“Yes, real cooking, something with plenty of grease in it. I don’t know just what it was,” said Vench.
“Well, I’ll be darned!” gasped Terry. “I saw evidence of the same thing. Somebody is making a regular hotel of that place!”
“I had half a notion to go down and investigate,” continued Vench. “But I thought I’d take a look around the upstairs before I did. I thought I had a lot of courage to go into the place alone to begin with, but when I got to the upper floor I felt my courage ooze away. One look, I thought, and then I’d go down again and come back with the fellows. There was a small room right off of the staircase and I walked in there. Once inside I turned on the flash, and found to my dismay that it was going out. But in the feeble light that came from it I could see dimly around the room, which seemed to be a small study, with a faded carpet, a desk and a couple of chairs. There was just one small window in that room, rather high up, and as I stood there looking around my light went out.
“I snapped it a couple of times to see if it would go on again, but nothing happened. The room was pitch black, and I was wondering how the devil I was going to get back to the cellar window. At the time I was bending over the useless flashlight, and then I felt the hair on my head begin to crinkle up and pull. There was a faint light coming from somewhere, and a minute later I saw a beam of yellow light in the hall. It was the light of a candle, and it was coming down the hall toward the room I was in. Although my legs seemed stiff as boards I did manage to somehow drop down behind that desk and watch.
“After what seemed an age someone came to the door. The light had been moving toward me all the time, but I hadn’t heard a sound. Now a candle in a tin holder was thrust around the edge of the door and a minute later an old man looked into the room. His face was long, his hair all straggly and his eyes were narrow and close together!”
“The same man I saw!” breathed Terry.
“He looked around the room but did not come in. I guess he was only suspicious, for after a little while he went away, as noiselessly as he had come. He went up to the third floor, judging by the way the light went, and I waited until I was sure he had gone before I left that room. And I assure you I left it in a hurry. I found the stairs all right and got to the cellar, where I got another scare when I saw Don looking in the window. That’s what I saw in Clanhammer Hall, and of course we didn’t have our dance.”
“So that’s what you saw there!” exclaimed Jim, drawing a deep breath.
“Yes, and I’ve been puzzled over it ever since. I kept it to myself and no one else knows it. Now let’s hear what you have to tell me.”
Terry told his part and the others filled in. Vench was impressed. “Something very wrong with that old school,” he commented.