THE SHERIFF DIPS INTO FAIRY STORIES
"Show Mr. Dodd our notice to leave, Bluff," said Frank laughingly.
"Reach around and get it, Will, please. It's just back of you. Thanks.
There you are, sir. Our lease is up, apparently, and we must get out,
unless we want to have things made disagreeable for us."
The sheriff elevated his eyebrows.
"I expect this is some more doings of this wonderful ghost," he remarked
shrewdly.
"We have an idea that way, sir. What do you think it means? Why should
any one play such a silly game? What is there valuable up here that he
should want to frighten people away?" asked Frank.
By putting it up to the sheriff he fancied he could ascertain what Mr.
Dodd thought before confessing how they had figured the matter out. If
his ideas corresponded with their own it would then be time enough to
confess.
"Well, boys, it's all simple enough to me, knowing the ins and outs as I
do. In brief, the fellow responsible for this work up here, playing
ghost and the like, is the very man we're looking for. He was once an
actor, and I suppose the old spirit clings to him. He had a reason for
not wanting inquisitive people up here while he was doing something, and
the ghost is the result of his figuring how best to keep 'em away.
Reckon that same thing would just _draw_ some persons I know," and the
sheriff chuckled as he looked knowingly at the four lads.
"Yes, we did come up here partly to find out if there was any truth in
those stories. You remember we had a part in showing up the yarn about
the wild man of Wildcat Island, last spring. It turned out to be a
couple of hoboes who wanted to keep campers away from the place so they
could stay there," remarked Jerry.
"And you thought this might prove to be something the same. Well, it
has, for I'm dead sure that Thaddeus Lasher is responsible for the
appearance of the ghost of Oak Ridge. Now, you wonder why I say that.
I've a mind to tell you the whole story from the start, since you've
been so obliging to me and my deputy here."
"Oh! please do, Mr. Dodd!" urged Will.
"All right. Then listen, boys. You've heard how these two men broke
out, and how we got one with the dogs, long ago. The other escaped us by
using means that I hardly think were fair to the dogs, though, of
course, one can't blame a poor chap trying for his liberty."
"Yes, we heard about the red pepper dodge, sir, and thought it pretty
clever; and that man has been at large ever since then?" said Frank.
"He has. I've been expecting to hear of him up in this section, but he
kept away for some months, perhaps knowing we'd be on the lookout for
him. You wonder what has drawn him up here, of course, and that's what
I'm going to tell now. I give you my word, boys, you'll find it one of
the strangest stories ever."
Mr. Dodd ate in silence for a few minutes, and then resumed:
"Last winter this convict tried to interest the wardens of the prison,
and the chief keeper, particularly, in a wild story he told, connected
with his innocence of the burglary that sent him up for a long term."
"How long was it, sir? I am asking because we know Andy Lasher, and have
for five years, but never dreamed his dad was in prison," queried Bluff,
who always wanted the particulars, lawyer fashion.
"Six years ago it happened, and he was sent up for ten, after good
behavior was deducted. So you see he had some four years ahead of him,
worth fighting for. But about this story that made the head warden
laugh, for he believed it only sprung from the brain of a half-crazy
man.
"Lasher said that he was with an old thief who had died in the prison.
He must have done something to win the good-will of the sick man, for he
said that the other made a confession to him before he breathed his
last. In short, he owned that it had been no other than himself who had
committed the burglary for which Thaddeus Lasher was doing time."
Again he paused, to let this sink home. The boys looked at each other,
and said not a word, eagerly waiting for Mr. Dodd to go on.
"Now, it happened that the man whose house was robbed was a queer sort.
He had heaps of money, but spent his time in making collections of
precious jewels, and in experimenting along the line of photography."
"That hits Will, here, for he just dotes on such a fad," said Bluff.
"It came out in the trial that this smart gentleman had set a trap by
which he expected to get a photograph of any would-be thief who tried to
open his safe, containing many valuable gems. He had a camera hidden
from view, and so placed that when he made connections at retiring,
unless these were broken first, any one who took hold of the safe would
set a flashlight off, and have his picture taken, free of expense."
