“I could have sworn it was Jerry Jackson, after I got thinkin’ it over,” declared Farmer Crane. “So he has cut loose and run away, eh? I guess you’ll see no more o’ him. But you can’t guess what he would be pesterin’ you for, eh?”
“No, we can’t see why he should try scaring us out,” Buck answered, as Ted shook his head. “Mr. Crane, I wish you could have seen him leg it for the other ghost, when the second party got after him!”
The farmer roared heartily. “After you fellers go, so you won’t be annoyed by curious folks, I’m goin’ to tell that one around,” he declared. “Too many people ’round here thinks this Black Riders’ camp is a haunted spot, but maybe after I tell ’em that one ghost up and run the other out of your camp and pulled his shirt off’n him, they’ll get a little sense into their heads. What you think about that, Ma?”
His wife shook her head. “Some of ’em you could tell anything to, and they’d still believe that the place was alive with spooks!” she said, wisely.
“If you ever hear anything from Jerry Jackson, let us know,” Ted requested, as they were leaving.
“I surer than the dickens will!” was the reply. “If he ever comes around here I’ll make him speak up.”
They left the farmer and returned to camp with a fresh supply of food, talking over camp plans for the balance of the summer. They had now but a week and a half until it would be time to return home.
“In all this excitement the time has slipped by like magic,” remarked Ted.
“Yes, Labor Day is almost here. Time hasn’t lingered any, I’ll say that. But now that things have settled down we ought to enjoy every minute of the remaining time. Not that I haven’t enjoyed it up to the present time, but we won’t have to go running over the mountains every once in awhile and sleeping out in the woods. Have you enjoyed the job of managing a big camp?”
“Of helping to manage it, you mean,” corrected Ted. “I know that you’ve stood back and allowed me to run most things, but don’t forget that you are a partner in this. Yes, I’ve enjoyed it and I’ve learned a lot from it.”