AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE MYSTERY.
"Well, if that doesn't beat the Dutch," said Frank, the first to
recover his tongue after the thing, whatever it was, had gone from
their view.
"Seems to melt right into the air, doesn't it?" exclaimed the Wee
One. "I thought when I heard of there being a ghost down on the field
that some one was just kidding. What do you suppose it can be?"
"That's what I'd like to know," said Jimmy. "The first time we saw it
was the night David came. We happened to be in the bedroom and the
thing came just like it did to-night, and then went as quickly as it
came. There's no kidding about it. It's something, sure as shooting."
"Let's go and take a look," suggested Frank, looking around the group.
"Not on your life," said Lewis. "I'm not out hunting ghosts to-night.
I've got something better to do. I've got lessons to get ready.
And you'd find nothing, anyway, and maybe the thing would jump out
on you. I've heard of such things." And Lewis drew his coat tighter
around him and shuddered.
"Jimmy, will you come?" said Frank. "David can stay here and keep
watch to see if anything else happens."
"I'll go," said Jimmy.
"Me, too," said the Wee One. "I'm big enough to keep you all out of
trouble, and if any ghost dare give me any of its lip"--he drew out
his chest and squared off at the imaginary assailant.
"Lewis, you can stay here with David if you want to do your lessons,
but be sure you shut the window, for I've known of ungentlemanly
ghosts stepping right in through one if they happened to find it
open," said Jimmy.
"Are you afraid, David?"
"No, indeed," said David. "Besides, I'm not alone. Isn't Lewis here
to take care of me if anything should come? But I guess we'll be all
right. You are the only fellows that are likely to get into danger."
The boys started off at once, and soon reached the field by way
of the path down the hill. They headed for a clump of trees by the
boat-house, near which they had first seen the Thing. The crescent
moon had dropped considerably, and the light was dim enough, but they
held bravely on. Once Jimmy stepped on a twig of something, which
snapped under his foot, and the three boys almost leaped into the air.
"Gee! how you scared me," said Frank.
"I'd have run if I hadn't been stuck to the spot," said the Wee One.
"Please watch out where you step and don't do it again. My nerves are
bad, with all the hard work I've been through this fall." They got
another start as a night bird whirred up from the branches of the big
elm nearby, but as Frank was determined to go on, the other two would
not leave him.
Presently they stood on the boat-house float and peered all around.
There was no sound but the gurgle of the river as it flowed past,
dark and silent. A little white mist was rising from the water, and
the place was damp and chill. Even the song of the frogs, which
might have lent a little cheerfulness to the place, was hushed. They
listened and looked, but they might have been on a desert island in
the middle of the Pacific.
"Gee whiz, it's a melancholy looking place; let's get back," said the
Wee One. "Whatever the thing is, it isn't here. I'd rather be up on
the hill. Let's go."
"Hold on there," said Frank. "I'm trying to trace the course of the
Thing. Down here we can't see the dormitory lights, and I don't think
we can see them till we get through that bunch of trees. Consequently
we couldn't see anything that was here if we were in our room."
"No, we couldn't, but what has that got to do with it?" said the Wee
One, impatiently. "We'll get our deaths of cold here." But the shiver
that the Wee One gave was not entirely from the cold. Now that he
was on it, the mission that looked like a lark from the comfortably
lighted room in the dormitory took on a different aspect.
Frank was already leaving the float, where there seemed to be no
sense in staying longer. He climbed the path up the bank and went out
into the open field.
"There," he said, "you can see our light. It was just here, I think,
we saw the Thing the first time, and it headed off down towards the
football stand, this way," and he turned his steps down the river.
Looking, he saw both the boys standing a little way back. "Aren't you
coming?" he said.
"Oh, what's the use chasing the old thing? We can do it in the
morning as well," said the Wee One. "It's too late to-night. Come on
up to the room. It was probably only a shadow, anyway."
