“I intend to keep my eyes open,” he assured her.
But when they came to it the house appeared as dreary and deserted as though no one had lived there for years and the room in which the sheets had been hung was protected from critical inspection by tightly-drawn shades.
At the ranger station Mr. Halsey met them and listened with keen interest to their story of Darry’s misadventure in the swamp and of the people who inhabited the hut. They told him also of the ghostlike noises from the swamp and of the white figures they had seen flitting among the trees.
When Jessie explained their idea of soliciting the aid of the police by radio, he agreed to have the message sent out over the airways immediately.
“I wish we might have known of this before,” he said, gravely, as he accompanied them to the broadcasting room. “We have suspected for a long time that something illicit and mysterious was being carried on in this vicinity, but there has never been anything definite upon which to base our suspicions. We will investigate this matter thoroughly now, I can assure you.”
Messages were sent out for miles in all directions and, satisfied that they had done all in their power to further the ends of justice, the girls and boys said good-bye to Mr. Halsey, after thanking him, and started back toward the lodge.
Once more they passed the house in the woods, and this time Darry saw, or thought he saw, a face at one of the upper windows.
“That is what I call exasperating!” he exclaimed, as they continued on through the woods. “Another moment, and I could have sworn to that fellow’s identity.”
“If we knew what you were talking about we might follow you more intelligently,” suggested Fol, and Darry explained.
“That fellow at the window looked a lot like one of the men at the hut,” he said. “I am pretty positive now that my guess as to where Phrosy’s ghosts came from is correct.”