it was, started the fight off in
earnest, for Ted bored in, disregarding a few shots at close range and
the fight was actually on.
Plum knew how to box well and most of the close-in blows which Ted
directed toward him were deftly and completely blocked. In return he
shook Ted up, planting his blows almost at will, though Ted kept his
chin covered up. When Buck called time for the first round they had
just warmed up.
Ted retired to one side of the ring to recover his breath and Plum
walked across to the other. “How many rounds is this thing going to
be?” Ralph demanded.
“It will go on until one of you admits that he is licked,” replied
Buck. He glanced again at his watch. “Time is up. Go to it.”
This time Plum was out to win. He rushed in with his head down and
his heavy fists swung like battering rams. Ted was forced to put all
the strength he had into his footwork, for Plum was on the march and
would not be denied. He had the weight to keep on coming and Ted was
unable to stop him. There was no cautious poking this time, but serious
rushing and stepping aside. To keep his feet at all Ted was forced to
move fast.
During this round, busy as he was, Ted saw that he was making a mistake
by allowing Plum to get the start. With a rushing start and the power
of a heavier body the big boy had everything his own way and it was
impossible for Ted to do more than keep him off. From his football
playing Ted was fast and nimble, but he hadn’t gone into the argument
just to run around the ring. Plum must be punished or he would draw
most of the boys away from the camp and spoil a perfectly good Summer.
When the round was over he thought seriously of the affair in which
he was engaged. It was no good natured argument that didn’t matter
very much whether he won or not. He realized that he must win, or the
breaking up of the camp would be a blow from which he would not recover
in a long time. Most of the boys would desert him and return home with
Plum, he was sure, and the failure would make the trustees of the
club regret their choice of him as the leader. Boys naturally follow
the one who can lead, even if that leadership is attained by the use
of ready fists, and Plum, swaggering in the triumph of the physical
victory, could split the camp so as to spoil its effectiveness. It was
imperative that he win the fight before him, not only for the good of
the camp, but for the effect it would have on the minds of the boys.
He looked across at Plum and saw that he was breathing heavily. Plum
was not an outdoor boy in the strictest sense of the word and he did
not play on any athletic team. He was just naturally strong and he
did enjoy boxing, a subject he knew something about, as a dozen sore
spots, combined with a split lip, led Ted to believe. But his wind was
not good and his chest rose and fell in a way that looked painful.
“My best bet is to make him run around after me this round and then
finish him in the next,” thought Ted, as Buck called time again.
Plum again charged and Ted side-stepped, leading him a chase around the
ring. The boys had been rather silent the first two rounds but now,
gripped with excitement, they called the names of their favorites, and
Plum’s name was as prominent as Ted’s. Just as Plum had calculated his
readiness to fight and his swagger had won the smaller boys to him and
they were loudly shouting for his success.
Ted found difficulty in keeping out of Plum’s way and his movements
annoyed the other. “Come on, fight, and don’t run away!” roared Plum.
“If you are scared, just quit! I’ve got you licked, anyway!”
The speech was an unfortunate one, for in giving it the trouble-maker
had raised his head and carelessly lowered his arms a bit. Most of the
blows so far had been body blows, both boys keeping their faces well
sheltered, but as Plum spoke Ted jabbed a blow at him which Plum was
unable to guard against. It landed with a resounding smack against his
cheek bone and his head jarred. As he hesitated in surprise Ted hooked
one into his ribs.
By this time Plum was on guard again and stung to fury he waded in
while Ted retreated. Around the ring they went, Plum making a furious
attack which was beginning to break down Ted’s guard. Just then Buck
called time and Ted stepped back.
Plum turned to Buck, his eyes furious and his face red. “I don’t care
a hang about time!” he shouted. “I didn’t want to make this a boxing
match, anyway, and I won’t make it one! I’m going to show Thorn that he
can’t boss me and tell me he’ll thrash me and that’s what I’m going to
do. Come on, you, put up your hands!”
“Nothing doing!” snapped Buck, leaping into the circle and thrusting
himself in between them. “You’re going to run this according to rules!”
“Like fun I am! You get out of the way or I’ll take you on!”
“With the greatest of pleasure!” promptly cried Buck, squaring off.
“I’d just as soon give it to you as to him!” yelled Plum. This was a
well calculated piece of acting, and the boys who stood for Plum felt
him rise heroically in their eyes.
Ted pushed Buck to one side. “This is my fight, Buck, old man. Put
your watch away, because this is a fight to the finish!”
Buck reluctantly allowed himself to be pushed out of the ring, at the
same time pushing his watch back in his pocket. Then Ted advanced
determinedly on Plum and the latter began a crouching advance on him.
There was now no more boxing and no more dodging around. Plum was tired
and his breath came heavily, while Ted was filled with quiet, steady
purpose. He felt that there was but one thing to do, and that was to
wade in and finish up the other boy as rapidly as possible. When they
came together with a shock there was no more boxing and feinting, but
they stormed in close and exchanged punches with determination.
Here Ted found that he was equal at least of the other and they traded
some jarring punches at close range. The breath of the heavier boy was
growing shorter, while Ted was in no way distressed. With a mighty
lunge Plum shot a stiff punch at Ted’s face, and the latter, drawing
his head to one side, countered with a sharp one to Plum’s ribs. Plum
grunted, turned, and Ted found his jaw unguarded for an instant. He
found it a moment later with his left fist, and as Plum staggered Ted
bored in for the finish.
And it was the finish. Fighting blindly, Plum gave ground and lost his
grip on his guard. In bewilderment he raised and lowered his hands and
Ted, keenly alive to what was going on, punished him at will. A left to
the jaw and another right to the cheek sent Plum down in a heap, while
Ted stood panting, waiting for him to get up.
But Plum was through and he knew it. Moaning feebly, he felt of his jaw
and his face, which was beginning to swell. Unsteadily he got to his
feet.
“Ready for more?” Ted asked, quietly.
“No, I’ve had enough,” Plum gasped, wiping a cut lip. “I’m—I’m going
home.”
Ted turned to the others around him. “Plum is going home. Are any of
you fellows going with him?”
There was no reply. They looked from Plum to Ted but no one spoke.
Slowly Plum rolled down his sleeves, put on his coat and slung his pack
on his shoulders.
“Anybody going with me?” he asked, keeping his eyes away from Ted and
Buck.
No one spoke up and the boys who were ready to go looked foolishly at
the ground. Ted spoke to them sharply.
“This is the last call,” he said. “If any of you are going with Plum,
go now! But if you don’t go with him, remember that you are to stay
here, subject to the orders of Buck and myself, and we’re not leaving
this spot until Labor Day unless something happens that we couldn’t
stay to face. So if you want to leave, leave now.”
Still no one moved and Plum put on his hat, his air one of sullen
defiance. He looked around him sneeringly.
“All right, you kids just stay here and hang around Thorn, if you want
to!” he said. “But I’ll fix this camp! I’m going home and tell all over
town what is happening, and I’ll bet your fathers and mothers will come
running for you.”
“You just go ahead and do that, Plum!” advised Buck. “When the parents
come out here we’ll show them that we are still in camp and that you
were the only one who got scared and ran home! You, the biggest boy in
the camp, went home, because you were afraid to stay!”
At once Plum saw his case. He could not possibly remain in camp after
his thrashing from Ted and if he went back to town and told any stories
the result would be as Buck had pictured it. He had lost all around and
the knowledge was a bitter one.
He turned and walked out of the camp without a word or a backward
glance.
They stood and watched him go in silence, the ring still unbroken.
Then first one boy and then another of the ones who had packed to go
with him, shed his knapsack and blanket, tossing them in the tents. The
atmosphere seemed to have cleared magically.
“Well, sir!” enthused Buck, slapping Ted on the back. “That was a
bang-up fight! Now that he is gone things will be a little sweeter
around here. He was the big disturbing element.”
“Except the fellow who has been annoying us all this time,” reminded
Ted.
“Yes, that is so. If we could only get rid of him as you did of Plum.”
“Maybe we can,” said Ted. “I have thought out a plan to trap that
party.”
CHAPTER XVII
BUCK’S SQUAD TAKES THE FIELD
Ted refused at the time to reveal the details of his plan for trapping
the person who was annoying them in their camp, but he promised that he
would later on. Feeling that a good part of the morning had been wasted
in the details of his fight with Plum, he preferred that they get
things done around the camp. This was attended to and then he and Buck
had two important matters to attend to.
The first was that of seeking the tracks of the horse who had posed on
the rock on the previous evening, with a view to tracing the animal in
the hope of obtaining some clue as to its owner. They went to the rock
and searched carefully around, moving away from it with eyes alert to
pick up the mark of a hoof, but the ground around was too rocky to help
them any. Some fifty feet away from it they found one print but that
was all, and they finally gave it up as a bad job.
“When that fellow brought the horse down to the rock he made a good job
of it,” Ted admitted, mopping his forehead. “He didn’t mean that we
were to find any hoof prints.”
“But a horse is pretty heavy, and I should think he would be bound to
leave marks,” murmured Buck.
“Well, there is a way to do everything,” said Ted, with a grin. “I
remember a trick I used to work on my father. I used to go swimming
over in Tier’s Pond that summer you were away and the only way to get
there without hoofing it was to take the horse and carriage, because I
was small then and didn’t have the old car. But I knew if my dad saw
the wheel prints and the hoof prints in the gravel, he’d know I had
taken the carriage and the horse, which he didn’t want me to take, so
I put a couple of blankets down and walked the horse across them, then
went back and picked up the first one and put it down ahead of the
horse’s hoofs, and in that way we got out of the drive without leaving
a mark. When I came back at night I used to spread them out again and
get in without so much as a trace showing. Maybe that is what our
friend of last night did.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it. He had everything carefully planned, and we’ll
have to hustle some to catch up with him.”
After lunch the two leaders went to the farmhouse and there Ted used
the telephone to call Lawyer Calvert. When the president of the club
got on the wire Ted told him the events of the past few days and
narrated his reason for thrashing Plum. The lawyer listened without
comment until he was finished.
“You did just what was right, Thorn,” he told Ted. “That boy had it
coming to him for a long time. When he gets in town I’ll see to it
that he doesn’t spread any stories around among the parents. But are
you sure that everything is all right? You don’t need any special
protection?”
“I don’t think so, Mr. Calvert,” replied Ted. “So far we have managed
to stand it and I think that we’ll be able to face it to the end. I
have some plans for setting a trap for the man, whoever he is, and
I think we’ll fix him so that he’ll stay away. If things should get
serious I would let you know, and if necessary abandon the camp, but
I’m pretty sure that it won’t come to that.”
“All right, just as you say. You are in complete charge and I rely on
you. If you need any more money with which to buy provisions, call me
and I’ll see to it that you get it.”
