“I have a feeling that we’ll never be bothered with them again,” said Buck.

(Page [234])

(In the Camp of the Black Rider)

IN THE CAMP
OF THE
BLACK RIDER

By CAPWELL WYCKOFF

Author of
“The Mercer Boys Series,” “The Secret of
the Armor Room,” etc.

A. L. BURT COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
New York Chicago
Printed in U. S. A.

ADVENTURE AND MYSTERY SERIES
FOR BOYS

12 TO 16 YEARS OF AGE

Tom Blake’s Mysterious Adventure. By Milton Richards.
Barry Dare and the Mysterious Box. By Gardner Hunting.
The Black Skimmer. By Philip Hart.
The Wreck of the Dauntless. By Philip Hart.
The Valdmere Mystery. By Milton Richards.
The Flight of the Mystic Owls. By Philip Hart.
The Secret of the Armor Boom. By Capwell Wyckoff.
Adventures of a Patriot. By Philip Hart.
Donald Price’s Victory. By L. P. Wyman.
The Mystery of Eagle Lake. By L. P. Wyman.
In the Camp of the Black Rider. By Capwell Wyckoff.
The Mystery at lake Retreat. By Capwell Wyckoff.

Copyright, 1931
By A. L. BURT COMPANY

IN THE CAMP OF THE BLACK RIDER

CONTENTS

IN THE CAMP OF THE
BLACK RIDER

CHAPTER I
TED TAKES A POST

The noon whistles blew in the little inland town of Ridgefield and the sound, flung from many a hoarse factory siren, reached the ears of the few men who worked at piling lumber in Thorn’s Lumber and Millwork Company yard. The work of the men was instantly suspended and most of them walked off to look into well-filled lunch pails. A few, fortunate enough to live close by, started off for their homes.

At the first sound of the whistles two clean-cut young fellows at the far end of the yard had just lifted a long plank, preparatory to tossing it on a towering pile beside them. They looked smilingly at each other as the whistles, joined by others, increased in volume of sound.

“That’s what we have been listening for!” smiled Ted Thorn, son of the owner of the lumber yard.

“Be careful!” warned Buck Dalton, his constant companion and devoted chum. “You will come under the heading of a whistle-listener! That’s the next worse thing to being a clockwatcher!”

“Can’t help it,” grinned Ted. “My stomach has been listening for that sound for some time past.”

“Mine has, too,” confessed Buck. “Let’s heave this last board up.”

With a concerted heave they sent the long board flying upward to the top of the pile and then, after washing at the nearby faucet, they set off for home and the noon meal. It was a noontime in late July and as they walked along they talked of summer plans.

“I hope we can get in some camping before long,” Ted said, as they turned down the shady street upon which they both lived. “We’ve made a little extra money this summer so far and we’re in fine shape for the football season this year. I think that it is time we knocked off our work and figured on a little camping trip.”

“I agree with you on that,” nodded Buck. “I’m just about ready for a good outdoor trip and a few weeks under canvas. There is nothing I like as well as the woods and a tent.”

“That, and a fire which glows a dull red,” cried Ted, his eyes shining.

“You bet! Well, here’s your gate, so the best of friends must part. See you after dinner.”

Ted Thorn went into the plain old house while Buckley Dalton continued on his way to a house a little way further along the street. These two boys had been loyal comrades since they had been old enough to play together. Ted was the son of the owner of the local lumber yard, a man of quiet personality and moderate means, who was wrapped up in the lives of his two children and his wife. Ted’s sister Dorothy was one year his junior and his companion of more than one good time in the events of the local school. The household was a happy one and in such an atmosphere Ted had grown up to be a clean-cut, manly fellow, now eighteen, and about to enter upon the last year at the local academy.

Buck was Ted’s age and was a worthy companion, a fun-loving fellow who was honest and generous to the core. In physical proportions he passed Ted, weighing a few pounds more and being gifted with a wider span of shoulders. Both of the boys had been working throughout the summer at Ted’s father’s lumber yard, to store up a little money to their accounts at the bank and to keep themselves in trim for the coming football season. On the Ridgefield Academy team Buck played fullback and Ted had been for the past two years the quarterback of the team. It was the intention of the boys to work at least a month or more and then to spend some time during the summer on a camping trip, to round off their summer training in that way. Now, with August near at hand, they were beginning to think more seriously of the trip into the woods.

