IN FOR A GLORIOUS TIME
"A wildcat!" exclaimed Ty Collins, excitedly.
"Mebbe only an old owl," Lil Artha ventured; "because I remember you fellows told us there were some whoopers up here; and when an old house has got bats in its belfry it's likely to have owls too."
"The house is over that way, ain't it?" questioned Landy Smith, showing a mild interest in the matter; but his indifference was more than made up for by the excitement on the part of the Southern scout, whose dark eyes fairly danced with eagerness.
"I should say it was," he told Landy, "and if you think that's only an owl, or even a wildcat, suh, I reckon you've got another guess coming to you."
"Listen to that, would you?" broke from Ty; "our chum from Dixie here believes in ghosts, and he even thinks that was one warning us away from the haunted house. It'd take a dozen of the same to scaremeoff. I may light out before an enraged bull, but you don't find me sneaking away when there's a white thing waving up and down in the road. Had a lesson once, when I found it out to be just a rag hangin' from a branch, and since then nothing spooky ever faizes Ty Collins."
Chatz looked keenly at the speaker, and nodded his head. Although he made no remark, his manner was that of a prophet, and Elmer, noticing it, could imagine him saying: "Just wait, and we'll see what sort of nerve you've got, Ty Collins. Things seem different at high noon from what they do when it's midnight. And if I have my way you'll get a chance to see a real ghost, for once in your life; because I just believe in the things, make all the fun you want to."
Whatever the strange thrilling cry may have been, at least it was not repeated. Nancy was quieted by Toby, and the other scouts stood there, listening earnestly, for fully five minutes, but nothing developed worth noticing.
Finally Elmer called out to them:
"Here, get a move on, Toby, and come along. We've got lots to do before we can cook our first dinner; and I don't know how you fellows feel, but I'm as hungry as a wolf. Make a sharp turn here, Toby, because we want to push straight into the woods, and reach that spring."
Of all the scouts, George was really the only one who, as they walked on, turned his head and glanced back several times toward the region from which that strange sound had come.
Chatz noticed it, and smiled grimly, as though making up his mind that perhaps he might find a convert in his belief in George, especially if anything remarkable did come to pass, as he felt almost sure would be the case.
Presently they came to the running water, andby following this up a short distance found the spring.
"Hurrah! here we rest! Alabama for mine!" cried Lil Artha, as he turned and surveyed his surroundings, with the eye of one who had camped on numerous previous occasions, and might be expected to know something about such things.
Then ensued a bustle, as the scouts began to unload the contents of the wagon, stake out the mare, and start to get things arranged.
Every fellow had his share of the work apportioned to him, so that there was little real confusion, or getting in each other's way; and it was wonderful how things seemed to almost grow like magic.
Two khaki-colored waterproofed tents soon stood there, facing toward the south, and with the spring only twenty feet away. Inside these the scouts began immediately to arrange their blankets, though the beds would not be made up until after the coming of night.
Another pair attended to the very important duty of making the cooking range, on top of which they would spread the metal top that was to serve as a gridiron, to hold such utensils as were necessary for cooking purposes.
When this had been constructed to their satisfaction a fire was quickly kindled, for the air was still rather sharp, even for a November day, and all of them felt they would be much better for a warm lunch.
Amidst more or less good-natured chaffing the meal was prepared. There was no lack of assistant cooks to help Ty, who had taken upon himself the duties ofcheffor the occasion, since long ago he had proved his capacity in that line; everybody seemed only too willing to help, such is the potent effect of genuine hunger.
Even George was bustling around, trying to hurry things along, picking out all the best wood in order to make a hotter fire, and occasionally peeping in under the covers of the two kettles to learn if the contents might not be sufficiently cooked.
It was about an hour after noon when dinner was ready, and all of them admitted the result was well worth waiting for. That frosty November air had given them an enormous appetite, and everything tasted better than it could possibly do at home; so for a certain length of time little was said, since they were too busy in disposing of the meal to talk.
When the edge had been taken from their appetites they fell into a disjointed conversation, and almost every subject under the sun was discussed from the standpoint of scouts.
Afterwards they lounged around for a while, being really too full to think of doing anything strenuous. As this was not supposed to be a regular camping trip of the whole troop, Elmer had not laid out any particular programme looking to their practicing the various "stunts" which scouts are interested in. Under ordinary conditionsthere would have been all manner of events underway, such as wigwagging classes, tracking advocates, new wrinkles in nature-study unfolded; photography of wild animals and birds in their native haunts undertaken, and many other educational features that make the camping out experience of Boy Scouts so vastly superior to those of other lads who simply go to the woods to loaf away the time, swim, and fish, and eat.
