"Shadow wants to get us scared," interrupted Dave. "Oh, Shadow, I didn't think it of you! It's bad enough as it is," he went on, in seeming reproach. "Don't you know this island is haunted by the man who committed suicide here?"
"A suicide, Dave?" cried the school story-teller, forgetting all about the tale he had been on the point of relating.
"Sure. That man tried to kill his wife and seven children, and then hung himself from a tree not far from here. They say that twice a month his ghost appears."
"It's about time for the ghost now," added Roger, scenting fun. "Listen! Didn't I hear a groan!"
"Must have been that," went on Dave. "There it is again!"
"I—I didn't hear anything," faltered Shadow. He was not an excessively brave lad at the best.
"It's getting pretty dark," continued Dave. "That is when the ghost shows itself, so I've been informed. If we—— Look! look!" he yelled, pointing over Shadow's left shoulder.
The story-teller gave a leap forward and glanced around hastily. Dave was pointing to a clump of bushes.
"Wha—what did you see?" asked Shadow, in a shaking voice.
"I don't know. It was tall and white——"