PROFITS
The interest that had been aroused by the cave-in of Copper Coleson’s
mine was as nothing compared with the excitement which prevailed when it
became known that the property had been used as a base by smugglers from
Canada. A large number of automobilists made the Coleson place the
objective of their Sunday-afternoon drive, but except for wheel and foot
tracks about the tightly shuttered building, there was nothing to be
seen. The boys who had taken so active a part in the capture of the gang
were overwhelmed with praise and bombarded with questions, but acting
upon a preconcerted agreement, they gave out very little information.
“Keep ’em guessing,” had been Ned Blake’s brief advice. “We’ll get the
fellows together on Monday afternoon and decide what’s to be done.”
Owing to the fact that the Wilbur garage was newly painted, the meeting
was held in the Blake yard beneath the friendly, though of late
neglected, apple tree. Perched upon one of the lower limbs, Ned called
the meeting to order, and Treasurer Beals from his soap-box submitted
his report which showed after payment of all outstanding accounts a
gratifying balance.
“We were going good, but I guess the game’s up,” concluded Tommy,
gloomily.
“Yes, the Demon Dance bubble is busted,” agreed Rogers. “The Ghost of
Copper Coleson is laid, and the phantom stuff was really about all that
we had to offer.”
“But we’ve paid the rent on the old shebang right up to October,”
grumbled Dick Somers. “We’ve got to make _some_ use of it, or else admit
we’re licked!”
“That’s just what we’re here to decide,” declared Ned. “Instead of
quitting, I believe we’ll go bigger than ever!”
“Do you mean we’ll keep on with the dances?” asked Jim Tapley.
“I can’t see why not,” replied Ned. “All we need is some attraction to
keep the crowd coming and this raid has given us a lot of advertising.
Judging from the talk that’s going round I’d say that everybody wants to
see where and how the thing happened. My idea would be to make ’em pay
for what they learn. We can sell dance-tickets to include a walk across
the canvas track and through the cellar into the mine.”
“Swell idea,” agreed Wilbur, “only we ought to run the dances twice a
week while the interest lasts. D’j’ever hear about ‘making hay while the
sun shines’?”
“Great!” applauded Rogers. “Fatty, it’s up to you to get out some new
posters advertising semi-weekly dances at the Rum-Runners Retreat.”
“That’s the idea!” chuckled Dick. “We’ll get a new crank for the winch
and charge half a dollar for a ride on the dump-car down the tunnel.
That’ll be a swell job for Weary!”
“Aw say, Dick, use your bean,” urged Dave.
“There’s another plan that might help us,” suggested Ned, when the laugh
at Dave’s expense had subsided. “Suppose we were to clear out the old
wood-road, which has played such an important part in all that has
happened, and make it usable for our dance crowd. It’s a good two miles
shorter than the regular route to Coleson’s.”
This was unanimously approved.
“All we’ll have to do is pull those vines to one side and chop out the
brush along the road,” said Rogers. “In a couple of days we’ll have
everything ready for Wednesday night.”
“All right, fellows,” said Ned, as the meeting adjourned, “let’s meet at
Dave’s tomorrow morning all set for a long day in the woods. Everybody
will need a good sharp axe—and by the way,” he continued with a wink at
Tommy Beals, “mine is pretty dull. How about giving me a few turns on
the old grindstone, Weary?”
Dave Wilbur glanced at the crank-handle of the heavy stone and from it
to the circle of grinning faces. “Oh, all right,” he drawled. “I guess
it’s on me this time,” and added with a grin, “they do say that ‘a
chicken always comes home to roost.’”
THE END
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L. C. Page & Company’s
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PEGGY RAYMOND’S FRIENDLY TERRACE QUARTETTE
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PEGGY RAYMOND’S WAY
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Who Led the United States and Her Allies to a Glorious Victory.
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FAMOUS AMERICAN NAVAL OFFICERS With a complete index.
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STORIES BY EVALEEN STEIN
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GABRIEL AND THE HOUR BOOK
A LITTLE SHEPHERD OF PROVENCE
THE CHRISTMAS PORRINGER
THE LITTLE COUNT OF NORMANDY
PEPIN: A Tale of Twelfth Night
CHILDREN’S STORIES
THE CIRCUS DWARF STORIES
WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY
TROUBADOUR TALES
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Transcriber’s Notes
--A few typographical errors or inconsistent spellings were corrected.
--In the text versions, delimited italicized text in _underscores_ (the
HTML version reproduces the font form of the printed book.)
End of Project Gutenberg's Copper Coleson's Ghost, by Edward P. Hendrick