"No, I'm going ahead, and if you fellows want to go back, you may
go back. I'm going to take a look down by that football stand," and
he turned his face in that direction and stepped out briskly. "They
would think we were great ninnies if we went back without doing what
we started to do."
"Hold on, Frank, I'll come," said Jimmy. "I don't want you trapesing
around alone down here."
"Well, I suppose I might as well go along, too," said the Wee One,
who preferred the company of the others, even on a ghost hunt, to
traversing the field all alone. So he, too, swung in behind Jimmy,
and the three went Indian file down along the river path. They
stepped carefully and looked on each side of them. A couple of
hundred yards further along loomed the dark shadow of the football
stand.
"That's where I think it went, down behind the stand. There's quite a
high bank there, and some bushes grow at the edge of the river," said
Frank, holding on his course. The others came reluctantly along, not
at all pleased with the adventure. The football stand was just ahead,
and the shadow it cast was as black as velvet. The space between the
stand and the river looked like a pocket, so dark was it, and the
river itself murmured along, singing a mournful tune at their left.
"S-s-s--! what was that?" said Jimmy. "I thought I heard a noise
ahead." The three boys came together, and grabbed each other. They
listened with all their ears.
"There's certainly something there," whispered Frank, "and it's
moving about, don't you hear it? Come on, we'll see what it is;"
but before he could take a step ahead both Jimmy and the Wee One
grabbed him by the arms. But he shook himself clear of them, and went
stealthily ahead, walking on tip-toe. There was nothing else left for
Frank's companions but to follow. They felt their hair rising, and
at every step they took they glanced uneasily to right and left, as
though in deadly fear that something would spring from the bushes,
and grab them with wet and clammy hands.
Again there was a sound as of something moving in the darkness just
ahead, and the boys drew close together again and waited. They
themselves were in the shadow of the stand by this time, and the
noise came from a point apparently only a few yards ahead. Suddenly
the moon, which had been behind a cloud, shone out faintly and the
boys could see something moving back and forth about half way down
the stand.
"Come on," said Frank, "we'll rush it."
"We will not do anything of the kind," said the Wee One. "You can't
tell what it might be."
"Well, I'll go alone, then," said Frank, in a whisper, "I'm going to
find out what that is."
"I'll go with you," said Jimmy, quietly. He was not going to let his
old chum take desperate chances alone.
The boys, however, were saved the necessity of "rushing it," for the
noise began to grow louder, and resolved itself into a definite step
which came in their direction. They squeezed themselves back against
the big uprights of the stand and waited, hardly knowing what to
expect. In another moment the footsteps had come opposite to their
hiding-place, and Frank closely followed by Jimmy, sprang out into
the path and grappled with something. Down they went on the ground,
a general mix-up from which proceeded groans and grunts. Finally
Frank's voice rose clear:
"I've got it, strike a match."
The Wee One struck a match with shaking fingers, and when it blazed
up it showed the scared face of no other a person than Gleason--the
old Codfish!
"Holy Moses in the bulrushes!" said that individual, "what do you
mean by jumping on a fellow that way, knocking him down and nearly
choking the daylights out of him?" gasped the Codfish, as soon as he
had gulped down enough breath to fill his lungs.
"Well, I'll be hanged," said Frank, ruefully, "I thought you were the
ghost. Pardon me, old man."
"Well, at first I thought you were the same thing, but when we'd been
scrapping around here on the ground for about a minute I thought you
were the devil for sure and all. My, you little rooster, I didn't
know you had so much strength. You nearly choked the life out of me."
"What are you doing down here, anyway?" said Frank, suspiciously. "I
thought you were going over to the library."
"Well, I did go over to the library, but I've heard a lot about there
being a ghost down here, and I came down to investigate it myself."
"And we were down on the same errand. It's a good joke," and the boys
had a good laugh there together in the shade of the stand.