Ted entered the house quickly and washed up, after which he reported to the dining room table. His father and mother were there, though his sister was visiting at another house. With all the evidence of a healthy appetite Ted attacked the food which his mother placed before him.

“The foreman tells me that you and Buck are becoming first class men,” his father, a middle-aged man with heavy gray hair, told him.

“Glad to hear that,” Ted smiled. “When we first started to work at the yard it seemed that all we could do was to collect sore hands and blisters! I guess that after we finish at the academy you may be able to hire us for good, Dad!”

“I shouldn’t wonder if you might be able to do something else beside pile lumber, after you graduate from the academy,” returned his father.

“Hope so,” his son said. “Pretty soon we’ll have to pick out a preparatory school or college for me, won’t we Dad?”

“In another six months,” his father nodded, deriving pleasure from the thought. The fact that Ted was going to college outweighed the thought of personal expense with Mr. Thorn.

“Ted, there was a telephone call for you today,” his mother, a fine looking, sweet-faced woman, put in. “Mr. Calvert called up and left a message for you.”

“Mr. Calvert?” frowned Ted. “Let’s see, he’s the president of the Boys’ Club of the town, isn’t he?”

“Yes, and also a prominent lawyer,” replied his father. “I wonder what he wants you for?”

“Can’t guess,” Ted shook his head. “What message did he leave, Mother?”

“He asked to tell you to get in touch with him as soon as possible,” she replied.

“All right, I will. I suppose I had better go to his house this evening.”

“Go to his office this afternoon,” his father said. “It may be something important and there is no use keeping Mr. Calvert waiting. I guess the lumber yard can spare you for a little while.”

“I guess you won’t lose any money while I’m gone,” grinned Ted. “All right, I’ll call him and make an appointment with him for this afternoon.”

After the noon meal Ted called up the lawyer and made an appointment with him for an early hour. He then went out to the gate and waited for Buck to come by. In a few moments his chum came swinging along the street.

“Come on, back to the field of battle,” he called, gaily.

“You go ahead,” Ted advised him. “I won’t be over there right away. I’ve got an appointment with Lawyer Calvert.”

They discussed the item for a few moments before they parted. “He must want you for something pretty important,” Buck thought. “Maybe he wants you to work for him during the rest of the summer.”

“If that is what he wants, he won’t get it,” Ted shook his head. “I’m going camping with you, Buck old boy.”

“Well, don’t be foolish about that,” Buck advised. “We can go camping some other time, you know, and Mr. Calvert doesn’t offer jobs every day.”

“We’re getting a bit ahead of the game,” Ted smiled. “We don’t know yet what he does want. I’ll see you later in the day and tell you all about it.”

Buck went on the way returning to his work in the lumber yard, while Ted waited until it was time to go downtown to see the lawyer. Promptly at the appointed hour he reported at the office of Mr. Calvert and after his name had been sent in, he was admitted to the presence of the man.

Ted had seen Mr. Calvert before but he was not personally acquainted with him. The lawyer was a fine, upstanding man, a power in the little community, and a great lover of boys and their activities. Ted was a little surprised when the handsome, middle-aged lawyer got up from his deep leather chair and smilingly shook hands with him.

“How do you do, Thorn!” he asked, giving Ted a hearty pressure of the hand. “I’m glad you found the opportunity to drop in and visit me. I suppose you have no idea why I sent for you!”

“None at all, sir,” Ted confessed.

“Take a seat,” the lawyer directed, and when Ted had seated himself opposite him the man went straight to the point.

“Thorn, you know that I am president of the Boys’ Club of this town, an organization of young fellows numbering about twenty young fellows, all pretty wide-awake boys who are banding their activities together and learning some pretty useful things in life. These boys are younger than you are and that is the reason that you and some of your particular friends have never been asked to join. Well, the time has come when these boys are asking for a regular summer camping trip, and the officers of the club have agreed that the boys shall have a month of camping life this year, under the direction of the club. We want some one trustworthy to take these boys off on a camping trip and take care of them, and we feel that we couldn’t get a better leader than you.”

