“That’s all right,” said Kent, warmly. “But you are the ghost of this so-called haunted lodge.”
“Yes, he is,” nodded Barry. “I saw him come up here through a secret underground tunnel, and when I arrived on the scene in this room he was stealing our coats and everything else in sight.”
“That’s a lie!” denied the prisoner, his keen eyes shifting around.
“It isn’t, and if we hadn’t come along when we did, you would have just about killed Barry,” Mac declared. By this time Tim had found a rope, and Kent took it and tried to tie the wrists of the prisoner behind him. Felix Morganson looked at the coach.
“Jordan, are you going to stand for this?” he shouted. “Somebody will get into big trouble, and you are in charge of these boys!”
The coach hesitated, plainly at a loss, and Barry quickly took command of the situation. “It’s all right, Mr. Jordan, and I will assume full responsibility. My father has been trying for a long time to find the man who has been giving this lodge the reputation of being haunted, and Mr. Morganson is the one who did the rapping and thumping. We must not let him get away.”
Before the athletic director could speak, there was a knock on the door of the lodge. They looked at one another with wondering glances, and then Charlie Black hurried to the door. One of the girls swiftly wrapped a blanket around Carter Wolf and pushed him over in front of the fire. Kent and Barry kept their eyes on Morganson.
Charlie returned with strange companions. Two men with police stars on their coats came in, driving the French couple before them. One of the men held the Frenchman’s gun in the crook of his arm. Pierre and his wife looked sullen.
“Evening, folks!” nodded the stouter of the two men. “I’m Sheriff Paulson, and this is McHenry. We’ve been keepin’ watch on these Frenchies for a few days, and just now they was outside of this window, gettin’ ready to shoot the lamps out.” He looked at Felix Morganson with interest. “So here you are, Mr. Morganson! You ain’t in Canada or South America!”
“I think he’s been here all along, Sheriff,” Barry spoke up. “I found a secret tunnel from that quarry over there to the tool house out back. He is the one who has been giving the place a bad name.”