Silas looked, and was just in time to catch a glimpse of something which got out of the range of his vision so quickly that he could not tell what it was. He turned to Dan for an explanation.
"It's the hant," whispered the latter. "I know it is, for didn't he go into them evergreens without making the least stir among the branches?"
Silas couldn't say whether he did or not, and neither did he stop to argue the matter. Forgetting that he had brought his double-barrel with him on purpose to "pepper" the ghost, in case he saw fit to make himself visible, Silas faced about and took to his heels; but before he had taken half a dozen steps, Dan flew past him as if he had been standing still.
His father made a desperate effort to catch him as he went by, but Dan sprang out of his reach and bounded onward with increased speed, never stopping to take breath or to look behind him, until he found himself safe in the cabin. When his father stepped across the threshold, a few minutes later, Dan made all haste to close and lock the door.
"You're a purty son, you be, to run off and leave your poor old pap to face the danger alone," said the ferryman, sinking into the nearest chair and fairly gasping for breath. "I won't give you none of my fortune when I get it, just to pay you for that mean piece of business."
"I don't care," answered Dan, doggedly. "You run first, and I wasn't going to stay behind with that thing there in the bushes. I reckon you're willing to believe now that he was a chasing of me a while ago, ain't you? I tell you, pap, he follers the letter, and he'll never leave off pestering the man that's got it. I'm glad it's lost."
"So be I," said Silas, who had not thought of this before. "He bothered his pardner, who was the only one who knew that there was a fortune in the cave, and his pardner had to jump into the lake to get shet of him. It stands to reason, then, that he'll show himself to every one who finds out about that money. I 'most wish that that letter hadn't been put in my wood-pile, 'cause I can't rest easy while that hant is loafing about here."
"Now I'll tell you this for a fact," added Dan. "You'd best let the whole thing drop right where it is. The hant will be sure to foller the money wherever it goes, and as often as you step out to your hiding-place to get a dollar or two, you will find him there waiting for you."