Ted’s face flushed with pleasure but he hesitated, questions surging in his mind. “That’s a very kind thought, Mr. Calvert,” he said. “But don’t you think I am a little young?”

“No, I don’t, and besides, you’d have help. We know that you travel constantly in the company of Buckley Dalton and if you accept the post, we want your comrade to go with you. Between the two of you, you’d have no trouble in handling the boys. You speak of being young. Well, we wouldn’t consider anyone as young as you are unless he was the power among younger fellows that you are. For the past two years you have been quarterback on the academy team, and the boys in the club have looked at you with eyes of worship! Your clean playing, your clear head work on the field, has captured their imagination so that they will hop with joy when they are told that you will lead the camping trip. We propose to pay you and Buck a small salary for your work. How about it, Thorn?”

“On one condition,” said Ted, instantly.

“What is that?” Calvert asked.

“That you withdraw what you said about the salary. Buck and I were planning to go for a camping trip very soon and this plan which you propose would simply be a bigger trip than we had planned. If you pay all expenses for food, as I suppose you will, that will be enough.”

“Nonsense, Thorn! If we hired a professional man, we’d have to pay him,” the lawyer said.

“Yes, but we’re not professionals. Buck and I have camped before, and this trip will be a new experience for us. Now, if our food and equipment is to be furnished, Buck and I will be saving, and that will be plenty as it is. How do you know that we’ll make a success of it?”

“The men in this town notice a thing or two, Thorn,” was the quiet answer.

“This is something new,” Ted said. “But we’ll try it—with no salary! I think we’ll both feel more like doing the job right if we do it for the benefit of the club and the boys, than if we do it because we are paid for it. The Boys’ Club is a fine institution, and Buck and I will be glad to help it along.”

“I appreciate your good spirit,” smiled the lawyer. “I am glad that we are able to get leaders like you two. And now I want to speak to you about the camping site.”

“I was wondering where the camp would be,” Ted nodded.

“Have you ever heard of Black Riders’ Camp?” the lawyer asked.

Ted considered. “That is the place where a number of patriots used to meet in a band at the time of the Revolutionary War, isn’t it?”

Mr. Calvert nodded. “Yes. This state played a big part in the Revolution and a band of mounted men, known as the Black Riders, used to meet in a camp near here and sally forth to worry the British all over the countryside. That camp is now owned by the members of the Boys’ Club Trustee Board, and it is on that spot that we wish the camp to be pitched. A large and beautiful stream of water, called Bear Creek, runs through the hollow where the camp was, there is an excellent natural swimming hole, and all in all the spot is ideal, except in one particular.”

“What is that?” Ted asked.

“Unfortunately,” replied Mr. Calvert slowly. “The camp of the Black Riders is said to be a haunted spot!”

CHAPTER II
IN THE CAMP OF THE BLACK RIDERS

“The camp is haunted!” Ted asked, quickly, leaning forward in interest.

Mr. Calvert smiled. “It is said to be, at any rate. There are all sorts of foolish stories connected with the place, and I have no doubt that people residing in the surrounding country could tell you many of them. It is all probably nonsense, but I thought it better to tell you.”

“Do any of the boys who are going on the camping trip know that the camp is supposedly haunted?”

“As far as I know they don’t, but they will be told of it by someone. You may have a little difficulty on that score, but not much, I think.”

“I don’t think that we will,” affirmed Ted. “Most of the boys are sensible fellows and they will take care of the rest. The camp is some little distance away from here, isn’t it?”

“About forty miles. Some of the parents may wonder why we select a spot so far away, but there is not much real fun out of a camping trip unless the camp is some distance away. There are other spots nearer, but none of them is as ideal as the Black Riders’ Camp, and the trustees wish that particular spot to be used. The creek that runs through the natural basin has a fine curve in it which makes the swimming hole I spoke of and seldom have I seen anything to even equal it for attractiveness. If our boys get a month in a place like that, with constant outdoor work and play, I’m sure that it will do them a world of good.”

