The Go Ahead boys were excited when they entered the house of their
friend and that night when they gathered about the supper table their
one theme of conversation was the proposed visit to the old Meeker
House.
Occasionally throughout the conversation there was an expression on the
face of George different from that of his companions. However, none of
them was aware of the occasional smile, or of the keen look with which
George occasionally glanced about the table. At other times the
expression of his face was serious and his interest in the suggested
visit apparently was as keen as that of any of his friends.
The boys decided to wait until darkness had fallen before they started
on their expedition.
"It's just eight o'clock," said Grant, as they left the house and
prepared to take their places in the automobile which was awaiting their
coming.
"Eight o'clock and all's not well, I'm afraid," suggested Fred.
"Are you afraid?" demanded John with a laugh.
"No, I'm not afraid, but somehow when I think of this business," replied
Fred, "I find I have some shivers."
"You had better not go, my lad," said John solemnly. "This is no place
for infants or those afflicted with chills."
"I'm not chilly enough to stay home if all of you are going," retorted
Fred.
"It's just the kind of a night we want," spoke up George. "There isn't
any moon and it's going to be dark."
"Those clouds look as if it might rain," suggested Grant.
"That will be all the better," said George. "The darker the night the
better the spooks behave. They say it's almost impossible to find any
there on a moonlight night."
"I hope we'll find some to-night," laughed John, but his voice somehow
seemed to belie his confidence.
At all events there was not much conversation in the automobile as it
sped swiftly down the road.
George, who was driving, occasionally referred to the various stories he
had heard of the deeds in the Meeker House, but his efforts did not meet
with any marked response until he said, "I have heard that Claudius
Smith sometimes shows up in the old house."
"Who's he?"
"He _was_ a Cowboy. He lived more than one hundred and twenty-five years
ago. You have got to speak of him as one who 'was' and not 'is'."
"What makes him come back to the old house?"
"It was one of his favorite places, I'm told."
"What was he?"
"I told you he was a Cowboy. He got to acting so badly that at last all
the farmers and their boys that could be spared from the army got
together and chased him clear down on Long Island."
"Did they get him?" inquired Fred.
"They did. They brought him back and took him to Goshen, where they
hanged him in the old courtyard."
"I shouldn't think he would come back here to the Meeker House,"
suggested Grant. "I should think his ghost would 'hang' around the court
house up at Goshen."
"I can't tell you about that," said George, "but it may be that he
follows the road he used to travel. That may be the reason why part of
the time he's here at the old Meeker House."
"He must have been a great boy," suggested Fred.
"He certainly was, and he wasn't the only one. I have heard my father
tell about a man here in Jersey named Fagan. He was one of the Cowboys
that they used to call the Pine Robbers."
"Who were they?" inquired John.
"Why there were a dozen or more bands of these Pine Robbers. They used
to make their headquarters in the Pines back of Lakewood. They would dig
a hole in the sand and hide in it the stuff they had stolen, and then,
when they had enough to make up a cargo they would take it to Toms River
and ship it to New York, where William Franklin helped them dispose of
it."
"Who was William Franklin?" demanded Grant.
"Why, every educated man knows that William Franklin was the last royal
governor of New Jersey. He was the son of old Ben Franklin. He inherited
his father's brains, but not his father's disposition. He was one of the
bitterest of all the Tories, and when the war of the Revolution broke
out he went to New York to be with his friends."
"What happened to this man Fagan?" asked Fred. "Is his ghost around
here, too?"
"I can't tell you," replied George, "whether it is here or not. I know
Fagan got to be such a bad man stealing, shooting, tormenting the women
and children that finally a big gang of men took after him and caught
him down here between Trenton and Freehold."
"Did they do anything to him after they caught him?" inquired Grant.
"Not very much. They just hanged him from the limb of a big tree by the
side of the road and left the body swinging there in the air for two or
three days. Finally they left the head in the noose, stuck a long pipe
between the jaws and my grandfather used to tell me that the head was
there until the crows had picked out the eyes and left nothing but the
grinning skull."
"That's a nice story to tell just before we make our bows at a spook
party," said Fred.