Ted promised to do so and with that the conversation came to an end.
The farmer and his wife had listened openly to the conversation on
Ted’s part, and they quite frankly let him see it in their subsequent
words.
“Sho, you boys havin’ a little trouble down to your camp, ain’t you?”
the farmer said, as Ted joined Buck in the kitchen of the house.
“Yes, but we’ll get at the bottom of it pretty soon,” affirmed Ted. “By
the way, if you should hear from any one around that they know anything
about it, you might let me know.”
“I’ll sure do that,” promised the farmer. “Anybody ought to be ashamed
to go botherin’ you while you ain’t doing nothing but enjoyin’ yourself
campin’.”
“I’d be scared to death to stay down there at night,” the farmer’s wife
shook her head.
The next move on Ted’s part was strange even to Buck. They went to
Montvery and there Ted bought ten cheap flashlights.
“What is the idea?” Buck demanded. “We have lanterns in the camp and we
don’t really need flashlights. A few of us have them already and there
is plenty of oil for the lamps.”
“I know, but I want every boy to have a flashlight. It is part of the
plan which I will unfold when we get back to camp.”
When they arrived at the camp they found the boys in swimming, with
their clothing piled in plain sight on the bank of Bear Creek. “We
didn’t trust this place,” Drummer confided. “We were afraid if we left
the clothes in the tent somebody would walk off with ’em or make them
vanish or something!”
When they were all out and dressed Ted called them in a knot around
him. They stood away from the tents and the tress, out in the open
space.
“I want to tell you what I have in mind out here where no one could
possibly be listening,” he began. “So many funny things happen around
here that I’m afraid to talk for fear that my words will be overheard.
What I wanted to tell you is this: Up until now this pest has been
scaring us and running away, laughing up his sleeve—if he has a sleeve!
We don’t know enough about him to know how he does dress, unless he’s
a fake Black Rider all the time. Every time he has bothered us we sit
here looking dazed and let him get away from us. Now, my idea is this:
to create two distinct squads, a camp squad and a chasing squad. We’ll
settle after awhile who is to be who, but for the time being we’ll see
what each one is to do.”
“This afternoon I bought flashlights for those who haven’t any and from
now on, as soon as it gets dark, we’ll wear ’em on our belts. Don’t
leave them in your tents for a single minute! We have lanterns in the
tents, but by the time we get the lanterns lighted and started off,
the would-be terror could get a good start and we’d never nail him.
Because the chasing squad is to form and run after the man the minute
there is a suspicious sound around the camp!”
There was a stir of expectancy and the boys looked a bit startled but
more pleased than anything else. Ted went on: “Buck will be the head of
the chasing squad and I’ll take care of the camp squad. The reason I
don’t want every one to go running out and chasing up the mountain is
because I don’t think the camp should ever be left alone. The chasing
squad will be composed of the fastest runners, and also the biggest
fellows, just in case you have to use any force on anyone, though it
isn’t likely that a bunch of boys such as we are could ever handle a
grown man, but if we can get a line on the direction he runs in we’ll
begin to learn something.”
“You get the point, don’t you? As soon as there is any unusual noise,
Buck’s squad forms and runs in that direction. The rest of us stay in
camp and guard it against surprise. I’ve got another thought in regard
to trapping a visitor, but this one will do for now. From this time on
we’ll be doing something besides sitting still and just listening and
looking scared. Now, lets pick squads.”
The biggest and oldest boys, seven in number, were immediately picked
for Buck’s squad and the rest were reserved for the camp watch. Some of
the boys were disappointed because they couldn’t run with the active
group, but Ted was determined to make his two sections effective. There
was a lot of chattering on the subject and the leader was compelled to
warn them to keep things quiet.
“Think they will be eager for action when the time comes?” Buck asked.
“I guess they will. They know that a bunch of them will be in action
and that makes a difference. I think it will work out.”
The flashlights were passed out and from that time on the boys carried
them on their belts and longed for action. But two nights sped by
without anything unusual happening and they began to think that
everything was over, when the third evening brought action suddenly.
They were sitting around the campfire when there was a sliding sound
back of them and a tiny avalanche of dirt and stones rolled down behind
the tents. There was a crashing noise as though someone had landed
in the bushes, and then, as they peered in a startled manner toward
the rear of the camp they saw a figure bolt into the shrubs near the
springs.
“There he goes! Go after him!” shouted Ted, and Buck frantically pulled
at his flashlight. The other boys followed his lead as he darted off,
and in an instant the peaceful camp was demoralized. The eight boys on
the chasing squad were running across the camp toward the springs and
the others who were to remain in camp were urging them on at the top of
their lungs.
Drummer joined Buck and they came to the bottom of the rise, pushing
their way up it with their lights turned on. They could hear the sound
of the running man in front of them, and it was evident that he had
thrown all caution to the wind in an endeavor to get away from them. On
flat ground Drummer would not have been able to keep up with his chief,
but his sturdy legs were good for climbing and he was able to remain
pretty close to Buck’s side. Back of them the other boys ran along,
forgetting nervousness in the excitement of the chase.
The camp lay far behind them now and they noted that the man was taking
a course off in the direction which Farmer Crane had told them was the
way to Hogs’ Hollow. If this was the man from that region he would
speedily lose them, for it was evident that he knew the country and at
the first opportunity he would conceal himself and let them hunt for
him at will. But just now he seemed to be putting all of his strength
and skill into his running. He had no light and must have been very
familiar with the surrounding country.
He was drawing ahead of them now and the noise of his running footsteps
was growing dimmer. The country became wilder and rocks protruded
jagged heads above the mountain soil. The woods had given way to open
country thickly sprinkled with bushes and before they had run many
yards further they came across a narrow road that was little more than
a wagon track. Drummer and Buck were becoming winded and the other boys
had dropped out of the swift running, though they were still advancing.
A stone wall, long and low, loomed up before them and beyond a set of
stones which seemed more orderly than the ones they had encountered
thus far in their run, attracted their attention. The flashlights
revealed the fact that they were grave stones and they had arrived at a
little country graveyard. They stopped to get breath.
“Ow, that was a tough run!” gasped Drummer, leaning on the wall.
“You bet it was!” agreed Buck, as two other boys came up. “I think he
went across this graveyard.”
“I don’t hear him,” said Bob, listening intently.
All sounds of the pursued had ceased and the night was silent except
for the murmur of the voices of the other boys, who now came up and
joined them. Buck and Drummer had made enough noise in their running to
serve as a permanent guide for the others.
“Maybe he ran right across it and is still going,” said Charlie,
nodding toward the quiet graveyard.
“I don’t know, but I’m going in and see if he is hiding behind a
stone,” announced Buck.
His followers looked startled and uneasy and he noted the look. “You
fellows stay here and I’ll just take a quick look,” he said, stepping
over the wall. “Put your lights out.”
“I’ll go with you,” declared Drummer, lifting one foot over the wall.
“No, you stay here with the boys. There aren’t many stones in the
yard and it will only take me a moment. I’ll be right back, so keep
absolutely quiet.”
With that Buck began his search, looking behind the stones by the light
from his flash. The graveyard was a little longer than he had been able
to make out from the rays of his light, and he kept moving away from
the boys in the road. Back of every stone he flashed the light, but
found nothing.
He was now at the far end of the country cemetery and one large
monumental stone alone remained. He stepped toward it, pressing the
button on the flashlight, for he allowed it to go out after each flash.
As he did so he stepped around the big stone and instantly sensed the
presence of someone in the darker shadow behind the shaft.
But before he could step back or press on his light a strong arm was
thrown around him and a rough, horny hand was clapped over his mouth.
CHAPTER XVIII
AN UNEASY CAMP
The boys who had remained in the camp stood watching and listening as
the field squad rushed off on the trail of the man who had slipped
down into their camp. Small as the boys were, every one of them wished
earnestly that he had been included in the party delegated to do the
active work, and it was with some envy that they saw their more favored
comrades run out of the circle of light and enter the black belt of the
woods.
But Ted had no intention of allowing them to stand around and watch.
There were things to do and he knew that action would relieve them of
some of their stored up feelings.
“All right, fellows,” he called to them. “Let’s get on the job and
build big fires. We don’t know what time the other boys will get back,
and when they do we want to have the fires going briskly. Get your axes
and we’ll snap to it.”
“There is a pile of wood near the fire now,” pointed out one boy.
“Yes, but that wood is going on right now,” replied Ted, piling the
pieces of cut wood on the red fires. “We will have to hustle and cut up
a big supply so that Buck and the boys will have a guide when they come
back. Light the lanterns and we’ll get busy.”
The lanterns were lighted and they plunged into the fringe of the
woods. The sound of several axes rang out as their owners began to
chop the wood for the fire supply. The lanterns were placed on the
ground and made a neat ring near them and in the circle of this ring
they chopped off dead limbs and split logs. As soon as the wood was
collected they carried it back and piled it beside the fires.
Both fires were now going at their best and the light cast from them
lighted up the camp from all angles. Some of the boys would have
stopped with their first load, but Ted knew that they might have to
wait a long time before their companions returned, so he kept them at
the task. The pile grew and grew until it towered above their heads,
and in this way fully an hour went by. At last Ted felt that they had
enough.
“All right, that will be enough,” he called.
The work was not yet all over, for the wood which had been dragged in
required to be split into convenient lengths, although some of the big
logs were piled on entire. While the work went on they kept looking up
toward the mountain, but no sound reached them and they speculated on
the fact.
“They must have had to run a long way,” said Alfred, as he split wood.
“I guess they went clear over the mountain,” nodded Ted. “It may be
that they are trailing the man.”
“You don’t suppose that anyone has hurt them, do you?” another boy
asked, anxiously.
“I hardly think so,” smiled Ted. “One man, no matter how strong he is,
would have a big job in front of him if he tried to run off with that
bunch of fellows. I guess they’ll be back pretty soon.”
But the time dragged on and the boys became silent, glancing restlessly
up the mountain side. Ted, looking at his watch, saw that it was eleven
o’clock.
“A good two hours since they went away,” he thought, somewhat
anxiously. “Oh, well, I suppose time seems longer when you are waiting
for something than it does if you aren’t. If we only knew what was
going on we’d feel better.”
He tried to keep the conversation brisk but the boys would not react.
They were visibly oppressed, and they showed in their dogged silence
that they were uneasy. Although none of them believed for a moment in
anything ghostly, they found the vague stories of the camp a distinct
hindrance to their peace of mind and the feeling of depression was
heavy upon all of them. Ted wondered if there was not something that
they might do to ward off the feelings which gripped them off, and he
was thinking busily along this line when a sound reached their ears.
It was a low-pitched moaning and it seemed to come from a point above
their camp, in the pine thicket which covered the knoll there.