Of course each fellow was at liberty to employ himself as best he thought would give him the most pleasure, only there was no authority brought to bear, and no one felt constrained to do anything that he did not particularly care for.
"Where's Chatz gone?" asked Lil Artha, after they had been knocking around in this fashion for nearly an hour after eating, and several of them showed signs of wanting to be on the move.
"Oh! I saw him slip away a while back," remarked Toby, "and chances are he's prowling in and out of that old shebang over beyond the trees, the haunted house that Judge Cartaret built fifty years or so ago. Chatz is clear daft on the subject of spirits, you know. And from what I've seen of him, it wouldn't surprise me a little bit if the fellow before we left here, tried to get us to make some sort of a ghost trap, to grab that wonderful spook in."
"If he ever did that," Elmer remarked, "it would show that deep down in his heart Chatz didn't believe in any such notion; because if there was such a thing as a real ghost no trap we couldmanufacture would ever hold it. If Chatz proposed that to us he'd be as much as saying he believed the ghost to be a man, playing a game for some reason or other."
"But," interposed Ty Collins, "what sort of a game would make anybody prance around here night after night, with a sheet wrapped around him, and p'raps luminous paint on his face, like I remember a ghost once did. But in that case there was a good reason, for he wanted to give a bad name to the property so he could buy it in for a song. That wouldn't be the case here with the Cartaret place, you know."
"Well, it's foolish trying to guess a thing when we haven't even seen the ghost," George interrupted the others to say; "and I've got to be shown such a thing before I'll take the least stock in it; though I must say that as a rule Chatz is a long-headed chap, and not easy fooled."
When Elmer heard George say this he fancied that it would only take one mysterious ghostly manifestation to make the doubter an ardent believer in supernatural things. Scoffer that George was, once he saw with his own eyes, he went to the other extreme, and became firmly convinced. It was just like the swing of the pendulum with him every time.
"Oh! let's forget all that stuff about white-sheeted things that walk in the middle of the night!" exclaimed Landy Smith, "and pick up a more cheerful subject. Now just yesterday I chanced to be reading an account that told howthree scouts in this very state made a study of hunting for the hives of wild honey bees up in the hollow limbs of trees in the woods. Elmer, do you think we could run across a hive filled with delicious honeycombs around here?"
"Whee! you make my mouth water just to hear you talk about it," Lil Artha arose to say, "and if so be any of you make the try for a hive just count me in, will you?"
"You bet we will," Landy hastened to assure him, "and right now consider yourself appointed commissioner-in-chief, whose principal duty will be to climb the honey tree, after we locate the same, and cause the warm-footed little innocents to vacate, so that we can gather in a store of the nectar. Wow! I'm going right away to see if I can't find the tree. Who'll be my backer? Don't all speak at once!"
Lil Artha and Ted proved to be the most eager for the adventure. Upon making inquiries it was found that Landy had read all about how to locate a bee tree, if by good luck any such happened to be in the neighborhood, and was ready to show his chums how the thing ought to be done.
His talk concerning the subject proved to be so interesting that when a start was made he had gained another convert, being Ty Collins.
"I rather think I'd like to see how that thing's done, myself," this worthy admitted, "so with your permission, Landy, I'll tag along, and if you need any help in carrying the stock of honeycomb home count on me. Right now I feel like I couldtackle a few big wedges myself, and enjoy the same."
"All right, come along with us, Ty," Landy told him, cheerfully; "but I'd feel a whole lot easier in my mind if you'd take off that red sweater, and wear something else."
"What for?" demanded Ty, who could be pretty stubborn when he chose. "This is going to be a bee hunt, not a bull fight, that I know of. Why should you object to me going warmly clad, I'd like to know?"
"Oh! well," replied Landy with a grin that told he had only been drawing the other on for a purpose; "there might be an old king bee that had a detestation for red, just the same as a bull does, and he'd make it so warm for us we'd have to get out of the woods in a hurry."
"Rats!" the other shot back at him, "bees don't bother about what they see; I've been told by an old bee man that it'ssoundsthey get mad at. And then there ain't such a thing as a king bee anyhow—queens, drones and workers make up a colony. Oh! I ain't quite such a ninny as some people think. So I guess this beautiful red sweater goes along."
