"Mention one or two reasons, then, just to push me along," urged Jerry.
"Well, perhaps he may fear that a search will be made up here for him, and wants to frighten people away. I forgot to tell you that the account says Thaddeus Lasher was once an actor of no mean merit," remarked Frank.
"Say, now, that kind of fits in real well, don't it? Who but an actor would ever think of playing ghost up here in this lonely region? But somehow I seem to feel that there must be a deeper reason than that for it all."
"I do, too, Jerry; but the truth is, I don't seem able to get hold of it. All the while I feel as if it might be just there beyond my reach, and I keep stretching out my hands without finding a grip. But it'll come, sooner or later."
"Yes; they say everything does to the one who waits long enough. What if we run across Andy again?" queried Jerry.
"All right. We'll treat him just as though we never suspected a thing."
"Then you won't think of putting him on the rack?"
"Certainly not. What business is it of ours what he is doing up here? We can guess all we like, but if that convict is hiding here for any reason, let the authorities catch him. I'd hate to think that I'd been the means of sending any poor wretch back to such a life. And remember, he may have been innocent, after all, so that all these years he was suffering for something he never did."
"Frank, I guess you're right; you nearly always are. Look at Bluff swimming like a duck out there! I heard him say the water was colder than our lake."
"I should think it would be. This mountain lake is fed by springs, and even in the dog days I imagine it would feel delightfully cool for swimming. I hope Bluff doesn't go out too far. Sometimes a fellow is apt to catch a cramp when plunging into one of these cold bodies of water."