"TO THE VICTORS BELONG THE SPOILS"
SO far as the other scouts knew, Elmer Chenowith had never seen such a
mystery as a real ghost in all his life; and he certainly had not heard
one groan, or give any kind of sound. Consequently his imagination was
called upon to conjure up a series of queer, blood curdling noises such
as an orthodox specter, fresh from the world of shades, might be
expected to utter when tremendously excited.
Josh and George afterwards confessed that if they had not known it was
the scout master who amused himself in this way, they too might have
shivered in their shoes. As for the Southern boy, he lay there amidst
the brush, and kept his eyes glued all the time on the face of Elmer, as
though he dared not depend on his knowledge of facts, but must back this
up with the positive evidence of his eyes.
Once Chatz even cautiously put out his hand, and gently felt of Elmer's
khaki sleeve; it was a mute confession that while never a doubter like
George, the boy from Dixie had to be convinced when it was a matter of
superstition.
But the main thing, of course, was what effect Elmer's groaning might
have upon the four boys who had stolen a march upon the scouts, and
reached the harvest of nuts in advance.
No sooner had the first sounds begun to rise than they looked up with
startled expressions on their faces. Of course, like nearly every other
person in town, the quartette must have heard strange stories connected
with the abandoned Cartaret place, for such things have a way of
traveling from one end of a county to another, being eagerly repeated
even by many who would scorn to admit their belief in such silly notions
as ghosts.
Before coming up here perhaps Connie and Phil, with the other two
fellows, may have talked things over seriously, and expressed many a
fervid hope that their piratical operations might not be interrupted by
any visit from a spectral guardian, such as was said to watch over the
place.
The first thing they did was to stare at each other, while their mouths
could be seen to open with astonishment.
Elmer changed his key, and gave them another sample of the weird sounds
capable of being coaxed from a birch bark horn. He certainly was making
a great success of his music, his comrades thought, as they lay there
and waited to be invited to have a share in the proceedings, according
to agreement.
Toby afterwards solemnly declared that he could see the caps of the four
frightened boys start to rise, as their hair stood on end; though an
element of doubt always surrounded this statement; for Toby was so
excited himself that possibly his imagination worked over-time.
With the change in tune the boys seemed to regain in some measure the
command of their faculties; at least they were able to rush close
together, as though seeing protection in mutual sympathy. It was a plain
case of "united we stand, divided we fall!" And clutching at one another
they continued to shiver and listen,--meanwhile looking all around, as
though more than half expecting to discover some terrible figure bearing
down on them.
Elmer would have been only too happy to have provided such a specter for
their accommodation; but unfortunately he had not come prepared to
launch such a thing. Ghosts were hardly in his line; and in lieu of a
specimen for exhibition purposes he was compelled to do the best he
could with the material on hand; which is always a cardinal principle
with scouts.
"Now!"
When Elmer hissed this single word his four chums knew that their time
had come to get into the game. The snake had been "scotched, not
killed," as Josh later on aptly described it. No matter how much
frightened Connie Mallon and his cronies might seem to be, if they stood
by their guns what would the advantage amount to? The affair must be
turned into a regular rout in order that the scouts might reap the full
benefit.
Accordingly all of them got busy immediately. George pounded on a hollow
log with a heavy stick, and managed to produce a series of throbbing
sounds that were likely to add to the consternation of the listeners;
Ted clapped two stones together; while Toby and Chatz rattled the brush
violently, and added a few choice groans of their own manufacture as
good measure.
It was enough, yes more than sufficient.
Human nature had reached its limit, so far as those alarmed fellows were
concerned. Undoubtedly they must have become convinced that their raid
on the preserves of the ghostly guardian of the haunted Cartaret place
had aroused the ire of the said defender, and that they were now in
deadly danger of being seized by bony hands.
Of course Connie and his followers were raw novices in matters connected
with haunts, and all such things, or they would have known that no self
respecting ghost was ever caught giving public exhibitions of his
oddities in broad daylight. The gloom of night, or the weird light of
the moon, has always had a monopoly of these thrilling diversions.