"All right, if you're willing to take such a terrible risk it's nothing to the rest of us, is it, fellows?" Landy told him, with a chuckle; and then went on to add: "Now, we'll carry a little sugar water along to use if we happen to run across any bees flying around, which at this late day ain't likely. Best we can do is to watch everytree-top and try to hear the buzzing of a swarm of young bees. They come out every fine day as long as the weather lets 'em, around noontime, and try their wings. An old bee hunter can get on to the little hum far off and locate the hive that way. Let's see if we've got ears worth anything."
"The best of luck go with you!" called out Elmer, who was busy with something or other; "and if you need any help come back after the rest of the bunch. I see you're carrying our camp ax, Lil Artha; be careful and don't lose it, because we need that same thing right along."
"Don't worry about that, Elmer," the elongated scout shouted back. "I wouldn't let that get away from me for all the honey in seven counties. But in case we do find a tree that looks good to us I'm ready to swing the ax for all I'm worth," and so saying he strode away after the other three.
That left just Elmer, Toby and George in camp.
"I'd be tickled half to death if theydidfind a tree, and got a lot of honey," Toby remarked, grinning in anticipation, and licking his lips at the same time; "and I can just see that Lil Artha whooping things when the tree drops, and he rushes headlong in among the branches to scoop up some of the sweet stuff that bursts out of the crack, with a million bees swarming around his ears. If I was you, Elmer, I'd get some witch hazel ready to put on stings, for they'll need it right bad."
"Time enough for that when they report afind!" declared Elmer, who evidently did not have a great deal of confidence in the ability of Landy Smith to locate a hive, especially at that time of year, when the little insects were apt to be lying more or less dormant.
An hour passed by. Then Elmer began to wonder what could be detaining Chatz so long, for he several times looked in the direction where he knew the old deserted Cartaret house must lie, as though half expecting to see the Southern boy come on the full run, with some wonderful story of sights he had seen, or imagined he had, which was the same thing.
When Chatz did appear he was walking slowly, and his face had an expression of subdued disappointment resting on it. Apparently, then, all his prowling in and out of the building could not have met with any particular reward. In other words the Cartaret ghost was not very accommodating, and respectfully declined to make its appearance at such an unheard of hour as three in the afternoon; when every one knew that all respectable spirits only manifest themselves around the midnight hour.
"You didn't run across anything new, did you, Chatz?" Elmer asked him, as he came into camp, took a drink of cool water, and threw himself on the ground to rest.
"Not a single thing, suh; but then I didn't really expect to in broad daylight. Wait till to-night, and I reckon there may be something doing," and then Chatz allowed his brow to show three wrinklesthat told of perplexity, for he had heard Elmer chuckle; and all at once it struck him that on the former occasion the scout master had gone back into the house after he and the other comrades had left; and once more the Southern boy who had the vein of superstition in his make-up asked himself what Elmer could have seen on that occasion to make him look so knowing, and have that queer smile cross his face whenever the ghost was mentioned.
But Elmer did not offer to explain, and so Chatz had to content himself with the thought that perhaps on the coming night the veil of secrecy might be lifted from the mystery.
SACKING THE FOREST STORE-HOUSE
Tobyhad insisted upon stowing that wonderful aeroplane appendix which he called an "aviator's life-saver parachute," in the bottom of the wagon when starting out on this camping trip. He was working at it while helping to keep camp the first afternoon after their arrival.
"All I hope is," he went on to say, when Elmer chanced to come around close to where he straddled a log, and did some heavy sewing with the toughest waxed string he could use, "that I find a chance to try out this thing again while we're in this region. If no other place shows up I might climb to the top of the tower on the old house, and jump off there. How high would you guess, off-hand, that might be, Elmer?"
"Oh! perhaps thirty-five or forty feet," replied the other, carelessly, and hardly noting what Toby was saying, because just then he had caught a peculiar sound that came from some little distance away.
"Do you hear that, Elmer?" called out George.
"Yes, and I was trying to make out what it was when you spoke," replied the scout master. "I reckon it must be some one busy with an ax, for the blows are repeated as regular as clock-work."
"And our chums took the camp ax away with them?" suggested Toby, looking up, an eager glow commencing to show in his eyes.
"Yes, and they went off in that direction, too," added George.
With that the four camp keepers smiled at each other.
