Safe in the shed, he opened the package he had been carrying so carefully and chuckled as he looked at its contents. It was a cow’s skull!
“Uh, it’s a beauty!� he said, gazing admiringly at the bleached and whitened old thing. “And when I fix it——!�
He proceeded to “fix it� by pasting green tissue paper over the eyeholes and fastening his flashlight inside. Then he stood back and looked at it. Ah, it was as fearful looking as he had hoped it would be! He opened the other package and took out a sheet which he smeared with phosphorus. It was getting dark now; late enough, Dick thought, for him to venture out. He fastened the tools together with an old chain and slung them over his shoulder; then he draped the sheet around him and fastened the skull on his head. He crept out of the shed, slipped around the corner of the church, and looked up and down the road.
The coast was clear, and he took the road to Redville. For a mile he had it to himself. Then he heard wheels and voices behind him. He hesitated a minute, then prudently withdrew to the wayside. It might be people who would accept him as a ghost; or it might not. Ah! It was Mr. Spencer, trotting homeward from The Village, with his son Joe. Dick crouched in the bushes.
“Wait a minute, pa,� said Joe. “There’s something queer in those chinquapin bushes; something white and light looking. Let’s see what it is.�
“Shuh! It’s just Gordan Jones’s old white cow,� replied Mr. Spencer. “We haven’t time to stop. We’re late for supper already.�
When they were safely out of sight, Dick came back to the highway and hurried along till he came to the Old Plank Road and the Big Woods. From here on, there were only a few negro cabins, and he felt secure in his ghostly array.
Isham Baskerfield’s cabin was dark and seemingly deserted, but the door of the next house was open and from within came a bright light and loud voices and laughter. Peter Jim Jones was having a “frolic.� The guests were overflowing on the porch, and the barking of dogs and the squealing of children mingled with the jovial voices of men and women.
As Dick stalked down the road toward the cabin, a dog began to bark and then subsided into a whine. One of the negroes on the porch looked around and caught a glimpse of the white, tall figure.
“Wh-what’s dat?� he stammered.