THE MIDNIGHT VIGIL
"I'M glad 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 role 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. Landy
was 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
house to 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 round as 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 electric torch 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 perhaps _shiver_
as 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-hearted fellow 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 in silly 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 with all 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.