"Can it be possible they've found a bee-tree, after all?" asked George, who, despite his yearning for a honeycomb, could not overcome his skeptical disposition, and believe that such a delightful consummation of the bee hunt had come about.
"Listen to that whanging, will you?" cried Toby; "nobody but Lil Artha could use an ax like that. As sure as you live they must have struck something. Tell me about the babes in the woods, will you; some people wade in good luck every time they start out!"
"Another fellow has taken hold, because the sound changes," George observed, sagaciously; "and p'raps Ty Collins is swinging the ax now. He can hew close to the line; fact is, I never saw a scout who could chop as evenly as Ty. Wow! did you hear that crash, fellows? A tree went down that time, whether there's any honey in the same or not. I'll only believe it when I see, smell and taste the nectar."
A short time afterwards they heard some one coming on the run. Then a figure broke out of the brush, waving excitedly.
"Hi! get your buckets, and come along to helpgather the harvest!" Lil Artha was shouting as he approached, half out of breath.
"Then you sure enough did find a bee-tree, and it isn't any joke?" demanded the incredulous George.
"Take a look at me, and then say if I show up like a joke!" demanded the long-legged scout, indignantly.
Everybody laughed as he twisted his face up, and tried to look serious. It was an utter impossibility with that lump ornamenting the end of his nose, others gradually swelling his cheeks, while various suspicious signs behind his ears marked the places where the angry little bees had left their stings.
"No hurry, Lil Artha," said Elmer; "let me rub your face with this witch hazel, and put a little ointment on to relieve the pain and reduce the swelling. You're puffing out under the eyes right now, and if something isn't done you'll have to be led around for a while."
While Elmer was doctoring the battered comrade George kept plying him with questions, as though he had great difficulty in believing the glorious truth.
"I hope it isn't only an old hornet's nest you've struck," he went on to say, doubtfully; "but then there wouldn't be any at this time of year, I guess. Sure you saw real honey, did you, Lil Artha?"
"And smelled it too!" cried the afflicted scout. "Why, the old tree burst open when it fell, andyou just ought to see what gallons of the stuff fills the hollow trunk away up near the top. My! but the bees are mad, and swarming around there by the million! I ran in among 'em, thinking to snatch a comb, and get away with it, but they swooped down on me, and I had to cut for it like fun. Elmer, however, can we get some of that honey without being stung to death? Oh! if only I had one of Daddy Green's bee head-nets that he loans to people when he's showing them the inside of a hive in his apiary, wouldn't it be the boss; and rubber gloves to go with the same."
"Perhaps I might rig up a net somehow," Elmer mused; "I've got a piece of mosquito netting in my bag that I use for a minnow seine, and that ought to make several head-nets. Let's see if we can find any gloves that'll help keep our hands out of danger."
After a hunt through all the traps the boys managed to secure enough coverings to answer the purpose after a clumsy fashion. Meanwhile George and Toby had hastily gathered what utensils they had with them capable of holding some of the honey. Everybody was wildly excited, for they had never really passed through an experience of this sort. Bee trees they had heard of many times, but that one should actually be discovered when they were camping out, and yearning for something of a sweet nature, seemed almost too good to be true.
"All ready here, Lil Artha!" exclaimed George; "and now lead us to your wonderful wild honeyhive. I just want to see it with my own eyes, that's all."
Lil Artha looked severely at him, that is, as well as he could with those half-shut eyes of his, and then remarked sarcastically:
"Well, if you ain't the limit, George; I sure hope youdosee the plain evidence, yes, andfeelsome of 'em too, like I did. They say the poison of bee stings is used in medicine, and it's mighty good for some things. P'raps a dose of the same'd cure you of your questioning everything there is. But come on, everybody."
Elmer did not know whether they were exactly wise in abandoning the camp, even for a brief time; but he felt that it would be hard to keep any one there; so he concluded to take the slight risk.
Lil Artha was a pretty good scout. He had noted directions as he went forth on the expedition, so that in returning to the camp he had made what might be called in more senses than one a "bee-line"; and now the trail was so plainly marked that even a fellow with one eye, or half-closed ones, could follow it back to where the other three scouts awaited their coming, hiding behind the brush so as not to attract too much attention from the buzzing horde of insects.
The netting was fashioned into head protectors, the ends being tucked well down in their coats. Then donning heavy gloves the two boys selected for the work, George and Ty Collins, started boldly into that whirling mass of excited bees.
They shortly came out bearing pans full ofsplendid honey, and doubtless a considerable number of stings in spite of all the precautions taken against this evil.
