“Perhaps so.”
“Light a candle, pard.”
“Not yet. We’ll prowl round a little first. Take care not to step into a hole or trap of any sort.”
They moved forward with the utmost caution, feeling their way along in the darkness. Soon they found a door that was standing wide open and passed into a sort of hall, beyond which another door opened into another part of the building, which Dick believed was the mill proper.
In spite of their caution, they had made some slight noises, Brad once striking the toe of his boot against some obstacle.
As they paused there in irresolution, something of a startling nature took place.
First through the empty hallowness of the vacant rooms echoed a groan that was most dismal and nerve-trying.
This sound was followed almost instantly by a shrill, piercing shriek, like that which might be uttered by some one in the agony of death!
Buckhart afterward confessed that his hair “certain rose up on its hind legs and mighty nigh kicked his hat off.”
No wonder.