They looked in the direction of the sound, their blood chilling under
its influence. It was weird and mournful, and the icy shivers ran up
and down the spine of more than one of the young boys. Ted was not in a
comfortable state of mind himself, but he knew that something had to be
done about it. He leaped to his feet.
“Come on, we’ve got to see if anyone is hurt up there!” he called,
reaching for his lantern. The other boys followed him closely and he
passed around the tents and ran rapidly up the incline toward the pine
clump. The groaning had ceased as soon as they had started for the
place from which the disturbing sounds had come.
They arrived in the grove in a group, the lanterns flashing generous
beams around them, but there was no one to be seen. Thinking that
someone might be concealed in the bushes they thrust their lights in
there and looked closely, but there was no sign of a living person, and
as only a living being could produce the sound which had startled them
so profoundly, they half expected to see someone who had been injured
in some manner. But although they searched the grove they could not
find a trace of anyone.
“That’s funny,” commented Ted, now more annoyed than frightened. “The
groans came from here, didn’t they?”
“Sure they did,” was the ready response.
“Well, the groaner has moved somewhere else,” said Ted, half angry and
half jokingly. “We won’t even be able to find any footprints, because
there is such a carpet of pine needles that a print wouldn’t show.
Confound this whole business, I——”
From across the camp, and on the other side of Bear Creek, came the
groaning sound again. The boys stirred and looked anxiously at Ted.
The hot blood surged into his face and he would have liked nothing
better than to have come to instant physical encounter with the
groaner. While he waited to control his hot anger the groans came
in long drawn out wails that, under the circumstances, chilled their
blood. Besides being angry Ted was also puzzled.
“Buck and his squad chased that fellow up the mountain,” he said aloud.
“I wonder if he could have slipped around them and come back? Maybe he
just wanted to lead them off on a chase.” Abruptly he turned to the
boys. “Come on back to the camp.”
They followed him in silence back to the camp and as soon as they
entered the circle of light cast by the fires the groaning ceased. A
weighty silence succeeded.
“Fellows,” Ted addressed them, in a low tone. “There isn’t any use of
us running all around trying to find out who this practical joker is.
He’ll just run us ragged, so let’s retire into the center tent and stay
there until Buck and his squad gets back. We can watch everything that
goes on from the flap of the tent and by keeping under cover we’ll make
the chap who is so fond of tricks either show himself or shut up!”
They all crowded under the canvas of the second tent, glad for the
shelter, frail as it was. From their position some of the boys could
look out and watch the other tents and all of them could watch the
fire. Ted did not go into the tent at once, but took a lantern and
made sure that his flashlight was at his side.
“You fellows stay here and keep a sharp lookout,” he directed. “I’m
going down to see if there is any way for anyone to cross the creek.”
“Going all by yourself?” a boy asked, his eyes staring in awe.
“Yes, but I’ll be right back,” nodded Ted. “See you later.”
He walked off, leaving them to chatter in a hushed way among
themselves, and going at once to the creek, took his course along it
and away from the camp. He knew that there was a shaky old wood bridge
down the creek at some yards from the camp, and while he had told the
boys that he was going only that far, Ted secretly determined to cross
and have a look at the rather marshy ground on the other side of the
curving stream. He was almost certain that he would find nothing, but
he wanted to look nevertheless.
“But I mustn’t allow anything to happen to me,” he thought, anxiously.
“These boys would be leaderless at least until Buck got back, and
there is no telling what might happen to them. I mustn’t be gone long,
either.”
He came to the bridge, which he had found one day in his wanderings,
and he crossed it, his footsteps sounding hollow and damp as his shoes
pressed the rotted boards. On the other side he stepped ashore into a
slippery species of soil that gently oozed water as his foot struck and
sank slightly into it. The bushes here were thick and he was compelled
to force his way through them. Before going beyond the bridge he
lowered his lantern and looked at the soft earth and at once perceived
something which excited his closest attention.
There was the imprint in the dirt of a large shoe.
The shoe was evidently a good one and showed no sign of wear, while the
heel of it was quite new and left impressions which proclaimed it to be
a rubber one with regulation holes and a trade mark which was too faint
to be of more than passing value to him. But the sight of the print
alone caused him to rejoice that at last there was a clear record.
“Now, I’ll just see where this print leads to,” he thought and started
off. A moment later he halted as another thought came to him.
“The prints don’t return. Suppose the man is hiding in the bushes, just
waiting for me!”
The reflection made his skin creep and for a moment he fought a growing
desire to turn and go back. But after an instant of indecision he
fought it off. “I’ll have to chance it and go on. I won’t go far from
camp, and if I do see anyone, I can fight it out or run like a streak.
I won’t cross the bridge, either, I’ll cut right across the ground and
jump into the creek and swim it. Don’t know if I’m foolish or not, but
here goes!”
With every sense on the alert he walked forward, eyes straining, ears
pitched for a sound, ready to retreat at a moment’s notice. It was no
easy task to follow the footprints and look around him at the same
time, but he managed to do it as he advanced. At a point opposite the
camp he came to a complete halt and marked the spot where the man had
evidently stood when he delivered the groans, for there the soft ground
was foot-printed lavishly. From that spot the man had gone off down the
stream away from the camp until he had come to the creek at a point
where rocks protruded so far above the stream that he had found it easy
to walk across and take to the woods alongside of the camp. Ted noted
that the ford was out of sight of the tents and while they were going
into the tents the man had evidently crossed the low part of the stream
and had entered the woods at a point not far from where Buck and his
squad had entered it.
“After he finished his groaning he must have decided that he had scared
us enough,” mused Ted, as he stood there peering around. “Confound
him, if I ever get my hands on him, I’ll knock his head off, provided
I’m big enough! What anyone should take all the trouble to try and
scare a bunch of fellows out of camp for is more than I can figure out!”
He crossed the stream at the point where the mysterious man had crossed
and made his way back toward the camp, coming up alongside of the
fires, in plain sight of the anxiously waiting boys. They were greatly
astonished to see him come from the opposite direction from that in
which he had started.
He opened his mouth to call out a cheery greeting to them and then his
mouth remained open, no sound issuing from it for the moment. In the
pine grove above them he detected a spurt of fire, and the next instant
a dry bush burst into crackling flame. He awoke from his temporary
muteness.
“Come on boys, on the jump!” he shouted. “Grab all the pails you can
get hold of! The woods are on fire!”
CHAPTER XIX
DRUMMER SAVES HIS CHIEF
It was with a sinking heart and a quick flash of chilling fear that
Buck felt himself in the grasp of the unknown man back of the cemetery
monument. The attack had come so quickly that, added to the mystery and
uncanniness of the place and hour, his mind whirled for the moment. The
hand over his mouth was rough and horny, calloused apparently by hard
labor, and the arm which encircled his body and pinned his own arms to
his sides was a strong and sinewy one, the thin but whip-like cords of
which he could feel even through his clothing.
His fingers still rested on the button of his flashlight and the
thought occurred to him to light it. But as though reading his thought
the strange individual swung down a long, lean hand and swept it from
his grasp. Buck might have used his light for a weapon had he thought
about it, but just now his thoughts and impressions were too confused
to allow for anything constructive.
Still keeping his hand over Buck’s mouth and his thin arm around his
body with a grip of steel, the man peered out around the tall stone to
see if anyone was following the leader. He could see the group of boys
merely as shadows a little darker than the sky, for at the point where
they were standing there was no woods background and as the cemetery
was high on a ridge of the mountain the boys were outlined like uneasy
shadows against a black sky. Seeming to derive comfort from the fact
that Buck was all alone, the man started to drag him off.
But in this period of time Buck had recovered his presence of mind. The
man who had him was very little taller than he was, his body was thin
and he seemed to be nearer middle age than young. All in all, Buck was
huskier, but for all that, the man who held him had muscles of steel.
There was no doubt that he was a native mountain character and he was
ready for any emergency. Buck wished fervently that he could get his
mouth free and also gain the use of his arms. He felt that with the use
of his arms he could match himself up favorably with the man who held
him.
Just as the man began to drag him off, Buck began a frantic attempt to
break away. He jerked his head back in an effort to free his mouth, but
the man immediately dug his long fingers into Buck’s cheeks. The pain
infuriated the boy and he increased his struggles. He fought to free
his arms, exerting all of his strength to do so.
The attempt was futile. Like a winding whip the thin arm tightened even
more closely until the wind was almost forced from his body. Then Buck
began a foot attack.
This nearly succeeded, for the man was not prepared for it. Buck gave
his nearest foot a kick that made the man grunt with pain, and for a
moment it looked as though he was going to go over. But he recovered
his ground and once more began his dragging process. Fighting stoutly
but vainly, Buck was dragged along.
They moved away from the big stone toward the far wall, the captor
finding his progress a hard one, due to the energetic squirming of
Buck. The boy expected a fierce warning any minute from the man and
perhaps a blow to silence him, but the mountaineer was depending on his
strength alone to carry Buck off and not so much as a single word came
from him. Half dragging and half carrying Buck, he made his way to the
wall furtherest away from the boys. The grass in the cemetery was soft
and wet and Buck’s fighting progress made no sound.
They arrived at last at the wall and the man heaved Buck up and over
like a sack of wheat and jumped with him over the low barrier. They
were in the open field, with a few apple trees around and the deep
woods a few scant yards away. Toward this dense wall of the thicker
trees the determined man began to drag Buck, who by this time had
succeeded in prying open his fingers so as to breathe between them.
Something unexpected happened. There was a swish near them which
puzzled them both. The captor stopped in some bewilderment and then
something hard struck him on the side of the temple, causing him to
grunt and hesitate in his progress.
Back at the wall the boys had watched Buck’s progress as he went from
stone to stone with his flashlight and they had remained quiet while he
had worked his way deeper and deeper into the quiet graveyard. Drummer
felt somewhat grieved that his leader had not taken him along but he
kept the fact to himself. Buck’s light was seen once far down in the
cemetery, close to a towering monument, and it was seen no more. Time
dragged on heavily.
Impatiently, the boys waited at the wall, standing close together in
the darkness. The quietness of the lonely country, the association
of the graveyard and the uncertainty of the whole enterprise made
them want to give up the affair and return to the camp. They thought
somewhat wistfully of the warm campfires and their friends below, and
they were anxious to get back. Before long they became restless and
nervous.
“Confound it, wish he’d come back!” grumbled a boy.
“He’ll be right back,” reassured Drummer, secretly uneasy.
For the past few seconds Drummer had been smelling something that
appealed to him. There must be an apple orchard nearby he decided,
and where there was an orchard there must surely be apples. That
particular brand of fruit was a great favorite with the stout boy, and
after peering around for a moment or two he decided that the orchard
must be at the end of the graveyard wall. He began to edge off in that
direction.
