SPOOKS OF THE LONESOME ISLE
"Yes, I know the way. I could go there blindfolded," answered Harriet,
in reply to a question from Miss Elting.
The hour was nine o'clock in the evening. The night was very dark,
though the stars were shining. It had been decided that Margery and
Tommy should remain on board the "Red Rover," putting out all lights and
locking the doors, though no anxiety was felt about them, as there was
scarcely a chance that their presence would be discovered, provided the
girls remained quiet.
The paraphernalia for the evening's enterprise was carefully loaded into
the rowboat; then, with final admonitions to Tommy and Margery to keep
silent and not be afraid, the party set out in the rowboat for the
entrance of the creek. They paused there long enough to make certain
that no one was about, after which they rowed along the shore a short
distance and made a landing at a point where the ground was fairly
level.
"Now be very quiet," whispered Harriet. "Remember the signal to return
to the boat is one long caw. Two caws in quick succession mean 'hurry.'"
"We shan't be far apart, shall we?" questioned Hazel, somewhat
apprehensively.
"No. Within speaking distance," replied Miss Elting. "Leave it to
Harriet and Jane to make the first advance. We will follow when the time
is right. It is fortunate that we left Tommy and Margery at home. Are
you ready, Harriet?"
It was a silent party of four shadowy figures that made its way
cautiously along the shore of the island for some little distance. The
party then turned sharply to the right and disappeared among the bushes
that marked a slight rise of ground. Reaching this rise they turned to
the left and once more proceeded straight ahead.
The lights of a campfire were soon distinguishable between the trees.
The party was nearing the camp of the Tramp Club. The time to prepare
for their final triumph was at hand.
"Now, Harriet," urged Miss Elting in a half whisper.
"Yes. I will go around to the other side of the camp. That will be the
most difficult position to get away from, so I am choosing it for
myself. Jane, you will remain here, while Miss Elting and Hazel will
take a position halfway between us. You see that will enable us
practically to surround the camp. After you hear me, wait a moment, then
give them a thriller."
Harriet, accompanied by the guardian and Hazel, stepped promptly away.
After going on for some distance, the girl directed Miss Elting and
Hazel to stop and remain where they were, except that they were to
separate, yet keep within easy call of each other. This detail arranged,
Harriet went on.
According to previous arrangement, Jane, Miss Elting and Hazel gradually
crept nearer to the camp, continuing until they could make out the
figures of the boys quite plainly. The latter were sitting about the
campfire. Their attitude was one of dejection. They had been outwitted
and they knew it.
"If we don't find those girls to-night, then to-morrow morning we'll get
out of here," announced George. "They know that they have won and we'll
let them come and tell us so rather than hunt all summer for them."
"What about that half-breed?" asked Sam. "I think we'd better find out
who he is. I didn't like the looks of that fellow a little bit."
"Neither did I," agreed George. "Queer we never saw him around here
before."
"You must remember this is a large lake," Billy informed them. "He
probably is a fisherman who hangs out on the island, and who resented
our encroaching upon his preserves. I think I saw the same fellow once
in a canoe, but he was so far away that I don't think I would know him
were we to meet face to face."
"There are too many mysterious things on this island," averred Larry
Goheen, with emphasis. "I, for one, shall be glad to get away from it. I
know there are spooks here."
"Spooks!" jeered George. "Who's afraid of spooks? Who--" George's voice
trailed off almost into a whisper. "I heard something," he exclaimed.
"So did I," added Larry, nodding.
A laugh, a distinctly human laugh, shrill and mocking, was wafted to
them. The boys gazed questioningly at each other. Larry glanced about
apprehensively. Then out of the night came the most weird, most
demoniacal laugh any member of the Tramp Club ever had heard.
The boys sprang to their feet.
Other laughs, accompanied by shrieks, followed each other in quick
succession. The laughs seemed to come from all quarters. It was
difficult to say from just what particular point any one of them did
come.
"Spooks!" yelled Larry Goheen, bolting toward the lake. Billy caught and
jerked him back.
"No, you don't," growled Billy. "We stand together."
"I don't want to stay here," chattered Larry. "I never try to fool
people with fake courage when I know that running is my one best course
to pursue."
"Is there a lunatic asylum in this part of the country?" asked Baker.
"Can it be possible that any of the inmates have escaped."
Billy Gordon shook his head. "Nothing as easy as that," he sighed.
"Great Scott! There it goes again!" breathed Larry. "It's down that way,
too," pointing in the direction taken by Harriet Burrell.
It was a long, weird wail, well calculated to freeze the marrow in one's
bones.
"Come on, fellows!" cried George, with a fine showing of resolution.
"We'll lay that ghost!"
George was the only one of the boys who thought to snatch up a club as
he ran. But now the unearthly sounds came from the rear, instead of
ahead of them. The boys wheeled abruptly, only to hear right in front of
them a dismaying chorus of ghostly noises.
