Ted glanced toward the black outline of the house, hesitating as a thought entered his mind. He was debating the question of entering and looking around the place. In one sense, he wanted to do so, and in another he did not want to. The curiosity of the whole thing was strongly upon him, yet the solitary house was not inviting. He had no way to make a light and he knew better than to think of prowling a dark house, yet he could make an expedition around the house and get a fair idea of the place. Then another thought caused him to abandon that idea.
“There may be some well close to the house, and I couldn’t afford to fall into it. No, I guess I’ll be better off to stay out and away from it. After we have made our camp up here I’ll go through the house some day.”
Realizing that it was becoming far later than he had had any idea of, Ted decided to go back to his little car and drive home. For a moment he paused, undecided. In his haste to track the man with the lantern he had not taken time to map out in his mind the direction in which he had come and for a moment he was dismayed at the blackness of the woods. Anyone used to at least the partial illumination that exists at all points in a city is apt to be disagreeably surprised at the total blackness of the night in the woods, and Ted was experiencing this feeling now. But he fought off his uneasiness.
“I’ll get back to the car,” he told himself. “I’ve got to! I’ll just follow down the side of the mountain. Gosh, I never knew how dark the woods could be!”
He began to descend carefully, feeling his way before him, covering to the best of his knowledge the route which he had followed as he tracked the man with the light. Once or twice he came out on ledges which ended abruptly and he was compelled to retrace his steps and work further down, but before long he found ground which was more level. In a few moments he heard the murmur of the stream and recognized it as that of Bear Creek.
“Landed almost at home!” he exulted. “Now I guess I can find my way to the Rattletrap!”
He started to cross the long glade which had been the camp of the Black Riders and came in sight of the springs. A light flashed there and he stopped quickly.
Beside one of the springs the lantern rested on the ground and the figure which had carried it bent over the spring, washing his hands. Ted’s foot touched and rolled a stone, which made a slight noise as it rolled.
The man at the spring bent forward without looking around and with a single breath blew the light out.
The situation was an odd one and not at all a comfortable one. The man with the lantern was there in the darkness, crouching beside his darkened instrument, doubtless peering around him to ascertain who it was who had approached. Ted stood on the spot where he had first seen the man at the spring, undecided as to what to do, his nerves tingling. The one comforting thought that he had was to the effect that the man did not know who it was that had come up behind him and so he felt a certain reassurance. But if the prowling man knew from what direction the sounds of approach came he might take it into his head to explore in the dark, a thing which might be very bad for Ted.