“Where you going?” Bob whispered.
“To see if I can pick up an apple,” was the answer, as Drummer moved
off.
Under the circumstances no one else was interested in apples and
Drummer went alone. At the end of the wall he instinctively reached for
his flashlight which he had hung on his belt, and then he realized that
he could not use it.
“Better not,” he decided. “I might give our position away, and Buck
would be mad. I’ll hunt around in the dark and I guess I can find some
on the ground.”
The apple trees were now before him and he stopped under the first
tree, looking up. There were apples on the tree he was able to make
out, but all of them were beyond his reach. He had no intention of
climbing the tree at that time, though he made up his mind to visit the
old orchard at some later time and help himself to the apples on the
tree.
He reached down, wishing for the added help of his light but deeming
it prudent not to employ it. There were apples on the ground and his
groping fingers found four of them without any trouble. There were
others nearby, but he straightened up with a big one in his hand and
carefully felt along the surface of it.
“Got to be careful about eating them in the dark,” he reflected. “Don’t
want to go eating any worms! This one feels all right.”
He raised his head, and against the break between the woods and the
sky, saw something that for the moment chilled his blood.
A man who looked for the moment like a goblin or some horrible creature
from another world, was apparently half-carrying and half-dragging a
big sack of meal after him as he crept toward the woods. But the sack
struggled and moved and in that instant Drummer’s eyes were opened
fully.
He remembered the last flash of Buck’s flashlight and the long silence
from the graveyard. It was plain at once that the man they had been
chasing was carrying off his chief and for a brief second the stout boy
was on the verge of yelling at the top of his lungs. One hand dropped
toward his flashlight and then he remembered the apple in his hand. It
was hard and Drummer was a fairly good shot.
Trembling with excitement, he threw it toward the two figures before
him. It went wide of the mark, it seemed to the boy and he stooped down
and hastily gathered up the apples at his feet. Calming down somewhat,
he began to throw them with more care, and a grunt told him that his
second apple had struck someone. He hoped it had not hit Buck, but he
kept on hurling apples.
There was a fierce struggle before him and just as his fingers closed
over his flashlight, his last apple having been exhausted, he heard
Buck’s voice.
“He got away!”
Drummer snapped on his flashlight and in the beams of it he saw the man
running across the orchard toward the woods. Buck was three or four
yards behind him, but the man was increasing his speed at every stride
and it looked hopeless. Drummer joined in the chase.
When the apple had struck the man on the head he had hesitated,
bewildered, and in that instant Buck renewed his passionate attempt to
break loose. This time he succeeded in freeing his mouth and one arm,
which he attempted to wind around the man who had for so long held him
a captive. Two more apples swished past them at top speed and the man
now changed his tactics. He no longer desired to hold Buck, but seemed
more than anxious to get away. He loosed his hold on Buck and wrestled
with him in a short, fierce match, finally breaking Buck’s hold and
turning to flee. The last apple hurled by Drummer struck the man in the
back and he made off like a flash toward the woods. It was then that
Buck shouted and took up the chase, somewhat winded from his recent
battle.
The man gained the woods well ahead of him and wound his way in and
out among the trees, too anxious to get away to slow up for a lack of
light. Buck had no light and Drummer’s flashlight was too far back of
him to be of any use. He could hear the boys chattering as they took
up the chase, but on the edge of the woods Buck halted, realizing the
futility of it.
He was winded and dissatisfied and the man who had plunged into the
woods knew them so well that to follow him would be a pure waste
of time. Drummer caught up with him, puffing with the exertion and
excitement.
“Go-going to chase him?” panted the hero of the apple bombardment.
“No use,” declared Buck, as the others came up, lights all turned on.
“We’d never get him in these woods. He knows them too well. You can’t
even hear him, now.”
They stood there listening, but nothing but unbroken silence came
from the depths of the forest. The rest of the boys did not desire to
press the matter if Buck did not, and they stood there for some time,
listening with awe to Buck’s story of his adventure. Many were the
exclamations that followed it.
“Boy, you certainly did me a service when you began to peg those
apples!” Buck told Drummer, laughing. “That artillery fire halted his
advance and gave me my turn at the game. You certainly used your head!”
“Well, that’s just once when my appetite came in handy,” grinned the
fat boy.
“It surely did! Next time anyone comes around bothering the camp we’ll
just send you out with a basket of apples and we can sleep in peace
all night! Well, come on back to the graveyard, I want to get my
flashlight.”
They all climbed over the low wall and went back to the spot where
Buck had been captured by the man behind the monument and there on the
ground they found his flashlight. Beside it, resting against the base
of the stone, they found a battered lantern.
“I wondered what had become of his lantern,” said Buck, picking up the
battered object. “Just an ordinary old farm lantern, which doesn’t tell
us much, but we’ll take it back to camp with us.”
“I won’t be sorry to get back to camp,” said Charlie.
“Pretty soft for the fellows in camp!” remarked Drummer. “Just sitting
around the fires waiting for us!”
“Let’s get back to the camp,” suggested Buck. “They’ll be waiting up
for us and worrying.”
In a body they set out for the camp, feeling better now that everything
had turned out well, although they were sorry that the man had gotten
away. “If we had gotten him we would have solved the problem of our
camp,” said Buck. “But we’ll keep after him until we do get him.”
“Think he’ll come around the camp any more?” Drummer asked.
“Not for a while, anyway. I can’t say whether he’ll come around again
or not because I don’t know what his object can be. But if he doesn’t,
we’ll go out and hunt him up, because it is high time that he was
brought down.”
They had run further away from the camp than they had thought and it
took them a long time to reach the top of the mountain where they could
look down on the camp. The two fires were burning brightly but no one
was in sight. This puzzled them and they halted, studying the situation.
“Funny, I wonder where they are?” muttered Buck.
“Look, somebody crossing the brook with a lantern!” cried Bob, pointing.
They saw a lone figure crossing the stones of the brook below the spot
where the creek was deep enough to swim and Buck was sure that the
figure was Ted. They were so high up and far away that they were unable
to tell accurately, but it looked to be the figure of the camp leader.
He entered the circle of light near the fire, the lantern swinging by
his side.
Then something else claimed the attention of the boys on top of the
mountain. A flicker of light came to them from the top of the ridge
back of the springs and then a bush flamed. They saw the camp boys come
running out of their tents and look toward the fire, then scurry off
toward the truck at the edge of the camp.
Buck wasted no more time. “Come on, fellows!” he called, as he started
off. “The woods are burning! We’ve got to help the camp squad!”
CHAPTER XX
A VISIT TO HOGS’ HOLLOW
The words which Ted shouted to the boys in the tent struck them dumb
for a moment, but to their ears was borne the sound of the snapping and
crackling. They rushed out of the tent into the open space of the camp,
to see the dry pine grove above them glowing with fire.
Ted was running toward the truck for pails and the boys, awakening
to the seriousness of the situation, followed him. Some of them made
a hurried trip to the cooking supplies which were piled near the
fireplaces, snatching up the pots and pans. Ted pulled out all of
the pails which were in the truck and handed them around as fast as
possible.
“Get water from the spring and go to it!” he cried, passing out the
last pail. Then, seizing one which he had reserved for himself, Ted ran
up the slope, stopped at the spring to dip out a supply of water, and
then went on to the thicket where the fire blazed.
The pine grove had been a dry place with an accumulation of dry leaves
and dead bushes and the whole thicket was now a raging furnace. The
month had been dry and except for the big storm which had so thoroughly
soaked them the boys had not experienced any adverse weather. The
woods, as a consequence, was in a receptive mood for a fire, and Ted’s
heart misgave him as he saw the blaze before him.
“If this gets going full blast in the woods, people will say that we
started it, and there will be the dickens to pay!” he groaned inwardly,
as he threw the water from his pail onto the fire. “Oh, I do wish that
Buck and his squad was here to help us!”
Boys who had not been able to supply themselves with pails had seized
anything handy with which to beat at the edges of the fire and they
fought stoutly to beat it to submission. The smoke was choking and the
heat thrown off was blistering. Ted, having emptied his pail, raced
down to the spring, to find another problem confronting them.
The two springs had been drained down to mere trickles. A half dozen
pails of water from each had effectively emptied them and Ted did not
dare wait for the basins to fill up. There was but one thing to do.
“Fill your pails at the creek!” he cried, and dashed off down the slope
to Bear Creek. Here he dipped his bucket into the black water and ran
back up the hill with it, splashing it on the fire.
“Good glory, we’ll never beat it at this rate, and we simply have to!”
was his despairing thought.
He remembered the large extra piece of canvas in the truck, and
abandoning his pail he ran down the hill and procured the material.
Just as he was about to charge back up the slope there was heard the
sound of running footsteps and Buck’s squad, nearly played out from
their hurried descent, arrived in the camp.
“Buck!” shouted Ted, joyously. “You just got here in time!”
“I guess so!” was the panted reply. “Here, let me have an end of that
canvas and we’ll try and smother some of the fire.”
The boys who had just arrived in camp procured flat pans, shovels and
anything else that came to hand and joined the almost exhausted boys
at the pine grove. Ted and Buck carried the canvas up and each of them
took an end. This large section of material, when raised and lowered by
the two boys, snuffed out long, ragged edges of flame, and by working
busily they soon had the fire under control. But their work was by no
means ended as yet. There were dozens of individual spurts of fire
still to be put out and to these they gave their attention. Two dead
trees were beginning to blaze and the two camp leaders quickly put them
out, so that the fire would not be noted by anyone living nearby. At
the present time they desired no publicity.
The last glimmer of fire had been put out and the smoked and blackened
boys stood silent for a moment, panting heavily. The night had been
indeed a strenuous one, and the chasing squad in particular was worn
out completely. Their long dash after the mountain man, their speedy
return, and the exertions around the pine grove, had been as much as
they could bear. Some of the smaller boys were shaking decidedly, now
that danger was over, but the trembling was the result of excitement
and exhaustion.
“Me for the spring!” exclaimed Drummer, and a rush was immediately made
for the cool, fresh water. The basins had not yet filled but there was
enough for everybody and they drank and drank and drank.
“How’d that patch of pine get on fire?” Buck asked Ted, waiting for all
of the smaller boys to quench their thirst before caring for his own
parched throat.
“I haven’t the slightest idea,” Ted shook his head. “But it was
deliberately fired!”
“By whom?”
“I don’t know,” was Ted’s reply. “But we have been annoyed by some one
groaning around all the time you were gone!”
“I can’t figure that,” said Buck. “We chased our man, and he captured
me for about five minutes. If you say that you were bothered, then
there is more than one prowler.”
“Let’s get our drinks and then swap stories down at the fire,”
suggested Ted, dipping a tin cup into the cool spring water as Buck did
the same.
