“Oh, we might manage to have a ghost appear to Marmaduke, but we can attend to that afterwards,” Charles returned. “Now, Will,” he added, “its your turn to improve on our plot—what do you suggest?”
“I shall leave that for my cousin to do,” Will answered. “Unless I’m out of my reckoning, he will make improvements on the original plan that will astonish us all; for it is as natural for Henry to lay plots as it is for Steve to play tricks.”
“Yes, Henry will make great improvements,” Charles commented. “Well, now that it is settled that the thing is really to be, we must all vow to keep it to ourselves, because if any more boys get hold of it they will spoil everything.”
“Very true,” George observed. “Now, if we want our plot to work well, we must go to this old building and explore it thoroughly, from the cellar floor to the rafters. But our plot can’t come off till holidays begin, nor till Henry gets here and understands it, so there will be plenty of time.”
“If it is such a crazy old hulk,” Will said gravely, “ten to one something will give way, and bury us all under the ruins.”
“We must take our chances,” Steve said heroically.
“There is one great objection to all this,” Will continued. “This building is so far from our homes in the village.”
“Yes, that is too bad,” Steve sighed. “But we won’t mind that when we consider all the fun in store for us. Why not go to the place now? Eh? There’s lots of time, and we are so far on the way.”
“Hurrah!” cried the conspiring four. “Let us be off, as Steve says.”
They arose, and turned their faces up the river. The untenanted house which was to be the field of operations was two miles farther up the river, which flowed past it, but which, at that place, was so narrow that it would require a very wide stretch of imagination to call it anything else than a brook, or creek.