IN THE CAMP OF THE BLACK RIDERS
“The camp is haunted!” Ted asked, quickly, leaning forward in interest.
Mr. Calvert smiled. “It is said to be, at any rate. There are all sorts
of foolish stories connected with the place, and I have no doubt that
people residing in the surrounding country could tell you many of them.
It is all probably nonsense, but I thought it better to tell you.”
“Do any of the boys who are going on the camping trip know that the
camp is supposedly haunted?”
“As far as I know they don’t, but they will be told of it by someone.
You may have a little difficulty on that score, but not much, I think.”
“I don’t think that we will,” affirmed Ted. “Most of the boys are
sensible fellows and they will take care of the rest. The camp is some
little distance away from here, isn’t it?”
“About forty miles. Some of the parents may wonder why we select a
spot so far away, but there is not much real fun out of a camping
trip unless the camp is some distance away. There are other spots
nearer, but none of them is as ideal as the Black Riders’ Camp, and
the trustees wish that particular spot to be used. The creek that
runs through the natural basin has a fine curve in it which makes the
swimming hole I spoke of and seldom have I seen anything to even equal
it for attractiveness. If our boys get a month in a place like that,
with constant outdoor work and play, I’m sure that it will do them a
world of good.”
“There is no doubt of it,” Ted agreed. “I’m very glad to be in on the
thing. Buck and I have had enough camping experience to swing the job
and I think we’ll both enjoy the experience of handling a big crowd
instead of just a few fellows. How will we get to the place?”
“A couple of trucks will take you there and all of the necessary
equipment will be provided. Anytime that you desire fresh food you
can call me up and it will be sent. I’m very glad that you are going,
Thorn, because I feel sure that the camp will be in the hands of two
trustworthy fellows. I wasn’t sure whether your friend Buck would be
free to go along and so I only asked you to come and see me.”
“Buck will be glad to go along,” smiled Ted. “We don’t go very many
places without each other! By the way, do you think it would be wise
for me to run out and look over Black Riders’ Camp before the camp
actually settles there?”
“I think it would be an excellent idea. Take the Black Horse Pike out
past Montvery, turn off on a dirt road which you will find on your left
as you leave Montvery, and you’ll have no trouble locating the camp. If
you see the site of the location you will have no trouble in setting up
camp, because you have time ahead to figure out space.”
“All right, I’ll do that. How soon will the boys be ready to go?”
“In a week. There are some few details to be worked out and then
everything will be in readiness.”
After some more talk Ted left the lawyer’s office, well pleased with
the project which loomed up before him, and made his way quickly to the
lumber yard. The sense of responsibility which would rest upon him gave
him something serious to think about, but the more he thought it out
the more it seemed to him that the experience would be a good one. On
the other camping trips there had always been a few fellows and every
one had had his own affairs to look out for, but this club camping trip
promised to tax his executive powers. There would have to be system and
obedience and he liked the prospect of organizing such a camp.
“Buck and I will learn a whole lot out of this trip,” he thought, as he
entered the lumber yard.
Buck was in the yard office, busily checking up on some lumber when Ted
came in, and he looked up with his customary grin. “Here comes the big
boss!” he cried. “Good morning, Mister Thorn!”
“Good morning is right!” flashed back Ted. “Arriving to work at three
o’clock in the afternoon is quite a privilege, isn’t it? Never mind,
when you get to be an old and trusted employee, as I am, you can do the
same!”
“I’ll do that. What did Mr. Calvert have to say, if it is for me to
know.”
“It is very much for you to know, Buck,” replied Ted, seating himself
on a stool beside his chum. “You and I have been appointed camp
leaders for the Boys’ Club during their August encampment!”
“Get out! You’re fooling!”
“I thought Mr. Calvert was, but he wasn’t. No, he wants us to go and
take charge of the camp, which will be out in the woods at the camp of
the Black Riders.”
“Hello, the haunted camp!”
“Where did you hear that it was haunted?” Ted asked, quickly.
“Oh, a cousin of mine told me, but it is just some foolishment, as our
friend Jake Meyers would say. Some countryman went to sleep there one
time and a rock rolled down hill, passing close to his head. It was a
big rock and the man wouldn’t believe but that some ghost or goblin
or something did it, and I guess from that time on there have been
stories. They don’t amount to anything, though.”
“They don’t with us, but I don’t know how things will be with younger
boys. You and I will have to laugh off any such feelings if they do get
around, and if possible, we must do our best to see to it that they
don’t get around. You’ve never been there, have you?”
