WHAT WAS IT?
"IWHAT was it this time, Number Six?" asked the scout leader, as Chatz
turned quickly toward him, showing considerable alarm.
"Oh! it's gone now. It just seemed to slide away while I was looking.
But I could hear it moving all the same; and I tell you, honest Injun,
that it was a dreadful _squashy_ sort of sound," and Chatz shrugged his
shoulders with what seemed to be a shudder, as he said this.
Elmer hardly knew what to do or to say. Chatz was not above playing a
joke, given the opportunity, but this was really a subject on which he
felt very deeply, so that it was hard to believe he would be likely to
hold it up to scorn.
He seemed to be wide-awake, too, so that there was little chance of its
being a dream. Sensible on all other subjects, the superstitious
Southern lad had a decided weakness for spooks, and he could imagine
uncanny objects prowling around where no one else found the slightest
indication of such a thing.
"Where was this?" Elmer asked, cautiously.
"Over there, in that open spot," replied Chatz, cheerfully and without
the least sign of hesitation. "You can just make out the deeper shadow
of the trees back further. I was looking that way and thinking of
something connected with my home when all of a sudden IT loomed up,
staring at me in a frightfully ghastly way, and moving its white body
slowly up and down, just like it was warning me of some coming danger."
"Sure it wasn't that owl again, are you?" questioned Elmer, dubiously.
"Couldn't have been any such thing, because," triumphantly went on
Chatz, "you see, there ain't a single chance for it to roost on
anything! That place is bare! I crossed it several times going for wood
yesterday afternoon before dark set in. And then besides--"
"Yes, what else was there?" Elmer asked, encouragingly, for he began to
realize that there was at least no fake about the other's upset
condition.
"Why, it made the queerest noise you ever heard--just a squashy sound
that I'll never be able to forget. Ugh! it was a nasty experience," and
he rubbed his eyes with his knuckles, after the manner of one just
awakened.
Somehow this gave Elmer an idea.
"Look here, Number Six, are you sure now that you weren't asleep, and
just dreaming that something bobbed up in front of you?" he demanded,
sternly; for in his capacity as assistant scout master he was given
certain privileges which the rest of the boys readily recognized.
"I don't think there's any reason to believe that sort of thing,"
returned the other, steadily. "Fact is, I was never more wide-awake in
my life."
"And the thing just stood there, and waved at you, did it?" Elmer
continued.
"Oh! I know what you think about it, but when I see a thing I can't deny
it, can I? There was something close to me a few minutes ago, something
that must have been a spook. If I hadn't had the good sense to stick my
hand in my pocket, and grab hold of that blessed old rabbit foot, I
honestly believe it would have jumped me! Now laugh again if you want
to," defiantly.
But Elmer was himself a bit puzzled. Of course he could not think of
allowing himself to dream that what Chatz had seen could be anything
unusual. The surrounding conditions invested the most commonplace
occurrence with a mysterious atmosphere--that was all, and had it been
anyone but Chatz they might have found an easy explanation for the
puzzle.
"Well," the scout leader said, finally, "we'll all have to borrow that
lucky charm then, when we go on duty, if it's going to scare the spooks
away. But your time is up, Number Six, so you can proceed to awaken the
scout who follows you."
"I'm glad, and I'm sorry," remarked Chatz. "To tell the truth, I'd like
to find out if that pesky thing _could_ crop up again. You see, there's
no need of being scared about it, so long as you've got something that
keeps you from getting hurt."
Evidently the belief of the Southern lad in that magical rabbit's foot
was firmly founded, and it would be exceedingly difficult to uproot it.
Sneers and scorn would never accomplish that result; in fact such action
was apt to only make him cling the more stubbornly to his fetish
worship. Elmer believed in going about such things in another manner
entirely. Chatz must be shown the error of his ways; and to do that most
convincingly the real nature of the object which he believed to be a
ghostly visitant from the other world, would have to be proven.
"Wait a minute, Number Six," he said, as the other was about to head
toward the tent where part of the Wolf Patrol slept, so he could find
and arouse his appointed successor.
"Yes, sir," replied Chatz; for, while Elmer was a chum of his, there
were times when he must recognize him only as a superior officer in the
organization to which both belonged, and show him due respect.
"Remember, not a single word to the scout who is to succeed you," Elmer
went on.
"Not a word will I breathe, sir, I promise you," replied Chatz, and
Elmer knew that nothing would tempt him to betray his trust, for his
sense of honor was very high, as it is with all Southern boys.
"Perhaps we might get a pointer on this matter if the strange thing you
saw appeared to another," remarked Elmer, thoughtfully.
"Oh! don't I just wish it would," remarked Chatz, eagerly. "Then perhaps
the rest of the fellows wouldn't think me cracked in my upper story. And
Lil Artha wouldn't be so unfeeling as to say I had rats in my belfry,
He's the one who comes on after me. Don't I just wish it would give him
a _good_ scare, though!"
"Well, go and wake him up, then. I'll let the other sentry know that
it's time for a change," and Elmer walked away.
A sudden idea had flashed up in his mind. Could it be possible that
there was anything in this wild yarn of Chatz's? Would the second sentry
be able to throw any light on the mystery?
He found him squatting on the ground, near a tree, and saw that it was
Jasper Merriweather, the timid boy of the troop. At first Elmer had half
a suspicion that the other was asleep, for his head was bowed in his
hands. At the sound of his step, however, Jasper suddenly looked up with
a violent start, and Elmer saw that he was more or less frightened, for
he was shivering, even though he had a blanket wrapped around his
shoulders.
