A rude hut, constructed of picked-up boards and roofed with sections of tree bark, loomed up before them on a tongue of land which was slightly drier than the surrounding territory. The hut was a large and rambling affair, with a window on each side and a door which sagged on leather hinges. A rusted stove pipe thrust its way up through the bark roof, but no smoke came from it. There was no sign of life around the place and they debated the wisdom of walking boldly up to it.
“We might as well,” decided Ted. “We’re here to have a talk with this Jerry Jackson and we might as well plunge right into it. No use sneaking around, because we have to make the break sometime or other.”
So they approached the hut openly, eyes and ears alert for anything unexpected, but there was no sign or movement of any kind. Ted peered into a window and found that the place was empty.
“He isn’t at home,” he said. “Let’s see if we can’t get in.”
The sagging front door was unlocked and with some degree of caution the two boys entered the place, but it was indeed empty of life and they looked around them with interest. The furnishings of the hut were as rude as the outside and they consisted of a discolored table, a rickety-looking rocking chair and a firmer-looking straight one, a rusted stove, a disordered bunk, and various odds and ends. But the object on the table caught and held their eyes and they examined it closely.
It was a long white cloth garment which the dweller in Hogs’ Hollow was working upon, for a needle still stuck into the cloth and a spool of white thread stood beside it. There was a hood to the thing and a cloth mask for the face, a mask which was punctured with eye holes and a slit where the mouth should be. The two boys looked at it silently and then exchanged glances.
“A ghost suit, as sure as you are a foot high!” Buck voiced the thought.
CHAPTER XXI
THE WATCHING POST
Ted nodded as he looked the suit over. It was a coarse white sheet and the dweller in the hut was taking some pains on the construction of it. But there was no doubt as to its proposed use.
“Yes, sir, it’s a ghost uniform, if there is such a thing!” smiled Ted. “And I guess I have an idea where he intends to wear it!”