Together they retraced their steps to Warren Hall, where they
found David and Lewis holding the fort at the window. Both were
considerably alarmed, for they had not expected the friends to be out
so late. The chapel bell had just tolled the third quarter after nine
o'clock. Lewis had been suggesting the organization of a searching
party, believing that the apparition had turned on the investigators
and thrown them into the river.
The whole story was gone over for the amusement of Lewis and David,
and they entered into the general fun. Then they agreed that nothing
should be said of the adventure outside, because it was too good a
joke; but somehow it leaked out, and was all around the school before
noon of the next day.
The matter even spread to the Milton papers, and that afternoon
there was a half-column article in the Milton _Record_, telling of
the encounter on Queen's field between Frank Armstrong and the ghost
which had been haunting the place for some time. Frank was given
great credit for having the bravery to follow the thing, whatever it
might be.
Of course, that was enough to set the whole school by the ears, and
every night there were watching parties, but the ghost did not make
its appearance again, at least while the watchers were around. And
gradually the excitement about it died away. The officers of the
school did not take much stock in the stories, believing, they said,
that it was probably the beam from some searchlight which reflected
from some window on the yard, and played fantastic tricks on the eyes
of the beholders. Frank and Jimmy and the ones who had seen it the
most frequently knew it was not a mere shadow, but there was nothing
to do about it but to wait.
"I'm going to get it yet," Frank said to David. "Ghost or no ghost,
I'm going to chase it down."
"It may never appear again," said David.
"I think it will. We haven't seen the last of it."
Gleason, who was at his desk, was listening to the conversation.
"What do you think about it, Gleason?" asked Frank.
"Oh, I'm not much of a judge of such things, but I suppose it will
show its nose some time again and scare us all out of our boots when
we least expect it. I wouldn't wonder if we had an appearance soon,
it's about time."
"What makes you think so?"
"Oh, I don't know, I just feel that way."
"Well," returned Frank, "I'm too busy with my work just now to chase
it, but it better look out."
"Better let it alone, it may hurt you."
"What makes you think so? I thought you said you were no judge of
ghosts a minute ago!"
"Well, all I know is that I'm not going hunting it again. Once was
enough."
Nothing more was said that night, but the next night, shortly after
the early dusk had fallen, Gleason, who had been bending over his
studies at the table, got up, stretched himself, and said:
"Well, I guess I'll go over to the library a little while. I'll be
back in an hour or so." He went out and shut the door behind him.
He was no sooner out of sight than Frank slammed his book down on the
desk, startling David.
"I have a notion there's going to be an appearance to-night.
Something in my bones tells me there is something on foot, and the
ghost is going to walk, or glide, or fly, or something. And, by the
hocus pocus, I'm going to find out which means of locomotion it uses,
and whether it is vapor or blood and bones."
"How, I'd like to know?" inquired David.
"See this perfectly fine piece of cord? Well, it's about a hundred
feet long, a nice hempen cord, big enough for ghost or man to hang
himself on. Now, I'm going to tie one end of this to that big oak
tree down on the bank, and the other end to a stake at the corner of
the gymnasium. Whatever the blooming thing is, it will have to go
past that string. It seems to float right through the air, and if it
really does that then I'll have to guess again. But I have a notion
it doesn't float, and if it walks, there's going to be a tumble for
it, for this nice little piece of cord will be four or five feet off
the ground.
"You shoot up and get Jimmy and Lewis," Frank continued, "and I'll
shoot down and hitch up my trap. Have them come to the bank right
under our window, and we'll wait there and see what happens." Frank
was off with a rush to do his part of the work, and David started
on his errand. In ten or fifteen minutes Frank had accomplished
his purpose, and was back, waiting at the bank behind Warren Hall,
alongside the trunk of a big oak, protected from the cold of the late
November night by a thick sweater and heavy cap. He was joined there
a few minutes later by the three boys and the Wee One; for on the way
over they had run across the latter and brought him along.
When the new arrivals came to the meeting-place, the Wee One wanted
to know what it was all about. Frank gave a whispered account of what
he had done.
