"Open, or down goes everything!" shouted the crowd.
"Here, Bill; here is a shutter loose!" cried one.
Wild Bill sprang toward it, and as he did so the shutter flew open; he saw a white face surrounded by auburn hair; he heard one gasping cry–"sister"–and he fell back in terror, crying out:
"The ghost! the ghost!"
But some one fired a shot, the light went out, and all was dark where the light had been.
Bill recovered from his shock almost as soon as he felt it, and joined with the shout:
"Down with the doors! Down with the doors."
The crash that followed, told that the frail obstacles had given way, and Bill cried out:
"In and clean the crib out. Ghost or no ghost, give us light, and clean the crib out!"
Cheer after cheer told that the house was entered, and a minute later, torches made from splintered doors and shutters, blazed in a dozen hands as the ruffians ran to and for in search of plunder.