"Next time look for a little fresher stock," Elmer told them; "for while this is all right, and like amber in color, you'll find that it's last year's gathering. Split the tree further up, and get the latest stuff!"
So Ty took the ax back with him; while George worked a sort of smoke smudge Elmer had prepared, in order to help stupefy the bees. It did the business in great shape, too, as every bee keeper uses this means for keeping the little insects from paying too much attention to him when he is working with their hive. They seem to fancy that their home is in deadly danger of being consumed, and every working bee immediately burdens itself down with all the honey it can carry, and for the time being renders itself helpless to use its sting.
Every scout managed to accumulate one or more lumps, however, for the air was heavily charged with the bewildered insects, now homeless on a fall afternoon; and although the boys did a great deal of dodging they could not avoid contact all the time. But then the sight of that splendid honey made them forget their present troubles. They snatched up the bottle of witch hazel, or applied the ammonia solution recklessly, to immediately start in again working like heroes.
Elmer started back to camp bearing their one bucket actually full of the most delicious honey hehad ever tasted; and soon afterwards Lil Artha followed with two kettles also heavily laden with the same.
When Chatz came along with several heavy honeycombs secured with an arrangement consisting of cords, and stout twigs from some hickory tree, the three looked at each other in dire dismay.
"We can't live on honey alone, you know," Lil Artha up and said; "and it looks like we've already got every cooking vessel loaded down, with not half the store of sweet stuff cleaned out. What in the wide world can we do with it all? I guess this is a case of too much of a good thing."
"I know!" declared Chatz, suddenly; "in prowling around that haunted house I saw several old stone jars in what was once used as a pantry. Let's go over and lug the same to camp, Lil Artha. They can be washed out clean, and will hold all that honey, I assure you, suh. And we can carry most of the same back home with us to show other scouts what we've been doing up here in the woods."
So the pair hastened away, and after a while came back with the stone crocks or jars, each of which would hold several gallons. Elmer pronounced them the finest possible thing for holding their rich find, and proceeded to cleanse them thoroughly at the spring, after which the various cooking receptacles were emptied, and both Chatz and Lil Artha started eagerly back to the fountainhead for a fresh supply.
They certainly cleaned out the best part of that tree hive during the next hour, and had four jars full of splendid honey, some of it as clear as crystal. It was the greatest "harvest home" the Hickory Ridge Boy Scouts had ever experienced; and they seemed never to get quite enough of the sweet stuff, for every one kept tasting as new supplies were disclosed by splitting the tree further.
Finally, however, it came to an end, and the distracted bees were let alone with the sad wreck of their once fine hive. Perhaps, if they survived the chill of the coming night, some of them would start in fresh, and carry away enough of the discolored honey, refused by the discriminating scouts, to start a new hive, and keep the swarm alive during the winter.
Nobody seemed furiously hungry as the afternoon waned and the shades of night began to gather around the camp. This was hardly to be wondered at, however, since they had tasted so much honey for hours that it took away their customary zest for ordinary food. Elmer told them it was a bad thing, and every fellow promised that from that time on he would take his sweet stuff in moderation.
Of course they cooked some dinner; and after once getting a taste of the fried onions and potatoes it seemed that to some degree their fickle appetites did return, so that the food vanished in the end.
"I'm thinking about all that darker honey we left there," Lil Artha was saying, as they sataround the crackling fire long after night had fallen, and supper had been disposed of an hour or more.
"My starth!" ejaculated Ted, "I hope now you don't want to lay in any more of the thweet thtuff, do you, Lil Artha? Why, we'll be thticky all over with it. Don't be a hog. Leave thome to the poor little beeth; and it didn't look real nice, you know."
"Oh! I wasn't regretting that we couldn't make a clean sweep," explained the tall scout, whose face was once more gradually resuming its normal appearance; "but if what I've read is true, up in some places where they have black bears, they always set a watch when they've cut down a bee tree. You see, the smell of the honey is in the air, and if there's a bruin inside of five miles he'll be visiting that broken tree hive before morning, when the watcher can send a bullet into him."
"But you don't think there are bears around here, do you?" asked George, always to be found on the side of the opposition.
"Well, hardly," replied Lil Artha, "though some of us wish it might be so, because we've got a gun along, and they say bear steak isn't half bad when you're in camp, even if it does taste like dry tough beef when you're at home, and sitting down with a white table cloth before you. I'd like to try some, that's what; but this expedition wasn't started for a bear hunt, you know."