When Connie Mallon suddenly gave a tremendous spring forward, and
started on a full run, there was no holding the other three back. They
went plunging madly on in his wake, paying little attention to the
direction they took, so long as their flight promised to carry them away
from those dreadful manifestations.
Elmer did not stop his labors; in fact he even went to some pains to
increase the racket, under the impression that once you get a thing
started it is good policy to keep it moving.
He had distinctly warned the others, however, not to allow their
excitement to overlap their discretion; for should one of them so far
forget himself enough to give vent to a genuine boyish shout, perhaps
the panic-stricken quartette might become wise to the fact that they
were being made victims to a great hoax.
"Come on, let's chase after them a bit, fellows!" Elmer told them,
between his puffs through the birch bark megaphone; "but keep well back,
so that they can't get a look-in at us if they turn their heads. Noise
is what we want, and plenty of the right kind."
Acting on his suggestion the others trailed after their leader. They
swished in and out of the bushes, and accompanied their progress with
all manner of novel sounds, each of which was calculated to add just a
mite more to the alarm of the fugitives.
More than once they heard loud cries of pain coming from ahead, as one
of the runners collided with some tree which had not been noticed in his
terror; or else found himself tripped up by a wild grape-vine that lay
in wait for unwary feet. As Toby declared later on, all this was "just
pie" for the chasers; they feasted off it, and seemed to enjoy the run
immensely; which was more than the Mallon boy, with his three cronies,
could ever say.
At least Connie seemed to have kept his head about him in one important
particular, which pleased Elmer very much; he knew in which direction
lay their wagon, for which he had been in the act of sending one of his
companions at the very moment this awful clamor broke out which had
started them in full flight.
The neigh of a horse close at hand told Elmer what was happening, and he
immediately held his eager clan in. Far be it from them to wish to delay
the departure of the Mallon tribe, whose room was worth far more to the
scouts than their company.
"Wait, and listen!" said Elmer, in a whisper.
"You didn't get the whole of that straight, Elmer," Toby told him,
quickly, in a low, husky voice; "you ought to have said, 'Stop! Look!
Listen!' That's the way it always is at railroad crossings!"
"Hist! Be still!" cautioned the leader.
They could hear loud excited voices near by, accompanied by the stamping
of horses' hoofs, as though the excitement had communicated to the team
used by Connie Mallon and his three cronies in their rival nutting
expedition.
"Now, let's start up again, and add the finishing touches!" Elmer told
the others, when a dozen more seconds had dragged past, and they felt
they might safely assume that the fugitives must have untied the team,
as well as scrambled into the wagon.
Once again did that strange chorus break forth, with Elmer groaning
through his birch bark horn, and the others doing all in their power to
accompany him in regular orthodox ghostly style, in as far as their
limited education along these lines went.
Taken altogether the racket was certainly enough to scare almost any
one. Snorts and prancing on the part of the horses announced that they
were now sharing the general excitement. Then came cries urging haste,
and presently the plain unmistakable smack of a whip being brought down
with decided emphasis on the backs of the animals, several times
repeated.
With that there was the crunch of wheels, and away dashed the two-horse
wagon, making for the road which Connie knew must not be far away. Once
or twice the scouts had fugitive glimpses of the departing vehicle as it
flashed past small glades where the view happened to be unobstructed;
and it was certainly "killing," as George called it, to see those
fellows bouncing about in the bed of the wagon, holding on for dear
life, and with Connie plying the whip savagely, while the horses leaped
and tugged and strained to make fast time over the uneven floor of the
woods.
The echoes of the flight grew fainter in the distance, and presently as
they stood there the scouts could tell from the change in sounds that
those who were fleeing from the wrath of the ghosts must have reached
the harder road, for the hoof beats of the horses came with a pounding
stroke.
Gradually even this was dying away. Then the five boys turned and looked
at each other, with their faces wreathed in huge grins.