The boy was striving to speak lightly, but his voice sounded strange
even in his own ears. Indeed, by this time, after the gruesome stories
of the Cowboys had been told, the nerves of all the boys were on edge.
The dim outlines of the Meeker House were now plainly visible. The
silence that rested over the place was unbroken except for the sighing
of the wind as it swept through the ancient pine trees that grew in the
front yard.
"This is a ghost story up to date, isn't it?" said Grant. "I don't
suppose many of those Cowboys or Skinners ever traveled around in
automobiles."
"Probably not," said John dryly, and conversation abruptly ceased.
"George, don't you think you had better leave your automobile up here on
the road and not take it clear down to the house?" inquired Fred in a
whisper, when they drew near the place they were seeking.
"What for?" inquired George.
"Oh, nothing, only I thought it would be more out of the way there. You
see the house is on the corner and if some one makes a sharp turn there
they might run into it without seeing it."
"Just as you say," replied George good-naturedly.
Acting upon the suggestion, the automobile was stopped about a hundred
yards from the house and the boys at once prepared to walk across the
yard toward the front door.
No one spoke until Fred whispered sharply, "What's that?"
"What's what?" retorted George, also speaking in a whisper.
"Nothing but a branch creaking up in the tree," suggested Grant.
"I guess that's what it was," assented Fred, and the four boys at once
resumed their advance upon the ancient house.
"Come on, fellows," whispered George. "We'll try the front door first."
The attempts of the boys, however, to open the door were unavailing. The
door was massive and although it creaked and groaned it was strong and
all the attempts to open it proved failures.
"You stay here, fellows," whispered George. "I'll go around to the back
of the house and see if I can get in there."
"I'll go with you," suggested Fred.
"No, you won't, you'll stay right here and defend these fellows who are
a good deal more scared than they are willing to own," retorted George.
The trio remained in silence before the front door, waiting for some
word from their friend, who at once had carried out his suggested plan
and had gone to the rear of the house.
Suddenly and without any word being spoken the heavy door in front of
the waiting boys slowly opened. It creaked noisily but there was no
question that George succeeded and the door was being opened from
within.
Grant was the first to enter, but instantly he stepped back and in a
voice that trembled said quickly, "What's that? What's that?"
There was a noise of flying wings in the room before them, but not one
of the boys was able to see any of the winged creatures. Back and forth
they flew, the unseen birds, their wings noisily flapping and their
cries steadily increasing in volume.
Startled as all the boys were by the unexpected sound they withdrew to
the porch in front of the door and in whispers talked over the best plan
for them to follow.
"I say we go ahead," said Grant at last. "We don't want to be scared out
by a little thing like this."
"That's all right," agreed Fred. "You're so bold, I'll let you go ahead.
I shall be satisfied to-night to be one of the go behind boys. I'm not
afraid," he hastily added when Grant laughed derisively. "I'll follow
you wherever you dare lead. Now then start if you want to."
No more was said and slowly and silently the boys once more entered the
room into which the door directly opened.
This time again when only a few steps had been taken, by a common
impulse they stopped and Fred whispered, "Where is George?"
"He's somewhere around here," whispered Grant in reply.
"But I don't see him or hear him," declared Fred. "We ought to find out
what has happened."
"Oh, he's all right," said John confidently. "Come on, let's go ahead."
"We haven't any light," suggested Fred.
"We'll have one pretty soon. That's probably what George has gone for,"
whispered John. "He'll be back in a minute."
"I don't believe we had better try to go any farther. A good many of
these old houses have steps from one room to another. I don't want Fred
to fall and break his neck."
"Don't you worry about my----" began Fred, but he stopped abruptly when
suddenly the shutters in the room directly over their head banged
noisily against the side of the house. At the same time the sound of the
flying creatures in the room was heard again and as if to make matters
worse a sound very like a groan came from the stairway. The weird
interruption was followed by a wild laugh that came from the same
stairway and a moment later the confusion was increased by a sound more
unexpected than any which as yet had been heard by the Go Ahead boys in
the old Meeker House.