"No, that's so," Ty Collins remarked; "more likely a ghost hunt," and he gave Chatz a sly lookout of the corner of his eye as he said this.
"That was meant for me, suh," Chatz said, with dignity; "you think you can laugh at me because I'm weak enough to believe there may be such a thing as a ghost. But if you-all are so sure nothing of the kind ever could happen, what's to hinder me from having the entire camp along to-night when I go over there and hide, to watch what happens at exactly midnight?"
Elmer laughed softly.
"Do you mean that as a dare, Chatz?" he asked.
"Take it as you please, suh; and we'll soon see who believes in ghosts or not; because the one who backs down first is likely after all to be afraid of meeting up with visitors from the spirit land."
"Who's going along with Chatz and myself?" asked Elmer, turning to the circling scouts; who began to look serious, and cast quick glances toward each other.
"Oh! I'll keep you company, Elmer!" said George, first of all; for somehow he fancied everybody was staring hard at him, and not for worlds would he allow them to think he wasafraid.
"Count me in!" added Ty Collins, with a laugh, that bordered on the reckless.
"I'll go along, too," observed Ted.
Landy Smith hastened to nod his head in the affirmative when Elmer looked at him; Lil Artha spoke up and said he was bound to be one of the number; and finally Toby completed the list by signifying that he was ready to sacrifice himself also.
THE MIDNIGHT VIGIL
"I'mglad to learn we don't have any 'fraidcats in this camp, and that I'm likely enough to have plenty of company in keeping watch to-night in the haunted house," Chatz remarked cheerfully, after the last scout had been heard from.
"I've waited to see if it was going to be made unanimous," Elmer told them at this juncture; "and now that you've all toed the mark so handsomely, why of course I'll have to exercise my judgment in picking out, say a couple of fellows, who will stay to look after the camp here while the rest of us are otherwise employed."
"Lassoing ghosts, for instance!" Lil Artha murmured.
Elmer looked around the circle of faces again. All of them knew that he was selecting the pair of scouts who would be left behind, and while doubtless a number of the boys were secretly hoping deep down in their hearts that they might be one of the lucky number, they tried their best to appear indifferent.
"Ted, you're one!" said the leader, presently; "and I think I'll appoint Landy to keep you company." The latter commenced to splutter a little, when Elmer raised his hand, and continued:"Now, don't get the notion in your heads that because I've selected you for playing the rôle of martyr it was because I thought you'd prove weak-kneed, or in any way show up poorly. I've no reason to think anything of the sort; only there had to be two chosen, and I've taken you for reasons of my own.Landywas complaining a short time ago of feeling squeamish, after gorging himself with all that honey; and in case he gets sick who could attend so well to him as our Doctor Ted?"
That was explanation enough, and every one had to rest satisfied. Perhaps, if the truth were told, neither of the two scouts had any regrets coming; and secretly they were envied by some of the less fortunate ones, who would gladly have guarded the camp stores, if given the opportunity.
"One thing good," Chatz informed them, "we're going to have a moon poking up in a little while. You know it's past the full stage, but from ten o'clock up to daylight it'll hold the fort up above."
"Fine!" exclaimed George, with a half laugh; "I always do like to have bright moonlight whenever I go after ghosts. You can see the white things so much better, and watch 'em flit around as soft as silk. I'm glad you've ordered up a moon to help out, Chatz; it'll sure make things more interesting."
"I think myself it will, suh," the Southern boy said, placidly in his turn; "and if any of us feel like we'd want to make a bee-line from the houseto this camp here, why, the running is better when you have moonlight, you know."
"Huh! that was meant for me, I guess, Chatz," sneered George; "but you'll have to take it out in waiting if you expect to see me chasing along, and hollering for help, because some old owl with a white front shows up, or the bats begin to fly in and out of that tower. I'm not built very much that way."
"I hope not, suh!" was all Chatz said in reply; but George was seen to color up, and look a trifle confused, as though possibly he might not be feeling quite as bold inwardly as his words would imply.
"When ought we start over?" asked Lil Artha, just as carelessly, to all appearances, as though it might be a friendly visit to some neighboring camp, instead of a thrilling experience in a haunted house.
"In about half an hour or so after the moon rises," Elmer informed him; "that ought to be time enough, don't you think, Chatz?"
"Plenty, suh," came the reply, "because, if there is any truth at all in these stories they tell about such places, the fun doesn't ever begin till midnight."
