"Come on, you fellows!" yelled George to his faltering companions.
"There it is!" howled Sam.
He had espied another figure that looked exactly like the first ghost. George discovered it at about the same time. George made a brave rush toward the figure, yelling to frighten it. But Crazy Jane was not easily frightened. She advanced slowly, waving the long, draped arms, and moaning. All at once something came down on the head of George Baker, just as he had raised his club to hurl it at the ghost. The something was a long tough stick in the hand of Jane McCarthy.
George uttered a howl and sprang back. The ghost advanced on him. Billy got a light tap, then Sam yelled as something damp brushed his cheek. He did not know that it was the leaf of a bush. He thought it the cold, clammy hand of the ghost.
The boys having gotten more than they had looked for, began to retreat. Sam was the first after Larry to run. He did so with all speed, followed closely by George and Billy. They were confused. They did not know just where the camp was located. Glancing over their shoulders they saw that the ghost was pursuing them. The boys began to shout anew, and to run even at greater speed.
"There's some more of them," howled Sam.
"Yeow!" yelled George. He sprang to the left, in which direction he believed the camp lay, then he halted. Another ghost was confronting him. George hesitated. The ghost uttered a moan. The brave George Baker, captain of the Tramp Club, took to his heels. The others did the same, except that each took a different direction. Wherever they ran they were followed by moans and screams, principally from the lips of Crazy Jane McCarthy.
It seemed to their excited imaginations that the woods were full of ghosts of giant stature, with voices capable of making one's hair stand on end. The worst of it was that the ghosts persisted in pursuing them. They chased the brave Tramp Club right into camp, where the lads arrived one by one. Instead of stopping the boys bolted for the launch, in which the frightened Larry Goheen already had sought safety.
"Cast off," yelled George, the last to leap into the boat.
The launch was shoved from the shore and allowed to drift while the boys sat shivering, listening to the wails from the forest.