"Yes, but what gives you the notion that the great scene from Macbeth
is coming off to-night?"
"Never mind, I just feel that it is, and I wanted you fellows to see
it. All we have to do is to watch here and keep out of sight."
"If you expect us to watch here long with you," said the Wee One,
"you should have provided a gas stove or something. It's blithering
cold." The boys huddled up close together, and waited while the
minutes passed without anything happening.
"My opinion of it is, that you're a bum guesser. Get us out of our
cosey corners just to see how wrong you could be," grumbled the Wee
One.
"Keep your nerve, Big Fellow," retorted Frank. "'Everything comes to
him who waits,' so the copybook of my fast vanishing childhood told
me. The night is only begun. I say, Lewis, will you run over and look
in the library and see if the Codfish is there?"
"Run over yourself," suggested Lewis.
"'Fraid cat. I can't go," said Frank. "I'm stage manager of this act,
and I can't leave the job."
"I'll go," said the Wee One. "It will keep me from freezing," and he
dashed off. He was back in a few minutes, and reported that Gleason
had been there, but had gone a few minutes before. One of the fellows
who knew Gleason was positive that he had gone out, probably to his
room.
"Why did you want to know?" added the messenger.
"Well, I didn't want him messing around here. He'd think we were
crazy, sitting out here on the cold ground, waiting for a spirit to
make its appearance."
"Well, if it doesn't indicate its presence in about three shakes of
a lamb's tail, I, for one, will be after wishing you a hearty good
ni----"
He paused in the middle of his sentence and pointed. There over the
clump of trees near the boat-house rose the Thing. It seemed to come
right out of the trees, and headed across the field in the direction
of Warren, just as it had done before. The boys watched it with bated
breath, as it approached them. Lewis, who had been a little way down
the bank, now hastily got to his feet and went to the rear of the
group, ready to make a flying retreat if necessary, but meanwhile
keeping the others in front of him as a measure of present safety.
On the Thing came till it was within a hundred yards or so of where
they were hidden, then it stopped and appeared to go backwards in the
direction of the football stand and the river.
No one moved. They sat watching, expecting every moment that it
would disappear as it had in the past. And it did disappear, but not
just in that way. All of a sudden the sound of a yell floated up to
the ears of the watchers. The white thing took a curious circular
motion in the moonlight and sank to the ground; but it did not
disappear, instead it seemed to flop around and then lay quiet.
"Come on, fellows," yelled Frank. "David, you stay here," and he
started to run in the direction of the ghost as fast as his legs
would carry him. Jimmy and the Wee One followed him. In a minute or
two they were up to the ghost. There seemed to be two of it, one
white and the other black. The white thing lay in a heap on the grass
and the black thing rolled around in agony.
"O Lord, I'm killed, I'm killed. My arms and my legs are all broken."
"Great Scott! it's the Codfish!" cried Jimmy. "Here, help him. He's
hurt."
The three boys got on their knees beside the repentant ghost.
"I was just doing it for fun," he said. "I learned to walk on stilts
this summer. Oh, my arms! and I thought it would be a good joke to
start a scare in the school--so I got a sheet--and wrapped it around
me down there in the woods--and then walked around here and--down
behind the football stand, where I hid the stilts--Oh, I know I'm
going to die!" This confession came out in gasps, for the fall over
Frank's cord, hampered as the "ghost" had been by the entangling
sheet, had been a severe one. But, fortunately, it had broken no
bones, and the worst damage it had done the Codfish was to knock all
the wind out of his body.
He was a very humble ghost as the investigators helped him up to his
room that night.
"But for heaven's sake don't tell any one about it. I'd never hear
the last of it," he begged. But like the other joke on the Codfish,
the story somehow got out and the "ghost" was guyed about his tumble
for the rest of his school course.
And the next day the Milton _Record_ had another story of how Frank
Armstrong trapped the mystery of Queen's School. It was the sensation
of the year.