"Oh! it's you, sir, is it?" he exclaimed, and there was a positive vein
of relief in the tones of his quivering voice that Elmer could not but
notice.
"Why, who else did you think it could be, Beaver, Number Four?" asked
the assistant scout master, quickly.
"Oh! I don't know," came the rather hesitating reply. "You see I guess
Chatz Maxfield has got me all worked up with his silly notions, because
I'm seeing things, just like he does, right along. I'm ashamed of
myself, that's what."
"Do you mean just now you saw something?" asked Elmer.
"Well," replied Jasper, rising to his feet as he spoke, with returning
confidence, "I thought I did, for a fact; and I just hid my head to shut
it out, but of course it was only what Mr. Garrabrant calls an optical
illusion. There just couldn't be anything there."
"Of course not," the other went on, encouragingly. "H'm, what was it, by
the way, you _thought_ you saw, Number Four?"
"That's the silly part of it, sir," Jasper answered. "It wasn't anything
that I could recognize at all, which proves that I was only imagining
things. Plague take Chatz and his ghosts! I never was very brave at my
best, but thinking of him has just about queered me. I'm glad you came
to talk to me, and show me how foolish it is to let such notions take
root."
"But, by the way, where was it you thought you saw this wonderful thing
which you say bore no shape that you could describe?" Elmer insisted.
"Oh! let me see, I was sitting just this way, and looking straight out
yonder. It was in that open place, sir. I guess the fire must have
flashed up suddenly, and dazzled me a bit."
But Elmer noticed that the second sentry pointed in exactly the same
quarter where Chatz insisted he had set eyes on the ghost! This would
seem to indicate that there must be something in the story.
"Was it a flaming red ghost, Number Four?" he inquired further.
"Why, of course not, sir," chuckled the other. "If it had been I'd have
thought it was only Ty Collins in that red sweater he sometimes wears.
Oh! no, what I _thought_ I saw was a white object. It seemed to be there
when I hid my face in my blanket, but when I looked a minute later it
was gone."
"Did you hear any sound?" Elmer demanded.
"Well, yes; but after all it may have been one of the fellows snoring,"
Jasper replied. "But at the time I thought it the queerest sort of noise
ever. Might 'a' been a big bulldog jumping into the water. I've heard
something like it when I pulled my foot out of a soft oozy piece of
mud."
"All right, Number Four. Your time is up, so go and gently arouse your
successor. And please don't even whisper a word about this until I give
you permission."
"Well, I guess I won't," Jasper quickly mumbled. "Think I'm itching to
have the laugh on me? No, siree, I'm as dumb as an oyster," and with
that he staggered off toward one of the tents to awaken Nathan Scott.
Elmer returned to his blanket, but he had something on his mind that
kept him from enjoying any sound sleep for the remainder of that
particular night.
Those two boys had certainly seen _something_, and while, of course,
Elmer was too sensible a fellow to allow himself to give the idea of a
ghostly visitor the slightest credence, he found himself puzzled to
account for it all.
Because of his lying awake so long he slept later than usual in the
morning. True, he sprang up when the notes of the bugle sounded the
reveille, but most of the others had been abroad before him.
They took a dip in the lake, though the water was so very cold that none
of the scouts cared to remain in more than five minutes. Besides, the
almost tragic occurrence of the previous day haunted some of them, and
made them a bit timid about venturing into the water, though by degrees
this fear would naturally wear off.
While preparations for breakfast were being undertaken by those
appointed for this purpose, Elmer strolled out of the camp. He wished to
carefully examine the open patch of ground at the point where the two
sentries had been so positive the uncanny white object had appeared to
them.
Disappointment awaited him there, however. Numerous footprints told how
those of the scouts whose duty it was to secure a fresh supply of
firewood that morning had passed back and forth directly across this
open place. If there had been any suggestive tracks they were surely
trampled out of sight by the army of boyish feet that had gone over many
times.
Elmer shook his head. He felt that he had been hoodwinked in one sense,
but no matter, even this setback must not induce him to give up the task
he had set for himself. He owed it to Chatz and his infirmity to
discover a reasonable explanation of that ghost theory. And while the
solution might be delayed by this unfortunate trampling of the ground,
he meant to persist.
"Nothing doing, I guess?" remarked a voice close by, and turning his
head the scout leader saw Chatz himself standing there, observing him
with a quizzical expression on his dark face.
"Well, if you mean an explanation of the little affair of last night,
Chatz, I admit that so far I'm up against it good and hard. You see, I
hoped to find some marks here that would give me a clue, but it's all
off. The boys ran after wood and back again so many times, that if there
was a trail it's been squashed."
"Oh! I don't think that mattered any," remarked the other, with
conviction in his tones. "You can't very well discover what there isn't,
can you? And I've always believed that spooks never leave a sign behind
them when they come and go. Why, a spook is only a vapor, you know,
Elmer. They can slip through a keyhole if necessary. And as to a trail,
why, you might as well expect to see that cloud up yonder leave a track
behind it."
There could at least be no doubt about Chatz being in dead earnest in
his queer belief, and as Elmer turned away he was more than ever
determined to find the true solution of that strange happening, if only
to drive another nail in the coffin of the Southern boy's superstition.
As neither of the sentries felt at liberty to mention the occurrence
until the assistant scout master gave permission, the balance of the
scouts ate their breakfast, and joked each other, in blissful ignorance
of the fact that the camp had again been visited by a hobgoblin, and
that this time not only the superstitious Chatz but another had actually
seen the misty intruder!