Jessie kept the compass, and the others meekly followed her, thankful for that instinct of caution that had suggested the compass to her.
It took them some time to recover the ground they had lost, but their figuring proved to be correct and they came at last to the familiar rocky trail that led to Forest Lodge.
“Look at that house over there,” said Jessie, suddenly, pointing to a gray and dilapidated little shack, standing back among the trees. “I remember noticing it on our way out and thinking it was an unpleasant looking place.”
“Looks like a fine joint for a murder,” observed Burd, and Amy uttered a shriek of protest.
“That is a nice thing to say, especially when we are still a long way from home,” she protested, adding with a shudder, as she glanced at the gloomy-looking house: “I declare, I am almost afraid to go past the place.”
“Come, I will protect you,” announced Burd, grinning, and linked an arm through Amy’s. But Amy was not in a mood to be protected. She jerked her arm away from Burd and glared indignantly.
“I will go past that place without any help or I won’t go at all,” she declared, and Burd’s grin grew broader.
“All right, but as you pass, all of you glance in the side window,” he said, and they looked at him in amazement.
Of course no one meant to obey this command and of course every one did. It was Amy who first discovered what Burd meant.
“Sheets!” she said, in a bewildered tone. “Lots of sheets hung all over that room!” And they all drew closer to the hut.