So Jim was left alone to pace restlessly around the deck of the Lassie while the other two, in the captain’s dory, went ashore. He watched them land and then settled himself to wait.
Terry and the captain took the path and soon reached the old house. It looked every bit as deserted as it ever had, but the captain wasted no time in wondering. He marched up the shaking front steps, raised his foot, and kicked the door off its hinges. With a roar the door flew into the damp hall.
“Nobody can say I didn’t knock!” he grinned.
Both of them had armed themselves with heavy sticks, although Terry was sure that the captain had something cold and steel in an inside pocket, something which reassured him, but which he hoped the captain would not have to use. They were now in a large hall, off which ran a number of rooms. A winding staircase ran to the floor above, and on a turn in it they saw a large old redwood clock.
“A grandfather clock,” breathed Terry.
“Sure! See the whiskers on it!”
Terry laughed. “Those are cobwebs,” he said. The captain moved away in the direction of another room, but the red-headed boy remained where he was, looking up the stairs.
“Come on,” ordered the captain, impatiently, “What are you standing there for? Your feet sprouting lead?”
“No,” answered Terry slowly. “But I do think I just saw that grandfather clock move, Captain Blow!”