Gathering around the fire with fire-fighting implements still in their
hands they looked like a band of Black Riders themselves, for their
clothing had become burned and their hands and faces were black. Buck
related his adventures and then Ted told of the groans and his search
across the brook.
“Well, all I can see is that there are two of these fellows,” declared
Buck, when Ted had finished his story. “I’m beginning to wonder if that
one fellow didn’t purposely lead us a merry chase just so that his
companion could fire the woods. You know, if the woods had burned, the
authorities around here would be hot against us for having done it.”
“I know that well enough,” nodded Ted. “That’s why I just knew that we
had to get that fire out. I guess that things have become so serious
that we’ll have to get in touch with Mr. Calvert and have some real
action taken. Next thing we know somebody will be getting hurt or
kidnapped or something. Yes, it looks as though there are two of these
fellows.”
“I think that one of them is that Jerry Jackson, from Hogs’ Hollow,”
said Buck.
“What makes you think that?”
“The fellow that we chased ran in that direction and I’m sure that he
is the one. I suppose he has a companion and they work together. Tell
you what let’s do, let’s go over to Hogs’ Hollow tomorrow and call on
Mr. Jackson.”
“All right, we’ll do it,” agreed Ted. “For some reason he doesn’t want
us to camp here, and if we find him at home we’ll try and learn why he
doesn’t want us.”
The boys were shaky with fatigue and Ted ordered them to bed at once,
while he and Buck took lanterns and looked once more over the ground
which had been burned, hoping to find some kind of a clue. But they
were unable to learn anything from the burned, down-trodden soil.
“Nothing to be learned here,” decided Ted, as they went back to camp.
“We’ll see what we can find out at Hogs’ Hollow tomorrow.”
That night the boys slept like logs, and had anyone been minded to run
away with the tents, trucks or fires themselves, no one would have
known anything about it until daybreak at least, and most of them not
until much later in the day. It was almost noontime before the whole
camp was awake and crowding around for something to eat.
“If anyone had run away with the whole camp last night, I wouldn’t have
known it,” smiled Ted.
“Shows what a bum general he is,” said Buck. “He should have known
that we would all be half-dead and that he could have worked anything
he wanted to while we slept so soundly. But we’re glad he is a bum
general!”
As soon as camp was cleaned up they began to make plans for a visit
to Hogs’ Hollow. It was finally decided that only Ted and Buck would
go, and that all of the boys would remain behind to protect the camp.
With Charlie, Bob and Drummer to counsel and lead the younger boys they
felt reasonably safe, and after talking it over with those who were to
remain in the camp the two older boys started off.
“I’m pretty sure that nothing will happen in broad daylight,” was Ted’s
final word to them.
“I guess not,” Bob had smiled. “We’ve got Drummer with us, and even if
we haven’t any apples for him, to peg, maybe he can use potatoes just
as well!”
Walking swiftly and heading in the general direction which Farmer Crane
had told them to take toward Hogs’ Hollow, they quickly covered the
ground followed last night by Buck’s squad and arrived at the cemetery.
Passing around the walls of the country graveyard they entered the
woods at a point close to where the man had escaped on the previous
night and at once found themselves in a tangle of forest much denser
and wilder than that which surrounded their own camp. The graveyard
itself was on the top of the mountain and as soon as they entered the
dark and cool woods they began to go down into a valley.
“Notice how the soil gets soft as soon as we begin to go down?” asked
Buck.
“Yes, and I suppose the bottom of the valley is quite marshy. I guess
that is why they call it Hogs’ Hollow.”
Ted’s guess was a correct one. At the bottom of the valley they struck
a low, marshy expanse of ground that kept them busy avoiding muck
holes. Tall bunches of weeds and marsh grass grew in profusion and
there was a decidedly damp smell in the air.
“Cheerful place!” grunted Buck.
“Yes, not! This must be Hogs’ Hollow. Only the animal for whom it is
named would enjoy this place. Now, all we have to do is to find the
shack that this man Jackson lives in.”
This was not an easy thing to do, for the hollow was blanketed and
screened by so many bushes and clumps of small trees that they could
not see far before them. They had spent a good three-quarters of an
hour wandering around when Ted sighted the object of their search
before him on a higher strip of ground.
“There it is! There’s the shack we’re looking for!”
A rude hut, constructed of picked-up boards and roofed with sections of
tree bark, loomed up before them on a tongue of land which was slightly
drier than the surrounding territory. The hut was a large and rambling
affair, with a window on each side and a door which sagged on leather
hinges. A rusted stove pipe thrust its way up through the bark roof,
but no smoke came from it. There was no sign of life around the place
and they debated the wisdom of walking boldly up to it.
“We might as well,” decided Ted. “We’re here to have a talk with
this Jerry Jackson and we might as well plunge right into it. No use
sneaking around, because we have to make the break sometime or other.”
So they approached the hut openly, eyes and ears alert for anything
unexpected, but there was no sign or movement of any kind. Ted peered
into a window and found that the place was empty.
“He isn’t at home,” he said. “Let’s see if we can’t get in.”
The sagging front door was unlocked and with some degree of caution
the two boys entered the place, but it was indeed empty of life and
they looked around them with interest. The furnishings of the hut
were as rude as the outside and they consisted of a discolored table,
a rickety-looking rocking chair and a firmer-looking straight one, a
rusted stove, a disordered bunk, and various odds and ends. But the
object on the table caught and held their eyes and they examined it
closely.
It was a long white cloth garment which the dweller in Hogs’ Hollow
was working upon, for a needle still stuck into the cloth and a spool
of white thread stood beside it. There was a hood to the thing and a
cloth mask for the face, a mask which was punctured with eye holes and
a slit where the mouth should be. The two boys looked at it silently
and then exchanged glances.
“A ghost suit, as sure as you are a foot high!” Buck voiced the
thought.
CHAPTER XXI
THE WATCHING POST
Ted nodded as he looked the suit over. It was a coarse white sheet and
the dweller in the hut was taking some pains on the construction of it.
But there was no doubt as to its proposed use.
“Yes, sir, it’s a ghost uniform, if there is such a thing!” smiled Ted.
“And I guess I have an idea where he intends to wear it!”
“He isn’t going to a masquerade, I’ll bet on that!” grinned Buck.
“If I’m not mistaken he’ll turn up pretty soon at our camp with this
nightgown on!”
“When he does, we’ll take it off!” promised Ted, grimly.
“Shall we wait for him to come home and then nab him?” Buck asked.
“No the sight of this ghost costume has made me change my mind, and if
you agree to my plan, we’ll work this thing out another way. Let’s get
out of here before he returns and wait around camp until he does show
up in this sheet affair. Then, when we grab him, we’ll have him just
where we want him. If we accuse him of anything now he can easily back
out by saying that he doesn’t know anything about it, but if we catch
him around the camp in this suit we will have him just where he’ll find
it impossible to escape.”
“That is all right as far as it goes, but how are we going to know just
what night he does visit the camp? We don’t want a chase such as we had
the other night.”
“No, but I have a plan for a trap. However, let’s get out of here first
and we’ll discuss it on the way back. Now I’m particularly anxious that
he doesn’t catch us in here or know that we have been here.”
“All right. We haven’t disturbed anything, have we?”
Ted looked around thoughtfully and then shook his head. “I guess not.
We didn’t touch anything and I’m glad we didn’t even touch the suit.
By the way, while we are here, let’s see if there is any sign of that
skeleton that was in the bushes back of the camp.”
They hunted hastily around for the skeleton, looking in every corner
and into a small closet space off of the main room, but there was no
sign of the object which had so startled them. Satisfied that they
could not find anything, which would add to their store of knowledge
concerning the man, and anxious to get out of Hogs’ Hollow as soon as
possible, they left the hut, arranging the door as they had found it,
and struck at once off into the swampland toward the higher ground. No
words were exchanged between them until they had quitted the hollow
and had arrived at higher ground, where they started off side by side
toward the camp.
“What is your idea about trapping the fellow when he comes ghosting?”
asked Buck, as they skirted the cemetery and started along the rough
road.
“Now that we have a fairly good idea that he’ll visit us, we’ll prepare
for him,” explained Ted. “I guess that after the surprise attack on him
the other night he won’t come any too near the camp in his white sheet,
though he must be going to show himself, or why bother with a sheet at
all? He may plan to reveal himself on a rock as he did with the black
horse that time, but whichever way he plans it, I guess we can be sure
that he is coming sooner or later. Now, if we’re going to be in the
camp we won’t have much chance to cope with him, but we won’t be in
camp!”
“Won’t be in the camp!” Buck echoed. “Where will we be?”
“We’ll be outside of camp and hidden in a clump of bushes, watching
the camp to see what happens. You know our tents back up against the
hill where the springs are and that will be an advantage. My idea is
for us to lift the backs of the tents, creep out and along the slope
until we reach that bunch of maples on the east side of the camp. Those
trees are pretty close together and there is a fine screen of bushes,
where we can lie in wait and watch the camp.”
“Oh, I see! Then if he gets to fooling around back of the camp we can
see him better than we could if we were down in the camp.”
“Yes, and not only that, but I think the sight of an empty camp will
lure him on. If he has no evil intentions toward the camp I think that
sheer curiosity will draw him into it. Then, from our watching post on
the hill we can figure out a plan to swoop down on him and surround
him. How does that sound to you?”
“All right,” approved Buck, enthusiastically. “But we’ll have to be
regular Indians to crawl from the tents to the maples!”
“That is all right, we’ll be able to do it. Of course, if he ever sees
us at it, everything is over, but we’ll just have to be so careful that
he won’t see us. If anyone is to do the seeing, we’re the ones to do
it. I’d like to catch him red-handed prowling around the camp and then
we’ll have a clear case against him.”
“Yes. But don’t forget that he must have a helper. Things have happened
in such a way that he can’t possibly be doing them all by himself.”
“I realize that, and I don’t know whether they’ll work in pairs or not,
but I think if we can get him we’ll have no trouble in getting his
friend, whoever he is. We’ll concentrate on getting him and that will
probably clear up the atmosphere quite a bit.”
They arrived at the camp, to find the other boys anxiously awaiting
them, though they had not been idle. Preparations had been made for
supper and everything was ready to put on the fire when they got back.
The boys were at first disappointed because they had not brought a
prisoner back with them, but Ted soon explained his plan to them and
they fell in with it whole-heartedly.