"Tell me, Elmer, is it safe to let off steam now?" demanded Toby,
eagerly.
"If you're careful not to be too noisy, go it!" came the reply.
With that Toby threw himself flat on his back, and began to kick his
heels up in the air, all the while laughing, and giving queer gurglings
that were meant to serve his pent-up emotions about as the escape valve
of a boiler does when the steam presses too heavily on the boiler, and
relief is necessary.
He was not alone in his hilarity, although the merriment of the others
partook of a different nature. Ted, Chatz and George went around shaking
hands, and assuring each other that never in all their lives had they
ever run across a more ridiculous diversion than this flight of the bold
nut-gatherers.
"Talk to me about Napoleon's retreat from Moscow," said George, who
prided himself on his knowledge of history, "why, it wasn't in the same
category as that wonderful escape of the Connie Mallon gang from the
raid of the Cartaret ghosts. And say, what thrilling stories they'll
have to tell about it all! Believe me, the whole Hickory Ridge will know
about it by night time. Oh! I'll never forget it! I haven't had so much
fun for a whole year as to-day. It was worth coming twenty miles just to
see them on the jump."
"Why," observed Ted, after he could regain his breath in part, "that
Phil Jackthon took the cake when it came to covering ground. Did you
thee him clear that log like a buck? I bet you he made a record jump
that time, and beat anything he ever marked up on the thlate at a
match."
"Well, they're gone, all right," said Chatz; "and from the way they
whipped their poor hosses I'd like to guess they'll keep on the wild
run till they get home. And there isn't much chance that we'll be
bothered again by that Mallon bunch to-day; how about that, Elmer?"
"You can set that down as certain," replied the one spoken to. "It would
take more spunk than any of that crowd happens to own for them to change
their minds, and come back here. And that's why I wanted you to be
careful not to give the secret away. We've got the field to ourselves
the rest of the day."
"Unless something comes along to give us a scare too," added Chatz,
meaningly; for truth to tell, the superstitious Southern boy was already
wondering whether all this playing ghost on their part might not bring
something down on their heads savoring of retribution.
"Then what's to hinder our getting busy, and changing all that pile of
fine nuts from their sacks to ours?" George wanted to know. "The spoils
of battle belong to the victors every time; and besides, they were
trying to beat us out of our share as first discoverers. For one I ain't
a bit ashamed to grab everything. Let that silly bunch wake up earlier
next time, if they mean to get away with the game."
What Elmer may have thought just then he did not say; but his ideas were
certainly not so pronounced as those of George, who was a pretty blunt
fellow, one of the "give-and-take" kind.
As they were all of one mind a start back was made; and Toby, not
wishing to be left in the lurch, had to bring his kicking exhibition to
an abrupt finish, and hasten after his four chums.
The glorious store of nuts that had already been gathered was
immediately turned from the sacks owned by Connie Mallon and his cronies
into the burlap bags the scouts had provided for the purpose. Then, far
from satisfied, the boys proceeded to take up the work where the late
nut-gatherers had left off. They climbed trees, and whipped the branches
with the long poles, delighting in the sound of splendid nuts rattling
down like hail. There is such a fascination about this sport that it is
difficult to know just when to stop it; and the ground was soon covered
to such an extent, that when the harvest had been gleaned several of the
enemy's bags were more than half filled with the surplus.
"I never saw half so many chestnuts, walnuts and shell-bark hickory nuts
gathered in heaps in all my life, as there are right here!" declared
George; "a big bag apiece all around, and with three partly filled sacks
belonging to that crowd left over."
"Which extra plunder," said Elmer, quietly, "I'm sure none of us would
think of wanting, as we've got twice as much as we can use already."
"Then you're going to leave them for the ghost, are you?" asked Chatz,
eagerly.
"We'll take them along," said Elmer, "and turn them over to Connie
Mallon as a consolation prize; he'll find them in his front yard
to-morrow morning, bright and early."