"Let's go!" urged Larry. "It's surely a lot of banshees!"
"Great Scott! Look!" quivered Sam, pointing with trembling finger.
In the faint light the boys made out a white figure that might have been
anywhere from seven to ten feet in height. The boys were too scared to
judge of length. The awful thing raised its draped arms, a frightful
scream sounding on the air.
At that Billy lost his grip on Larry's arm. Goheen made no apologies,
but made a straight, swift dash for camp.
The other boys hesitated for a few brief seconds; then they, too, headed
for camp. They were not exactly running. They were leaping like as many
frightened rabbits, fleeing from a rabbit hound. In their haste they
lost their way and were proceeding directly toward the spot where Jane
McCarthy was standing.
Jane finally heard them coming. She was filled with glee. She had feared
that she was not to have an opportunity to play an important part in
this ghost party. Making a noise like a ghost did not wholly satisfy
Crazy Jane McCarthy. What she wanted was something more exciting. Her
opportunity came very quickly. The boys were nearly up to her, ere she
realized that they were so close.
A wild wail halted them.
"Come on, you fellows!" yelled George to his faltering companions.
"There it is!" howled Sam.
He had espied another figure that looked exactly like the first ghost.
George discovered it at about the same time. George made a brave rush
toward the figure, yelling to frighten it. But Crazy Jane was not easily
frightened. She advanced slowly, waving the long, draped arms, and
moaning. All at once something came down on the head of George Baker,
just as he had raised his club to hurl it at the ghost. The something
was a long tough stick in the hand of Jane McCarthy.
George uttered a howl and sprang back. The ghost advanced on him. Billy
got a light tap, then Sam yelled as something damp brushed his cheek.
He did not know that it was the leaf of a bush. He thought it the cold,
clammy hand of the ghost.
The boys having gotten more than they had looked for, began to retreat.
Sam was the first after Larry to run. He did so with all speed, followed
closely by George and Billy. They were confused. They did not know just
where the camp was located. Glancing over their shoulders they saw that
the ghost was pursuing them. The boys began to shout anew, and to run
even at greater speed.
"There's some more of them," howled Sam.
"Yeow!" yelled George. He sprang to the left, in which direction he
believed the camp lay, then he halted. Another ghost was confronting
him. George hesitated. The ghost uttered a moan. The brave George Baker,
captain of the Tramp Club, took to his heels. The others did the same,
except that each took a different direction. Wherever they ran they were
followed by moans and screams, principally from the lips of Crazy Jane
McCarthy.
It seemed to their excited imaginations that the woods were full of
ghosts of giant stature, with voices capable of making one's hair stand
on end. The worst of it was that the ghosts persisted in pursuing them.
They chased the brave Tramp Club right into camp, where the lads
arrived one by one. Instead of stopping the boys bolted for the launch,
in which the frightened Larry Goheen already had sought safety.
"Cast off," yelled George, the last to leap into the boat.
The launch was shoved from the shore and allowed to drift while the boys
sat shivering, listening to the wails from the forest.
"Good-bye," answered Sam.
"Fellows, we are all cowards," declared George, beginning to get control
of himself. "We should have staid and knocked them out."
"I'll go back, if you say so," answered Billy promptly.
"No. I've got enough of this place. To-morrow morning we break camp and
go back to the other camping place. No more ghost parties for mine."
"As long as we have decided to move why not go now," suggested Larry.
The boys discussed the matter briefly, then decided that they would. Sam
was put on guard to watch for the return of the ghosts while the others
hurriedly broke camp. But there were no more ghostly moans nor ghostly
intruders that night.
The ghosts in the persons of the Meadow-Brook Girls were on their way to
their rowboat. Beaching it they sat down and laughed until their eyes
were wet with tears.
"It was a mean trick to play on them," gasped Miss Elting. "But I think
we have more than won our wager. It is a wonder that they didn't suspect
us."
"There goes a boat!" cried Jane. "It's a launch."
"It is the boys. We have frightened them off," answered Miss Elting.
The girls rowed quickly home, but ere they had reached the entrance to
the secret creek they were startled by the sound of a shrill scream.
They recognized the voice as Tommy's and began to shout, and to row with
all their might. A moment later, just as they were about to turn into
the opening with their boat, a canoe shot out and darted across their
bows, disappearing in the darkness.
"A man, a man!" yelled Tommy as Harriet shouted to know if the two girls
were all right. Tommy threw open the door and in her excitement walked
off the after deck of the "Red Rover" and fell forward into the stream.
"Jane, do you recognize that man?" cried Harriet excitedly.
"Yes," exclaimed Jane, "he's the man I saw this afternoon, and he's our
mysterious enemy too, or my name's not Jane McCarthy."