“That will mean we’ll be sleeping out in the open for a few nights at
least,” Ted told them. “You see, when we crawl out there we’re not
going to just sit there for a few hours and then go back into the
tents. It is pretty likely that this fellow will try his next piece
of funny work in the middle of the night, and when he does we’ll want
to be out of the camp and a whole lot nearer to him than he thinks
for. If he tries anything more like setting the woods afire we’ll be
right on top of him before he can get very far, and in order to do so
we’ll want to camp out and away from the tents. So tonight when it gets
dark we’ll let the fires die down a bit and then we’ll go to our tents
as though we intended to turn in early. From in the tents we’ll slip
out the back one by one, each with his own blanket, and we’ll make an
outdoor camp in the maple grove.”
“Won’t it be cold outdoors?” a boy asked.
“No, it won’t be. It is warm nights, as you know, and it won’t hurt us
a bit to sleep outside. Of course, if a storm comes up we’ll crawl back
and wait until a better night comes along.”
After supper that night they allowed the fires to die away to a mass
of red embers and then one by one drifted into their tents. As soon as
they entered the shelters they rolled up their blankets, strapped them
on their shoulders and one by one raised the back wall of the tents and
slipped out into the darkness back of the tents.
Here the blackness was intense and they found that crawling was not
necessary. Keeping well to the darkness and out of the feeble light
from the fires they stole one by one to the grove of maples and there
assembled, until all of them were in the place. This grove was of
ample size to hold them all and after some low-pitched conversation,
which Ted and Buck took care to keep down and discourage, they spread
out their blankets and made their first attempt at outdoor sleeping.
Some of them went to sleep at once, while others, finding sleeping
under the stars a distinct novelty, lay awake for some little time. But
all of them were getting used to the camp life by this time and it was
not long before all of them slept soundly.
Morning came without anything having happened and they awoke in some
disappointment. Ted saw that he had omitted some important part of his
scheme.
“We should have had them sneak back in camp and come out of their
tents, just as though they had slept there all night,” he told Buck.
“If anyone is watching the camp and sees us come out of here, they’ll
catch on to the plan at once. I never thought of that part.”
“Tomorrow morning we’ll have to wake up just before dawn and sneak
back, to finish our sleep in the tents,” nodded Buck. “I’ll tell you
what we do know. Suppose we go off into the woods a short distance and
then enter the camp from a direction back of the springs? Then, if
anyone should be watching and sees us come in, they’ll think we took
an overnight hike and are just getting in.”
“Providing they didn’t see us going into the tent for the apparent
purpose of going to sleep there,” reminded Ted. “But we’ll do it that
way and trust to luck.”
They moved off into the woods and approached the camp from a different
direction from the maple clump.
The day passed pleasantly enough, the boys enjoying the camp life and
the swimming. That evening, as they finished their suppers, a beautiful
full moon made its appearance in the sky.
“Going to have a fine old moon to sleep under tonight,” remarked
Drummer.
The act of retiring to the tents and stealing off to the maple grove
was again performed and once in the grove they sat on their blankets
and talked in low tones. The night was so fine that no one actually
wanted to go to sleep, though it was now the usual time.
“Well, we might as well turn in,” yawned Ted, beginning to unbutton his
shirt. The others reluctantly followed his example and soon most of
them had slipped in under the blankets. Ted took a final look down at
the camp.
The fires were low, almost out, in fact. The brilliant moon lighted
up the camp like a silvery lantern and the entire landscape, done
in silver and black, was hauntingly beautiful. Ted felt a flash of
annoyance at the train of circumstances which was compelling them to
spend the night away from their tents.
“Too bad we have to fool around with those fellows,” he grumbled,
inwardly. “This would be a beautiful night to lie in the tents and look
out at things. I wish—”
He broke off in his thoughts and bent forward, his eyes narrowed. Then
he snapped his fingers softly and hissed. The boys sat up in their
blankets.
“What’s up?” Buck whispered, quickly.
“Get up, but don’t make any noise, on your lives!” was the thrilling
reply, in a carefully guarded tone. “There is a figure all in white in
the trees close to the creek!”
CHAPTER XXII
GHOST MEETS GHOST
There was only the faintest stir as the boys followed Buck’s lead in
tossing their blankets aside and joined Ted at the bushes. Following
the direction which he had indicated, they found that what he had said
was the truth. Close beside a tall tree, on the bank of the creek,
stood a figure shrouded entirely in white.
The figure was motionless at the time, intently regarding the silent
camp before him. From the direction in which his coming lay the boys
guessed that he had come up on the far side of Bear Creek and had
crossed over the stones at the spot where Ted had previously crossed
them. The sight of the almost dead fires and the strange silence of the
camp was giving the would-be ghost food for thought, though he must
have expected that the boys would be asleep at the time of his coming.
For two or three minutes, a space of time which to the boys seemed
an age, he stood looking across the cleared space before the tents
and then he began to work his way nearer to the empty camp shelters,
keeping always close to the trees which skirted them.
What his intentions were they could not guess. He carried nothing in
his hands and from all appearances he was about to confine his efforts
at simply scaring them.
“Look there!” suddenly gasped Drummer.
They saw that he was looking off in the opposite direction and back of
the tents, but for the moment could not make out what he had seen.
“What is it?” Ted whispered.
“Another ghost!” was the answer. “Look, back there in the bushes near
the pine grove where the fire was. By golly, there are two ghosts!”
Now they saw what had struck the fat boy’s eyes. It was another figure
dressed much in the manner of the one near the front of the tents, and
it was crouching in the thicket back of the tents. As they watched it
too moved forward.
“That is all right,” Buck said. “We’ve known all along that there have
been two of them working together. While we chased one of them, the
other set the woods on fire. They are both up to the same trick, and
now we’ll have to make up our minds how we’ll capture them.”
“I guess we had better divide into the same squads that we had
before,” said Ted. “Buck, suppose your squad tries to catch the one
coming from the back of the tent and my squad will try and run down the
fellow sneaking along the trees in front. But let’s see what they are
up to first.”
“I suppose they think they’re going to appear at the door of a tent and
holler ‘Boo!’ to scare us!” grumbled Buck.
Those of the boys who had slipped off their shoes now hastily put them
on again, happy and a bit nervous at the prospect of the coming action.
All of them still watched the two creeping figures below as they drew
nearer the tents.
“I guess they are going to meet in front of the tents and exchange
signals,” commented Buck, noting that the two men were drawing together.
And at that moment they did meet, but the boys were surprised by the
result.
The ghost from the back of the tents stepped out into the full glow of
the moon and they saw that his costume was slightly different than the
one which the ghost in the front of the camp wore. There was no hood on
the top of the second spirit’s costume, but he had a cloth wound around
his head. At the same time the other ghost stepped from the shelter of
the last tree and came face to face with the brother apparition.
But there was no exchange of signals, no friendly whispering of
details. For a moment the two ghosts stood staring at each other,
seeming to shrink within their shrouds and then the ghost from the
creek tossed his arms wildly to the sky, and uttering a wild yelp, fled
at top speed toward the creek from which it had come. The second ghost
stood perfectly still for a moment and then shot forward, hot on the
trail of the other one.
While the astonished boys watched with bulging eyes and open mouths
the first ghost reached the creek and jumped wildly for the stones
upon which he had crossed. He missed the first one and plunged forward
on his knees into a half foot of water, to the accompaniment of a
tremendous thrashing and splashing. The second ghost reached the edge
of the creek just as the first ghost regained his feet and made a
sweeping clutch at his shroud. There was a ripping sound and the ghost
uniform split from top to bottom, but the ghost himself did not stop
going. Without a backward glance he ran across the rocks and took to
the woods. His pursuer, disdaining the rocks, waded stormily in the
brook and took up the chase on the other side.
And now the boys in the maple grove gave way to peals of laughter
which were surely heard by the two running ghosts. For a moment they
had been paralyzed by the strange spectacle below them, and then the
humor had struck them as the first ghost streaked his way across the
camp pursued by the irate second sheeted figure. The fall into the
creek and the subsequent splashing chase caused them to laugh so hard
that they were weak. In their ghostly readings and thoughts they had
regarded spirits, ghosts and goblins as dignified creatures, and the
sight of two of them running a frantic race appealed to their senses of
humor.
Both ghosts had disappeared from sight as they hurried down into the
camp and went as far as the creek, chatting and laughing over the
unexpected turn of events. The rate of speed employed by both night
prowlers made them forget any thought that they may have had in regard
to chasing after them and they simply hastened to the brook to see
if they could hear or see anything more of the two ghosts who had
generously provided them with an evening’s entertainment, but all was
profoundly quiet.
“Oh, boy, that was the best thing I’ve seen in a long time!” laughed
Ted, brushing the tears out of his eyes. “The way that first ghost lit
out for the woods was a sight I wouldn’t have wanted to miss!”
“And the other fellow snatching his night shirt off of him was another
high spot!” chuckled Buck. “But that little drama knocks our theory
into a cocked hat.”
“You mean about these fellows working together?” questioned Ted.
“Sure. We thought that they were partners, but each one of them must
have something in mind and they have been working alternately on us.
Certainly if they knew each other they wouldn’t have acted like that
when their ghosts met each other!”
“They certainly did shrink up at the first sight of each other!”
grinned Drummer.
“I guess you are right about the fact that they don’t know each other,”
Ted agreed. “But if that second fellow ever gets his hands on the first
ghost they’ll know each other!”
“That was a case of professional jealousy!” said Buck. “I have a
feeling that we’ll never be bothered with them again.”
“That is hard to tell,” was Ted’s opinion. “We’ll have to await events
and see.”
They watched the woods for a long time, hoping to see some trace of the
figures in white, but they were unrewarded. Long after their usual hour
they remained around the replenished fires, talking and laughing over
the ghost chase.
“Well, we’re still a long way from knowing what they are hanging
around here for,” Buck said as they finally turned in.
On the following day Buck and Ted again left the camp in charge of the
older boys and went for a hike over the mountains. They wanted to see
if there was any trace of the flight and also to pay a visit to the hut
in Hogs’ Hollow and question Jerry Jackson point blank.
“For all the fun we had out of them, they still have got to take the
responsibility for firing the woods,” Ted said.
“Yes, but now we don’t know which one of ’em did it! The first thing we
have to do is to find out who did what.”
“The quickest way to do that is to locate this Jerry Jackson and see
what he knows about it all,” said Ted.
“Sure. I’m pretty sure that the ghost who crossed the creek was Jerry
Jackson.”
“So am I, because he fled in the direction of the hollow. We’ll soon
find out.”
But in this Ted was mistaken. When they reached the crude hut of the
swamp dweller one glance inside the place showed them that he had
abandoned his home, probably for good. Everything except the bare
furniture was out of the shack and it looked bleak and forlorn.
“Skipped out!” cried Buck, looking around.
“Yes, gone completely, and I guess we’ll never find him again. I’ll
bet he is making for new country right now. Well, that means that we
are rid of one ghost and all we have to do is to keep a sharp watch out
for the other.”
There was nothing more to be learned at the shack in Hogs’ Hollow, so
the two boys left the place and returned to the top of the mountain.