"Fun!" muttered Toby, rubbing his chin reflectively; "well, it does beat all creation what some people call fun. Now, so far as I'm concerned, while I'm going along with you, and can't be made to back out, it's all a silly nuisance. I'd rather be climbing up into that same old tower,and getting ready for a drop with my reliable parachute."
"No use of that in the night-time, Toby," remonstrated Ty; "mebbe to-morrow we'll get a blanket brigade to stand below while you make your first jump, so's to let you down easy if the old thing breaks."
"No danger of that, Ty; because I've gone all over it again and again, and right now she could sustain a weight of half a ton, I reckon. But it's good of you to be interested enough in my invention to lend a helping hand. Think what it'll mean to all the tribe of aeronauts when every flier is equipped with a Jones Life-saving Parachute, that is guaranteed to float him softly to the ground even if he has a breakdown accident a mile up in the clouds."
Toby after that fell into a musing spell. Perhaps in imagination he peopled the air fairly filled with flitting aeroplanes, and every single aviator supplied with the remarkable device that was going to make the name of Jones the most famous in all the wide land.
The other scouts chatted, and exchanged all sorts of lively remarks. They even indulged in several songs that sounded very strange when heard among those whispering pines of the grove, and knowing as they did what manner of house stood close by, with a halo of mystery surrounding it.
Just as Chatz had predicted the moon arose close on ten o'clock. It was no longer as roundas a shield, but had an end lopped off; still the flood of mellow light that came from the lantern in the sky was very acceptable to the scouts, and served to render their intended mission less objectionable.
Finally Elmer arose, and there was a start on the part of those who had been selected to accompany the leader and Chatz on their singular errand.
"I hope you'll let me carry the gun, Elmer?" Lil Artha remarked, coaxingly.
"Why should you?" replied the other, instantly; "if it is a real ghost a bullet wouldn't hurt a bit; and if it should turn out to be some one playing a mad prank I don't think you'd feel easy in your mind if you were tempted to shoot him."
"But it might be some tramp or hard case, and we'd want to subdue him; how about that, Elmer?" questioned Toby.
"Well, we can carry clubs if we like," said Elmer; "and I mean to have a piece of stout rope, so we can tie him up if we overpower him. Six scouts can put up a pretty hefty sort of fight, it strikes me, if things get to that point. No, leave the gun for the defenders of the camp and the grub."
When presently the six boys stalked forth on their singular errand they did not seem to be in very merry spirits. True, Elmer was smiling as though he could give half a guess as to what they were about to run up against; and there was Chatz, a satisfied grin on his dark countenance;but the remainder of the investigating party could hardly have looked more solemn and melancholy if they had been about to attend the funeral of a dear departed friend.
"Good luck!" called out Ted, after them; while Landy waved his hand mockingly, and grinned happily as he remarked:
"We'll expect to see you fetch back at least one full-fledged ghost, boys; and take care he don't bite you. They're apt to do something along that order, I'm told, by people who've interviewed some of the species. But you c'n tame 'em so they'll even eat out of your hand."
"Just you wait, that's all," was the sum total of what the departing scouts deigned to reply, as they vanished amidst the mixture of silvery moonbeams and darkening shadows.
Soon they glimpsed the house through the dense vegetation. It stood out boldly in the moonlight, grim and silent. There was not the half expected gleam of any inside illumination, only the dilapidated windows, the walls covered in many places by a rank growth of Virginia Creeper vine, the broken chimneys rearing themselves up above the ridge, and that square tower overtopping it all.
As they approached the walls of the house it might have been noticed that those of the scouts who had been lingering a little back of the rest somehow seemed to think they ought to close the gap, for they hurried their footsteps, and were soon in a cluster, with no laggards.
"I've thought to fetch my little handy electrictorch along, Elmer," said Lil Artha about this time.
"It may come in useful," was the reply Elmer made; "but with all that moonlight going to waste I hardly think we'll need it. Still, you never can tell, and it's a mighty clever affair. You were wise to think of fetching it, Lil Artha."
"Are we going to separate, Elmer; and if we do, will you let me place the rest of the boys, suh?" Chatz asked before they reached the yawning doorway of the deserted building.
"How about that, fellows?" the leader asked them; "do you think we had better split up into several small parties or stand together?"