“No. Have you?”
“No, but in accordance with a suggestion which Mr. Calvert approved,
I’m going to run up there on Saturday afternoon and look the place
over. Want to come along?”
“I won’t be able to, because I’m going visiting with the family. But
you go ahead and look things over. Now, let’s have the whole story of
what Mr. Calvert said.”
Ted told Buck the arrangements and his companion was enthusiastic.
“We’ll get a good insight on how to run a big camp,” he declared. “Of
course, in some respects, it won’t be as much fun as camping alone,
because when you are with one or two fellows you can do pretty much as
you please, but we’ll try our hand at something new. I’m all for it.”
“I knew you would be, and I told Mr. Calvert so. What I’ll do is this:
I’ll drive up there in the Rattletrap and look over the spot, to get a
fair idea of the place. Then you and I will figure out just where we
want the tents to go and how we’ll want things arranged.”
That night the two boys told the news at their respective homes and
the plans for the rest of the summer were approved. Buck was the only
son of his parents and they were very proud of their stalwart son.
Between the two families there existed a warm friendship which was of
years standing. And although Buck went to Ted’s house presumably to see
Ted, it was no secret that he hoped on each visit to see Ted’s sister,
Dorothy.
On the following Saturday both boys terminated their work at the mill
yard and that afternoon Ted went to the old barn back of his house and
took out his battered old car, which he capped with a fitting name when
he termed it the Rattletrap. It was of an ancient vintage and rattled
before each start and halt with singular energy and application. But it
always went and it had more than once taken the two boys to school and
other events, keeping to date a record for performance of which any car
might well be proud.
In this old wreck of a car Ted left Ridgefield and headed out for the
Black Horse Pike, one of the oldest roads in the State. He followed
this for the forty miles which Mr. Calvert had told him of, and reached
the small town of Montvery. Traversing this same road he passed through
the village and came to a grass-grown old road that led away toward
the encircling forest. Judging this to be the road in question, Ted
followed it, and after passing about a half mile of fields, the road
dipped into thick woods. As soon as he left the open grounds the gloom
seemed to wall him in and the woods were cool.
A farmer was approaching and Ted brought the Rattletrap to a stop,
hailing the man. “Am I anywhere near the camp of the Black Riders?”
“Keep going for another half mile,” was the answer. “Then you’ll get
to the end of the road and you’ll have to hike down the path into the
gully.” He rested his foot on the runningboard of the shaking car.
“Don’t many people come up to see the camp any more,” he confided.
“How is that?” Ted asked.
“Oh, people get tired of lookin’ at nothing but an open space. If it
was a building or something else it would be different. You going to
take a look at it?”
“Yes,” Ted nodded. “A bunch of fellows are going to camp there in a
week or so.”
“I see. Well, you won’t have nobody bothering you.”
“That is comforting news,” Ted thought, as he left the farmer and moved
on. “That will be something like real camp life.”
He came to the end of the rough road and left the car, starting out
on a steadily descending path until he came at last to the camp of the
Black Riders. Before going to the bottom of the basin he paused to
look around him. The place was a perfect bowl, the sides of which were
sheathed with fine pine trees. At the bottom ran Bear Creek with its
curve that made the swimming pool. On all sides, sloping upward, the
forest rippled away into the distance, solid and green.
Ted descended to the bottom of the basin and looked closely over the
camp site. His satisfaction was complete as he discovered two fine
springs at a little distance above the spot where he figured that the
tents should go. The streams from the springs flowed down and into Bear
Creek.
“Two dandy springs,” he reflected. “That’s fine. The water goes into
the creek, and I guess that makes the water pretty cold, but I suppose
we won’t mind that.”
He continued to look over the spot, noting all the natural advantages
of the place. As far as he knew there were no disadvantages attached
to it. The ground was carpeted with soft pine needles and the air was
charged with a fragrant tang. Lost in his thoughts, Ted did not notice
the swift passage of time.
The gloom of the woods increased and he awoke at last to the lateness
of the hour. His start that afternoon had not been an early one and he
realized that he must hurry back. The suddenness with which darkness,
aided by a group of dull clouds, came up, amazed him. He could scarcely
see before him as he turned to leave.
“Golly, it certainly did get dark in a hurry,” he thought. “I must be
getting out of here. I must be the only one for miles around.”
But a moment later, as he glanced up the towering mountains to the left
of the camp site, he knew that he was mistaken. In the darkness above a
lantern bobbed and swung.