Here they wandered along looking for any signs which might be clues to
the doings of the past few weeks, and they passed above and beyond the
camp. They kept up their exploration until the sun began to set and
dusk crept in from the east.
“We might as well go back,” suggested Ted. “We’ve seen a lot of
mountain country but we haven’t learned anything.”
“All right. By the way, there is the cabin of that unsociable gentleman
down there.”
Buck pointed to the cabin with the barbed wire fence and as they
glanced down at it the front door of the cabin was opened and the tall
man who resided there came out. To their astonishment he took a board
which was lying beside the door, and placing it across the door, drove
several nails into it. For the first time they noticed that the boards
were on the windows and that the cabin was being closed up.
“Hello, he is leaving us!” muttered Ted.
“Seems so. He has on a long coat and a cap. Guess he doesn’t intend to
come back this season.”
The man went to the small shed in the rear of the yard and opened the
doors, leading out a black horse. He then pulled from the other side of
the shed a small two-seater carriage and proceeded to harness the horse
to it. When this was done he nailed a board across the door of the shed
and then carelessly threw the hammer over the fence into the woods.
“Pretty free with his hardware!” said Buck.
The man climbed into the seat of the carriage, spoke sharply to the
horse and then rolled out of the yard as the horse started off. He
turned the horse’s head toward the cities and they gathered speed as
they went. Ted grasped Buck’s arm.
“Take particular notice of that horse!” he cried. “It’s a black one!”
CHAPTER XXIII
A GAME OF NICKY NIGHT
Buck nodded at once. “It was just beginning to dawn upon me,” he said.
“Something about the horse was attracting my attention and for a while
I wasn’t able to gather what it was. Now I see what it is. There goes
our Black Rider!”
“Or else his horse. It looks remarkably like the horse on the rock.
Well, if that is the ghost who chased the Hogs’ Hollow ghost away from
our camp, what can be his game? Both of them must have distinct ideas,
because I don’t think there can be any connection between Jerry Jackson
and that man!”
“When you ask me questions, ask me something that I’ll have half a
chance to answer!” grumbled Buck. “But look at that man go! He doesn’t
look as though he is just going away for a short time. Looks as though
there was a good reason for leaving, as though some one is hard on his
trail.”
“He probably has his own ideas and we’ll never find out what the answer
is,” said Ted. “But I’m pretty sure that the fooling around our camp
is over with.”
“I agree with you there,” nodded Buck, as they started back toward
the camp. “This man seems to be leaving us for good and I’m pretty
sure that Jerry Jackson will be too scared to come around again. But I
certainly would like to know what they were after.”
“So would I, and if we ever run across Jackson we’ll try and make him
tell us. But as for the other one, he’s gone and we’ll never learn
anything from him.”
When they arrived in the camp they were joyously received and their
recital of events was eagerly listened to. At the statement that events
of an unusual nature were over with there was a mingled feeling of
relief and dissatisfaction.
“Hurrah, now we can enjoy ourselves and sleep in peace at night!”
whooped Bob, tossing his hat high.
“Yes, but think of not knowing what those fellows were running around
for!” growled Drummer. “That spoils everything.”
“Why?” demanded Bob. “Do we have to know why they were playing ghost?”
“Of course we should,” retorted Drummer. “When we get home we’ll want
to tell people about it and there won’t be any fun in ending up by
saying that we don’t know what it was all about. More than likely
folks will think we dreamed it.”
“We all had the same dream, then,” returned Bob. “But it would be a lot
more satisfactory to know the rest of it.”
“When we go for fresh supplies of food we’ll try and find out if
anything is known of the whereabouts of Jerry Jackson,” promised Ted.
“If you don’t find anything out can we go scouting around the country
and try to find him?” a boy asked, eagerly.
Ted smiled. “No, I guess we won’t go as far as that. If he ever comes
near the camp again we will make every effort to capture him, but I
think that if we go roaming around the mountains just with the purpose
of finding him, we will only be wasting our time and perhaps stirring
up trouble. From the looks of his hut over there in the hollow I’d say
that he had decided to leave this part of the country for good.”
That night there was a fine bright campfire meeting and the time
between supper and bed time was enjoyed without fear of unexpected
happenings. They talked and sang and told ghost stories, none of which
satisfied them as had the ending of the one which they had witnessed
from the maple grove.
“No ghost story will ever mean anything to me again unless one ghost
chases the other across the camp and pulls his nightie off!” laughed
Buck.
At the recollection there was a hearty laugh and Ted saw that the
unexpected ending of the series of mysterious events which had taken
place around the camp had cheered and brightened them. He noted that
there was a great deal of difference in the boys. At the start of their
trip some of them had been frightened, uneasy, panicky, but now they
had changed. All of them had broadened and looked brighter and manlier
than when they had started out. Little Tom Clayton had developed into a
sturdy, self-reliant boy and his too-doting mother was about to receive
a surprise when her formerly pale, angelic-looking boy returned from
the camp. Ted knew that Mr. Clayton would be more than pleased.
“It has certainly done them a world of good,” he thought, as they
turned in that night. “The whole trip has been a success, and I hope
the trustees of the club will be satisfied. Too bad we can’t make a
full report on the meddling ghosts, but we’ll have to let that go, I
suppose.”
On the following day he and Buck took a trip to the farmer’s house and
there they related to the farmer and his wife the recent adventures
which they had had. The good couple were astonished.
“I could have sworn it was Jerry Jackson, after I got thinkin’ it
over,” declared Farmer Crane. “So he has cut loose and run away, eh? I
guess you’ll see no more o’ him. But you can’t guess what he would be
pesterin’ you for, eh?”
“No, we can’t see why he should try scaring us out,” Buck answered, as
Ted shook his head. “Mr. Crane, I wish you could have seen him leg it
for the other ghost, when the second party got after him!”
The farmer roared heartily. “After you fellers go, so you won’t be
annoyed by curious folks, I’m goin’ to tell that one around,” he
declared. “Too many people ’round here thinks this Black Riders’ camp
is a haunted spot, but maybe after I tell ’em that one ghost up and run
the other out of your camp and pulled his shirt off’n him, they’ll get
a little sense into their heads. What you think about that, Ma?”
His wife shook her head. “Some of ’em you could tell anything to, and
they’d still believe that the place was alive with spooks!” she said,
wisely.
“If you ever hear anything from Jerry Jackson, let us know,” Ted
requested, as they were leaving.
“I surer than the dickens will!” was the reply. “If he ever comes
around here I’ll make him speak up.”
They left the farmer and returned to camp with a fresh supply of food,
talking over camp plans for the balance of the summer. They had now but
a week and a half until it would be time to return home.
“In all this excitement the time has slipped by like magic,” remarked
Ted.
“Yes, Labor Day is almost here. Time hasn’t lingered any, I’ll say
that. But now that things have settled down we ought to enjoy every
minute of the remaining time. Not that I haven’t enjoyed it up to the
present time, but we won’t have to go running over the mountains every
once in awhile and sleeping out in the woods. Have you enjoyed the job
of managing a big camp?”
“Of helping to manage it, you mean,” corrected Ted. “I know that you’ve
stood back and allowed me to run most things, but don’t forget that you
are a partner in this. Yes, I’ve enjoyed it and I’ve learned a lot from
it.”
The rest of the week passed away without incident, the boys enjoying
it keenly. Now that there was no eternal watch to be kept they felt a
lifting of a weight and from that time on they were able to give their
whole attention to their sports and instruction. The two leaders taught
them many useful things about camp life, especially in the matter of
conscientious neatness, and by this time every boy could swim more or
less efficiently. At night the campfire talks were enjoyed and long,
health-giving sleeps rounded off their activities.
More than once the boys spoke of their enjoyment of the mountain chase
game, so much so that Ted spoke to Buck about it.
“What do you think of starting a game of Nicky Night after supper?”
“Fine! I haven’t played it in years! Let’s do it.”
Few of the boys had ever played Nicky Night, a game that was going out
of date when Ted and Buck were smaller. To the eager listening group
Ted explained it.
“Just as in the mountain chase, you go out in groups of two,” he told
them. “Only, in this game there is no use of lanterns. In groups of
twos we’ll follow you. Now, here is the idea: the fellows who go out
first split up in twos and drift off up the mountains, and when they
have found what they think is good ground for hiding, they start
yelling as loud as possible, “Nicky Night!” “Nicky Night!” Those in
the camp immediately set out after them and as the pursuing squad gets
nearer the “Nicky Night” yellers sink their voices, disguise them in
every way, and try to throw them off the track. The two who are after
the “Nicky Nights” must touch them before they are prisoners, even
if you have to climb a tree or hang over a cliff to do it! The Nicky
Nights will stay out until the pursuers have to give up, and then they
come in. If more Nicky Nights get in than are captured, they win the
game. You can run away or climb trees or do anything you want to, but
the skill in the game is to throw the others off of the track by the
use of a disguised voice.”
The boys were keen to try the new game and the sides were made up as
at the time of the mountain chase game. Now that Plum had left the
camp there was one short, and to make things even one boy volunteered
to remain in camp and take care of the fires. It had been agreed that
Ted’s group would take to the mountains this time, and they soon left
the camp in a group, to split up and spread out as they progressed.
Fifteen minutes after they had left the camp the first blood-stirring
cry floated down from the mountains. “Nicky Night!” came in a disguised
voice, and “Nicky Night!” was repeated by another voice at some
distance from it.
Buck’s squad took the field at once, and he went off with Drummer in
the direction of one of the voices. The other groups started off on the
trails of other Nicky Nights. As Buck and Drummer progressed up the
side of the mountains they heard the voice before them, high-pitched
and weird.
“That sounds like Ted,” decided Buck, as they made their way forward.
“We’ll run him down, in spite of his disguised voice. Good thing there
is a generous slice of moon tonight, or we’d have a tough time finding
our way.”
The Nicky Nights before them heard them coming and immediately began
a retreat, for the voice was next heard further off. On both sides of
them they could hear other cries of “Nicky Night” and a few seconds
later a cry of triumph, “We’ve got you!” One set of Nickys had been
captured. The pair before Buck and Drummer still retreated.
“They’ll probably take to a tree pretty soon and allow us to go under
them,” said Buck. “That’s the thing we have to look out for. There,
what did I tell you! That ‘Nicky Night’ came from the air!”
The last “Nicky Night” had indeed come from the air, a weak and
treacherous cry, and they pushed on until they came to an open space.
Here they found the house which some of the boys had been in and where
Ted had seen the man with the lantern roaming around.
“Hello, here is that old house with all the furnishings,” exclaimed
Buck.
“Yes, and the Nicky Nights are hiding up there in the cupola on the
porch roof!” cried Drummer excitedly. “I just saw something move up
there. Come on and get them!”
