"Oh! what do you think of that?" gasped Horatio.
"The mystery deepens," added Owen, dramatically, just as he had probably been accustomed to reading in some story of excitement.
"Of course," continued Hugh, immediately, "we've got to take a look around that same old quarry, and see what's going on. Somebody's holding the fort there, even if it is said to be deserted. Who and what he can be, of course, remains to be seen; but I'm not taking a bit of stock in those old wives' yarns about a ghost, remember, Horatio."
"Then we'll have to leave the car on the road, won't we, Hugh, when we tackle this big job?" questioned Owen.
"Of course; and since I marked the best spot where anyone could make their way along to the face of the quarry, we must start up again, and keep moving till we strike that place."
"But, Hugh, do you think the—er—party making those signals with a light could have noticed our illumination, and that message was meant for us?" Horatio went on to ask, solicitously.
"I'm not prepared to say," he was told, "though I don't see how anybody with eyes could miss discovering us coming along. And, besides, the old car makes plenty of noise in the bargain, to attract attention. So it looks as if he did know, and was trying to talk to us."
All this only added to the thrill that was forever passing through each and every member of the night expedition. It would be manifestly impossible to describe their mixed feelings as they advanced slowly along the rough road so long abandoned to nature. A dozen times Horatio believed he heard cries; why, it seemed as though the air must be filled with uncanny sounds, for his lively imagination was working at race-horse speed just then.
The car stopped short.
"Wow! what's happened now, Hugh?" whispered Horatio.