The others followed Buck, Ted, and Charlie Wells in a body as they hurried on after Bob. Then, right in front of them they heard a smothered gasp and a crashing. Bob burst through the bushes, lantern in shaking hand, his face white as a sheet.
“A skeleton!” he gasped, staring at them with wide eyes.
“A what?” cried Buck, sharply.
“A skeleton,” the boy repeated. “Hanging on a tree and the bones are clicking together. Listen!”
The wind sighed, and the clicking noise reached them, blanching the faces of the boys. Ted started forward, and in an open space he came upon a sight calculated to unnerve anyone not gifted with feelings of iron. A skeleton hung from an old rope, swaying in the breeze, the skull lying on the ground upside down. In the dark glade, lighted only by their lanterns, the sight was indeed a creepy and chilling one.
The other boys came crowding in, huddling in a group, scared but fascinated, while Ted picked up the skull and examined it. Then he moved all around the hanging bones, the lantern flashes stabbing through the ribs. When he turned to the others they were amazed to find that he was smiling broadly.
“What is the joke?” Buck asked, blankly.
“Why, this poor skeleton must feel pretty much out of place here in the woods,” was Ted’s reply. “He belongs in, and must recently have come from a doctor’s office!”
CHAPTER IX
TED LAYS DOWN THE LAW
“How do you know that?” Buck asked, as they all crowded closer to look at the dangling skeleton.