“I don’t know how to get into that tower room from the house,” said
Buck.
“We won’t get in through the house. Let’s climb the front porch,”
replied Drummer.
“All right. But there must be a door from the main part of the house
into that cupola, and they may escape.”
“Never mind, we’ll chase them through the house,” said the sturdy fat
boy.
Buck stepped onto the low porch, quickly “shinned” his way up the
supporting roof support, and reached the low front porch roof. Drummer
followed him with remarkable agility and they swiftly crossed the roof
and looked into the little octagon cupola.
The moonlight sent a half light into the place and for a single instant
they thought that the place was empty. Then, as they became accustomed
to the place, they saw a lone figure crouching along the wall, trying
to conceal itself in the darker shadows of the little tower. The boys
drew in sharp breaths and their skins prickled as the man rose from his
place of concealment. He knew that he had been observed and his hand
fumbled for the knob of the door which opened into the main house.
Buck had a flash of inspiration. He jumped over the low sill into the
cupola.
“No you don’t, Jerry Jackson!” he cried.
CHAPTER XXIV
MYSTERIES ARE CLEARED UP
The man who stood before them, seeking to open the door leading into
the house was indeed the lone dweller from Hogs’ Hollow. He had heard
the two approaching boys and had hidden himself in the cupola of the
abandoned house, not dreaming for a moment that they would enter the
place. He had heard the scratching made by them as they climbed the
porch and their appearance at the open front of the little tower took
him by surprise. For a single moment his little eyes gleamed with an
impulse of violence, but Buck looked fairly husky and Drummer, though
short, was stocky. The man spoke up in a high voice.
“What you fellers want? I ain’t done nothing to you!”
“You are Jerry Jackson, aren’t you?” Buck asked, striking a match and
looking closely at the tall, stooped old man. Jackson was past middle
age and his hair was a tangled gray mass which hung far below the line
which would have been marked by a collar had he possessed one. His
clothing was ragged beyond description.
“Yes, I’m Jerry Jackson, but you got nothing against me,” was the
whining reply. The old man held something behind him all the time with
his left hand and Buck had an uneasy feeling that it might be something
in the nature of a weapon. He kept his eyes narrowly on the man as he
continued to question him.
“You say we haven’t anything on you, eh? How about scaring us, cutting
down our tents, posing on a rock with a horse, and setting fire to the
woods!”
The man stirred indignantly. “I never did set on no horse or set the
woods on fire!” he cried, vehemently. “I’ll tell you all I ever done to
your camp. I walked through it with a lantern the first night you got
there, and I blew that conch shell to scare you. I was the one who cut
the ropes on your tents, because you had to go and chase me all over
the mountain, durn yore hides! While you fellers was gettin’ a soakin’
I slipped down and cut the ropes. Then you chased me another night when
I was hangin’ around yore camp, the night I tried to tote off one ’o
you, and somebody pegged apples at me! But I never used no horse or set
fire to anything.”
“You paid another visit to the camp, the time the ghost chased you,”
reminded Buck.
“Yes, and if anybody set yore camp on fire, that feller must have done
it, ’cause I didn’t.”
“Did you hang a skeleton in the woods?” Buck asked.
“Don’t know nothin’ about no skeleton,” was the dogged reply.
“All right, I guess I can see your part in it all,” replied Buck. “Now,
Jerry Jackson, why did you do it? What was the idea of trying to scare
us out of a camp that was our own?”
The man looked uneasy and cast about him with restless eyes. He shifted
his foot and looked down.
“I dunno, I must have been crazy,” was the answer.
“That won’t do, my friend!” Buck cried, sharply. “You are going to
speak up and tell the truth or we will hand you right over to the
authorities! Out with it now!”
“Well, I didn’t want you boys around here because I was lookin’ for
some money that was supposed to be hid in this house,” replied the man,
fearing to keep the truth back. “A crazy feller named Bainbridge lived
here and he died a short time ago. I heard that there was some money
in the house and I been lookin’ for it. Just when I was goin’ good you
boys had to come snoopin’ around. ‘I’ll get rid of ’em,’ I sez, ‘I’ll
play ghost and scare ’em back to town.’ So I tried it, but you fellows
wouldn’t go.”
“No, you are right there. Was that why you lowered a lantern down a
chimney on a rope one night?”
“Yes. How’d you know——”
“My friend saw you. Is that where you found the money at the bottom of
the chimney?”
“Yes, there it was—Here! Hold on! I didn’t find any money!”
Buck smiled grimly at the tone of alarm. He had observed in the
semi-gloom the end of a tin box back of the man.
“Yes you did, Jackson. You are holding a tin box back of you and there
is money in it. But you needn’t worry, we won’t touch it. All I want
you to do is to go back to camp with us and tell your story to our camp
leader.”
“If I do, you won’t take my money or have me arrested?” eagerly asked
the old man.
Buck made the promise and the three of them left the house by the
stairway and took up the journey to the camp. Both boys were on the
alert lest the man give them the slip and remained close to his side,
but he made no attempt to get away and they reached the camp after a
silent trip. All of the other boys were in and anxiously awaiting
them. Ted hurried forward.
“We were just beginning to worry about you two,” he said. “Your side
won this time, Buck, and you two are the only squad that didn’t get
your men. Who is this with you?”
“Jerry Jackson, the ghost—or one of the ghosts—of Black Riders’ Camp!”
was the triumphant response.
His words produced a decided stir and the boys crowded around the
unhappy mountaineer. At Buck’s command the man related all to Ted.
“Don’t take my money away from me, boys,” he whined, in conclusion.
“I ain’t never had none, and I had to work pretty hard to find this.
Bainbridge is dead and there ain’t much in the box.”
“We don’t want your money, Jerry,” replied Ted, feeling sorry for the
grasping, miserable old wretch. “I just wanted to know why you kept us
on the jump. If you were the one who set the woods on fire I wouldn’t
be disposed to be nice about it, but the worst thing you did was to cut
the tent ropes, and we had that coming, after a fashion, for chasing
you all over the mountains. Just remember this: if you ever bother us
again when we come here, we’ll turn you over to the police speedily, I
promise you.”
Jackson promised never to come near the camp again, and then he melted
away in the darkness, hugging the tin box to him. Late into the night
the boys talked it over.
“That explains half of it,” remarked Ted. “But it doesn’t explain the
skeleton, the Black Rider, the groans or the fire. Looks like we’ll
never get the story of that.”
But the explanations came from an unexpected source. On the Sunday
before Labor Day Mr. Calvert appeared in the camp, where he was
joyfully welcomed by the boys. He had dinner with them and then
unfolded some information that had them listening eagerly.
“You fellows are quite famous,” he smiled at them. “Did you know that
you chased a notorious forger and counterfeiter out of this region?”
“No! How was that?” Ted asked.
“Did you ever hear of a Dr. Hemple?”
There was a swift exchange of looks. “The name on the skeleton!” was
the general cry.
“Yes,” nodded the lawyer. “This Dr. Hemple is a very clever bank note
engraver and some time ago he began to counterfeit money and he forged
his name to checks in the bargain. While the police of several cities
were looking for him he used to retreat up here to a log cabin he has
somewhere around and only a few days ago he was captured. Among his
confessions was a statement that he had hoped to make this region his
headquarters, but that a camp of boys had refused to be scared out and
he couldn’t have men coming and going with a boys’ camp near here. So
he left the place and was later caught.”
“I remembered the troubles you had had at the camp and I went to see
this Dr. Hemple. He told me of the skeleton and about groaning in
the bushes and of setting the woods on fire. Oh, I know that you are
wondering about the Black Rider part of it, too! He heard that Ted was
going to tell the story and that gave him an idea. He muffled the feet
of his horse and led him out on a rock—that one over there?—and then
put some illuminating powder on the top of the rock, which he touched
off. He hoped you’d think he was a dread spirit of the place, but you
refused to be scared away. But what is his story of another ghost? He
says he masked one night to try and scare you away as a ghost, but he
claims that there was another ghost around.” The lawyer looked puzzled
as the boys broke into peals of hearty laughter, and Ted told him the
story.
The lawyer enjoyed it thoroughly. “Well, you certainly have had a
wonderful summer of fun and adventure,” he remarked, and later he
spoke privately to Ted and Buck. “You boys have done a fine piece of
work here. All of these boys look in the pink of good health, and as
for that little Clayton lad, his mother and father won’t know him.
He has developed physically and he bears himself like a little man,
in contrast to his former timid way. I am proud of the way you have
handled these boys and the other trustees are going to be, too.”
“Thank you,” acknowledged Ted and Buck, pleased with Mr. Calvert’s
praise.
On Labor Day they enjoyed their last few hours of camp life and as soon
as the big truck arrived they pulled the supply truck up to the road
and the boys took their places in the big vehicle. This time Drummer
was in charge of the boys and Buck rode in the front seat with Ted.
With a final cheer for the camp of the Black Riders the trucks started
down the road and back toward the city.
“Well, I’m mighty sorry to leave the camp,” remarked Buck, as they
rolled slowly along. “I’ve seldom had a better or more exciting time in
my life.”
“Nor I,” agreed his chum, with enthusiasm. “Black Riders’ Camp will
always have a soft place in my heart.”
The boys in the truck seemed to feel the same way. The country road
rang with their cheer for the recent camping trip.
THE END
Transcriber’s Notes
pg 26 Changed: high up in the mountans
to: high up in the mountains
pg 28 Changed: stood on camparatively level ground
to: stood on comparatively level ground
pg 40 Changed: migh be very bad for Ted
to: might be very bad for Ted
pg 79 Changed: Some farmer around her must have owned it
to: Some farmer around here must have owned it
pg 84 Changed: something that excited their curiousity
to: something that excited their curiosity
pg 86 Changed: blanching the faces of he boys
to: blanching the faces of the boys
pg 116 Changed: At the sharp exlamation in his tone
to: At the sharp exclamation in his tone
pg 116 Changed: Then lantern was coming toward them
to: The lantern was coming toward them
pg 136 Changed: on the right or the lef side
to: on the right or the left side
pg 158 Changed: who immmediately struck an attitude of defense
to: who immediately struck an attitude of defense
pg 165 Changed: For a moment after Ted made his announce-
to: For a moment after Ted made his announcement
pg 166 Changed: But as it so happend
to: But as it so happened
pg 185 Changed: You bet is was
to: You bet it was
pg 191 Changed: a distinct hinderance to their peace
to: a distinct hindrance to their peace
pg 197 Changed: come from the opposit direction
to: come from the opposite direction
pg 217 Changed: maybe he can use po-toes
to: maybe he can use potatoes
pg 226 Changed: I’ll tell you what we’ll do know
to: I’ll tell you what we do know
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