The boys, who had listened with eagerness, uttered exclamations at this
point.
"Talk to me about the smartness of that Dicky, will you!" said Jerry.
"How about it, Will? Could such a thing be done?" asked Bluff.
"I think so. I have a recollection of reading about something like that
having once sent a bad man to the gallows. Of course, if the fellow had
enough nerve to stick it out, he could search for the camera, and
destroy the plate," remarked Will.
"Well said, my boy. That was just what happened in this case, Lasher
claimed--that is, the burglar hunted around after recovering from his
fright, and found the concealed camera. But he did not smash the plate.
Instead, after he had looted the safe he just carried away the holder
containing the exposed plate."
"What for?" demanded Bluff.
"He must have been a sort of humorous chap, and wanted to see how he
looked at the time he was doing business," laughed Frank.
"Nobody knows why he took it away. Perhaps he meant to break it later,
but when he got to thinking it over he determined to have it developed,
just to see what it was. So one night he visited a photographer, and
threatening him, if he ever mentioned the fact to a living soul, went
with him into his dark-room and saw the plate developed. Lasher even
mentioned the name of the man who developed it, but the head warden only
laughed the harder.
"Even then the man never had a print made. Perhaps he intended to later.
Meanwhile, he buried his swag from the robbery, together with this same
plate, up here in these very Sunset Mountains, where, as a boy, long
before, he used to live, on the road that leads to Chester, not far from
here."
Again Mr. Dodd paused to eat a little more. He knew how to keep the
interest at fever heat. The boys could hardly breathe, they were so
excited at this point.
"Please go on, sir," said Will finally.
"Lasher claimed that if he were only given an opportunity, he could lead
one of the prison wardens to the place where, after a little search, he
felt positive he would be able to produce not only the lost plunder, but
the missing plate, which must prove his entire innocence, if it were
still in a good state of preservation.
"The head of the institution has so many fairy stories told him by
prisoners who want only a chance to slip away, that he would not listen
to such a thing. After repeated failures to get his case heard, it seems
that Lasher conspired with one of his fellows. The result was the break
from confinement, the pursuit, and his final escape by means of the
pepper he must have carried with him for just such a purpose."
"I never heard anything so strange, Mr. Dodd. It certainly sounds like a
fairy story, and I can't wonder at the head warden for doubting it. But
Will, here, who is something of an authority, says that photographic
part is easy enough," declared Frank, thinking that he was expected to
say something.
"Well, as I said, we lost all track of the man. Nobody knows where he
was hidden all these long weeks. I came up into the hills to
investigate, and found it just as he declared. There were the ruins of
an old homestead near the road across the lake yonder, and they told me
that an old man by the name of Fletcher had once lived there. That was
the real name of the dead convict thief.
"I haunted the place for a week, but saw no signs of my man. Then I
concluded that he must have been there, hunted for the plunder, found
it, and perhaps carried it away, determined that since he had paid the
penalty for the robbery he might as well enjoy the fruits."
"Do you think so now?" asked Frank during another pause.
"No, I don't. The appearance of this so-called ghost set me to thinking.
Then in a roundabout way I learned, only recently, that one night a man
was seen sneaking away from the little humble house where Mrs. Lasher
and her children live. So you see, I began to piece things together, and
finally I came to a conclusion.
"I believed that Thaddeus Lasher had finally come to hunt for the
plunder hidden by Fletcher, and that he was having much more trouble
finding the same than he had expected. In order not to be bothered in
his labor he had hit on this ghost dodge to scare the country jays off.
I remembered that he had been an actor in his better days, before he
began to drink and get in bad company.
"Accordingly, I finally concluded that it would pay me to make another
trip up to the vicinity of Sunset Lake, this time fetching along several
deputies, for I did not know how desperate a man Lasher might prove. I
heard from Adolphus that your party was up here, and wondered if by any
chance you might have run across the man I am hunting for; but I reckon
you haven't up to now."
Mr. Dodd smiled as he once more glanced at the warning that had been
fastened to the oak tree, as if that circumstance aided him more or less
in coming to the conclusion he had.