"They were no members of the Gee Eyes," said Phil. "They were some outsiders who wanted to spoil our fun."
"Well, I must confess we were glad enough to get out of the closet,—it was so cold," said Henry Soden. "But just the same I shouldn't have run away if I had known the truth. Both of us are anxious to join your club."
"I'll tell you what I think," said Dave. "It was a put-up job all around. Some enemy told Mike Marcy about ghosts, sent word to old Haskers to be on guard, and released Joe and Henry."
"If that is true, we want to find out who that enemy was," answered Roger. "No student of Oak Hall can play such a trick on the Gee Eyes without suffering for it."
"So say we all of us!" sang out several.
"I have a plan," went on Dave. "Let us lay for that hired boy of Marcy's—the lad called Billy. Maybe he can tell us who told Marcy—if anybody did tell him." And so it was arranged.
The opportunity to interview the farm boy Billy did not occur until about a week later, when Dave and Ben Basswood were walking to Oakdale to buy some film rolls for their cameras. They took a side road leading past the Marcy farm, and caught sight of Billy down by a cowshed and beckoned to him.
"Is your name Billy?" asked Dave, kindly, for he could easily see that the lad was somewhat simple-minded, by the way he clasped and unclasped his hands, twisted his shoulders, and twitched his mouth.
"Yes, Billy Sankers, from Lundytown," was the boy's reply.
"Do you work for Mr. Marcy?"