CHAPTER XXII—A DARE
Without a word having been spoken, Fred and John instantly departed from the old house. They did not even glance at each other as they did so, but moved by a common impulse both were apparently ready to seek a place of safety with all haste.
Fred’s bold declaration that now he had found an explanation for the strange occurrences in the Meeker House apparently had not held good. He was maintaining his place by the side of his tall friend when both were fleeing from the house.
The sun already had disappeared from sight and the shadows of the evening were lengthening.
Perhaps the hour increased their feeling of uncertainty. At all events the confidence they had possessed, when in broad daylight they had boldly entered the kitchen, manifestly now was gone. Each boy frequently glanced behind him in his flight, but neither spoke to the other until fifty yards intervened between them and the dwelling.
“What are we doing out here?” demanded Fred blankly.
“I don’t think you need very much of an explanation,” retorted John.
“That’s the way it seems to me, too,” responded Fred, striving to laugh lightly as he spoke.