Mark Tidd in the Backwoods

by Clarence Budington Kelland

We did.

“But what’s making that noise?” I asked.

Before the words were out of my mouth the laugh came shrieking at us again.

“Sounds awful, don’t it?” says Mark.

“Let’s git out of this,” says Tallow. “Something’s loose. I don’t like it.”

Mark chuckled again. Then he started to laugh so he shook all over.

“Well,” I says, as mad as could be, “what’s so funny about it?”

“Don’t you know what that l-l-laugh was?” he asked back at me.

“If I did,” says I, “maybe I wouldn’t be so all-fired scared.”

“Likely not,” he says. “The thing that made that laugh is the craziest thing in the world, folks say. When you w-w-want to tell how c-c-crazy a person is you say it’s as crazy as the th-th-th-thing that’s making that laugh.”