Toby, Lil Artha, Ty Collins and George heard this announcement with a new sense of consternation. In imagination they could easily picture how dreary and unpleasant it was going to be if each one had to take a post isolated from the rest, there to stand and listen, and perhapsshiveras the time crept on, until he must become so nervous that he could give a yell.
"For my part, Elmer," Lil Artha said, hastily, "I think we had ought to stick in a bunch. One couldn't do much against a—er—ghost, you see; while the lot of us might be able to down anything going."
"That's what I think too, Elmer," piped up George, "though of course, if you say so, I'm willing to do anything to carry on the game."
"United we stand, divided we fall!" spouted Ty Collins, who, while a big blustering good-heartedfellow himself, did not exactly like the thought of being alone in that weather-beaten and half wrecked house, as the hour drew on toward midnight.
"I think we ought to stick together, Elmer," Toby declared, which confession appeared to tickle Chatz, judging from the low snicker he gave utterance to; for, just as he had suspected, while none of these fellows would admit that they placed the least faith in things bordering on the supernatural, still they did not fancy finding themselves left alone in a house that had been given a bad name.
Elmer had been talking matters over with Chatz, so that they were agreed as to where the watchers should take up their positions. All talking except in whispers was frowned down upon from that time forward; and there is always something exciting about a situation when everybody is speaking in low tones.
They entered the house, and led by Chatz passed up the rickety stairs. This was evidence enough that their vigil was about to be undertaken in the upper story. George seemed to think that if he could manifest a disposition to joke a little it would be pretty good evidence that he at least was not afraid; and while as a rule he left this weakness to Toby and Lil Artha he could not resist the temptation to lean over and whisper to Ty, so that Chatz also might hear, something to the effect that it was just as well they were mounting those shaky stairs because people who believed insilly ghosts must be weak in the upper story.
No one laughed, so George did not attempt any more witticisms. Truth to tell, he was not feeling as perfectly indifferent as he tried to make out; and when one of the others slipped a little, George it was who exclaimed hastily:
"Oh! what in thunder was that?"
When the six scouts had gained the second floor they passed along the wide hall to the place that had been chosen for the vigil. While in the gloom themselves it was easily possible for them to look along the moonlit hall, diversified with shadows, and see any moving thing that might attempt to pass that way. At the same time by turning their heads they could see out of the nearest window, and have a fair view of the open space between the wall of the house and the dense bushes close by. Beyond arose the thickly interlaced trees, a wild scramble along the line of the survival of the fittest.
Elmer stationed them all as he thought would be best. They were told that they could sit down cross-legged, Turkish fashion, if they chose; but under no circumstances was any one to allow himself to be overpowered by sleep. If a scout had reason to believe the one next to him were nodding suspiciously he must whisper words of warning in his ear; and should that fail to effect a radical cure he was empowered to try other tactics, if by chance he possessed a pin.
Having been fully awake at the time of their arrival, something like half an hour went by withall the scouts apparently on the watch. Then George had to be admonished by Lil Artha several times, until finally a low gasp, and muttering, as well as quick rubbing of his thigh on the part of George announced that the radical means had been employed in order to keep him awake.
There is nothing more reliable as a sleep preventative than the jab of a pin; it seems to send an electric shock through the whole system, and eyes that were just about to close fly wide-open again.
Twenty minutes later another low gurgling cry arose; this time it came from the elongated scout, and George was heard to whisper savagely:
"Tit for tat, Lil Artha; you gave me a stab, and now we're even."
"'Sh! I thought I heard something moving down there in the bushes!" the scout master told them, cautiously.
Of course every one was immediately quivering with intense anxiety and eagerness. It was very close on the mystic hour of midnight, too, which added to the interest of the matter. Could it be that they were about to witness some strange manifestation such as Chatz professed to believe was possible? No wonder that the boys wriggled erect, stiff in their joints after sitting there tailor-fashion so long, and pressing toward the open window stared down toward the bushes to which Elmer had referred when he spoke.
So bright was the moon, now fairly high in the sky, that even small objects could readily be distinguished.There was nothing in sight that they could notice where the rank grass grew, and the trees and bushes were absent; but looking further they could actually see something white moving along through the brush.
No one said a single word, but there might have been heard several quick gasps; and a hand that fell on the sleeve of Elmer's khaki coat trembled fiercely. If ever some of those boys were willing to confess to the truth they would admit that their hearts began to beat furiously about that time, as with staring eyes they watched that mysterious white object pushing through the matted bushes that grew just beyond the open space near the walls of the haunted house.