AN ORDER TO VACATE
Rattle! Bang! bang!
"All hands on deck to repel boarders!" shouted Jerry, crawling forth.
"Hold on! I'm coming!" bawled Will, stopping, as usual, to grope for his camera, under the impression that there was something worth while doing outside.
Adolphus set up a series of alarming howls.
"Leab me go dis time, Mistah Ghostes, an' I sure nebber come up hyah ag'in, nohow!" he kept repeating, as if he already felt the cold hands of the mysterious specter, of which he had heard so much, encircling his throat.
When Jerry, Bluff, Will and Jed came creeping out of their canvas shelter, each armed according to his light, they looked in vain for unwelcome visitors.
Frank was doubled up on the ground, and seemed to be writhing as though in pain.
"What happened, Frank? Are you hurt?" demanded Bluff anxiously.
Then the other looked up.
"Tell me about that, will you? The fellow's laughing fit to beat the band! Say! is this fair, waking the whole camp up in the dead of night, for a lark?"
"Hold on, Jerry. Don't jump at conclusions. Because you see me having a quiet little laugh all to myself it isn't right to conclude I'm the guilty one. We did have a visitor, and that party is responsible for all the row," replied Frank.
"Was it the ghost again?" demanded Will.
"Not that I know of. I just had a glimpse of the wretch as he bolted. Truth to tell, I rather think he was more frightened than any of us."
"Not any of Pet's crowd, returned?"
"How about the farmer?"
"Neither one of you came within a mile of it, Jerry and Bluff. It was Br'er 'Coon who did the mischief," chuckled the other.
The boys muttered dire threats against the disturber of their dreams.
"I think he was prowling around in search of some little dainties in the way of food. Whoever put the cooking things away was mighty careful to pile the kettles up, but in such a way that the least knock was bound to send the whole lot rattling down. That was what happened, as you can see for yourself."
"And Br'er 'Coon, he went supperless," laughed Will.
"No damage done, I suppose?" said Jerry.
"Only to the feelings of the sleepers. Poor old Adolphus believed the day of judgment had come, for certain. I heard him muttering something about chicken, and I rather guess he has some weight on his mind which he thought it time to confess," chuckled Frank.
"I don't believe the old chap has many serious sins to answer for, but I really did believe the end of the world had come. Say! talk to me about your jamborees! Those same aluminum kettles and cups and pannikins just have everything else beat to a frazzle when it comes to noise. No need of a battery to repel the enemy when you can set that racket going."
"Well, I was just thinking of waking one of you up and changing guard."
"What time is it, Frank?" yawned Jerry.
"About one," replied the other quietly.
"Jerusalem! And you let us snooze all that time while you sat here on deck to fend off the evil spirits? It's hardly fair, that's what. Now I'm as wide-awake as a hawk after that row, and couldn't go to sleep if I tried. The rest of you scuttle back to your blankets and leave me alone," declared Bluff.
"Wake me about three, then," admonished Jerry.
"That's all right. I'll see that you do your little stunt, don't worry. Now skip out. Frank, did you see anything?"
"Nothing except a flare that came and went several times up on the side of the mountain," replied the other, in a low tone, meant only for Bluff's ear.
"A flare? Do you mean by that a waving lantern or a torch?" asked his chum.
"A torch, most likely. I tried to make out whether it was only being carried by some one who passed behind bunches of trees from time to time, or if it could be a signal of some sort, but was unable to make up my mind up to the time it disappeared and returned no more."
"A signal? Who would be making one, do you suppose?" asked Bluff uneasily.
"H'm! It might be the ghost, you know. Then, again, perhaps some of that miserable Peters tribe are still hanging around, bent on making life a burden to us. But I finally concluded that the chances were it must have come from some member of the sheriff's posse, trying to let others know about some discovery he may have made up there," returned Frank.
In the case of Jerry he might have said more, but, as yet, Bluff had not been taken into full confidence, and knew next to nothing about the relations supposed to exist between the ghost and Andy Lasher.
"Well, I'll promise to keep an eye on that dark region up yonder. If anything happens that looks serious I'm going to wake you up, Frank," went on the other.
"I wish you would, old fellow," and with a yawn Frank crawled into his cozy nook, where his blanket awaited him.
He knew no more until morning came, and the sound of voices outside aroused him. Looking out through the front of the tent, he could see the slight mists of the new-born day rising off the lake, as happens very frequently, no matter how high the altitude of the water.
"That's a mighty pretty picture for a fellow to see when he tumbles out of bed, and it's me for a dip and a rub-down before anything else."
So saying, he jumped out, made a dash for the water, and was in with a headlong leap.
"Hey! Who's that taking his bath at such an unseemly hour?" called the voice of Bluff, and soon afterward, with various grunts, he poked his head out.
"You don't seem as chipper as usual," remarked Jerry, who was sitting by the fire, coaxing the blaze to resume operations for the morning meal.
"Well, what would you expect after such a strenuous day? I didn't sleep as well as I might, either. That experience haunts a fellow," muttered Bluff.
"How about you, Will?" continued Jerry, as another head appeared.
"I guess I'm all right, only a little sore around the waist. When a fellow is nearly pulled in two he must expect to feel it a day or so afterward," was the frank reply.
"Then I'd advise you not to take your regular dip this morning," went on Jerry.
"Not me! I've had enough of water for several days, I reckon. Every time my feet touched bottom I'd be shivering, thinking of the soft feel of that plagued quicksand. But Frank seems to be enjoying his bath all right."
"Oh, Frank can do nearly anything. And now I'm going to join him, for here comes Adolphus to look after things."
Neither Frank nor Jerry cared to stay in more than a few minutes. The water was very cold, and a dip was really all they needed to start the blood to bounding through their veins and set them up for the day.
"Nothing happened while you were on deck, I suppose, Jerry?" asked Frank, as they splashed about and tried to keep from having their teeth chatter with the chill of the water.
"Not a blessed thing. Seems to be my luck, lately, to choose the wrong time to meet up with things," grumbled the other.
"Well, you've had your turn in the past. I remember when it seemed as though everything was coming your way, and the rest of us had to take a back seat. In the long run matters even up, you know," admonished Frank.
"Yes, I guess you're right there. That was a great day and night I had when we were camped up in the woods above Lumber Run. Things happened then, all right, what with my getting that deer, being treed by the wild dogs, afterward sniffed at by a bear in whose hollow tree-trunk I had taken refuge from the storm; and last, but not least, rescuing poor Andy from under the fallen tree. I hang up my hat. It will be a long time before any one of you beat that record," smiled Jerry.
"I'm going to get out. A little of this bath goes a long way with me, especially so early in the morning."
"Ugh! That's what I say, too!" exclaimed Jerry, making for the shore.
Already the tantalizing odor of bacon was beginning to permeate the air. Adolphus seemed to be right there on the job, and he could be trusted to get up a meal calculated to tempt the appetite of even a jaded business man in the woods, not to speak of five hungry boys, always ready to eat.
Frank was just finishing dressing in his tent when he heard the others uttering exclamations of surprise outside.
"What's the matter?" he demanded aloud.
"Come out and see for yourself," answered Jerry.
This, of course, piqued his curiosity, and he immediately issued forth. He found the others clustered around Jerry, who was holding up what looked like a piece of rather dirty paper, on which something had been written, or rather printed in capital letters.
Frank joined the group, and as he glanced at the document he found it to be what might be called a warning, reading like this:
NOTICE!
Better leave here at once, or it will be bad for all of you!