“There is no doubt of it,” Ted agreed. “I’m very glad to be in on the thing. Buck and I have had enough camping experience to swing the job and I think we’ll both enjoy the experience of handling a big crowd instead of just a few fellows. How will we get to the place?”

“A couple of trucks will take you there and all of the necessary equipment will be provided. Anytime that you desire fresh food you can call me up and it will be sent. I’m very glad that you are going, Thorn, because I feel sure that the camp will be in the hands of two trustworthy fellows. I wasn’t sure whether your friend Buck would be free to go along and so I only asked you to come and see me.”

“Buck will be glad to go along,” smiled Ted. “We don’t go very many places without each other! By the way, do you think it would be wise for me to run out and look over Black Riders’ Camp before the camp actually settles there?”

“I think it would be an excellent idea. Take the Black Horse Pike out past Montvery, turn off on a dirt road which you will find on your left as you leave Montvery, and you’ll have no trouble locating the camp. If you see the site of the location you will have no trouble in setting up camp, because you have time ahead to figure out space.”

“All right, I’ll do that. How soon will the boys be ready to go?”

“In a week. There are some few details to be worked out and then everything will be in readiness.”

After some more talk Ted left the lawyer’s office, well pleased with the project which loomed up before him, and made his way quickly to the lumber yard. The sense of responsibility which would rest upon him gave him something serious to think about, but the more he thought it out the more it seemed to him that the experience would be a good one. On the other camping trips there had always been a few fellows and every one had had his own affairs to look out for, but this club camping trip promised to tax his executive powers. There would have to be system and obedience and he liked the prospect of organizing such a camp.

“Buck and I will learn a whole lot out of this trip,” he thought, as he entered the lumber yard.

Buck was in the yard office, busily checking up on some lumber when Ted came in, and he looked up with his customary grin. “Here comes the big boss!” he cried. “Good morning, Mister Thorn!”

“Good morning is right!” flashed back Ted. “Arriving to work at three o’clock in the afternoon is quite a privilege, isn’t it? Never mind, when you get to be an old and trusted employee, as I am, you can do the same!”

“I’ll do that. What did Mr. Calvert have to say, if it is for me to know.”

“It is very much for you to know, Buck,” replied Ted, seating himself on a stool beside his chum. “You and I have been appointed camp leaders for the Boys’ Club during their August encampment!”

“Get out! You’re fooling!”

“I thought Mr. Calvert was, but he wasn’t. No, he wants us to go and take charge of the camp, which will be out in the woods at the camp of the Black Riders.”

“Hello, the haunted camp!”

“Where did you hear that it was haunted?” Ted asked, quickly.

“Oh, a cousin of mine told me, but it is just some foolishment, as our friend Jake Meyers would say. Some countryman went to sleep there one time and a rock rolled down hill, passing close to his head. It was a big rock and the man wouldn’t believe but that some ghost or goblin or something did it, and I guess from that time on there have been stories. They don’t amount to anything, though.”

“They don’t with us, but I don’t know how things will be with younger boys. You and I will have to laugh off any such feelings if they do get around, and if possible, we must do our best to see to it that they don’t get around. You’ve never been there, have you?”

“No. Have you?”

“No, but in accordance with a suggestion which Mr. Calvert approved, I’m going to run up there on Saturday afternoon and look the place over. Want to come along?”

“I won’t be able to, because I’m going visiting with the family. But you go ahead and look things over. Now, let’s have the whole story of what Mr. Calvert said.”

Ted told Buck the arrangements and his companion was enthusiastic. “We’ll get a good insight on how to run a big camp,” he declared. “Of course, in some respects, it won’t be as much fun as camping alone, because when you are with one or two fellows you can do pretty much as you please, but we’ll try our hand at something new. I’m all for it.”

“I knew you would be, and I told Mr. Calvert so. What I’ll do is this: I’ll drive up there in the Rattletrap and look over the spot, to get a fair idea of the place. Then you and I will figure out just where we want the tents to go and how we’ll want things arranged.”

That night the two boys told the news at their respective homes and the plans for the rest of the summer were approved. Buck was the only son of his parents and they were very proud of their stalwart son. Between the two families there existed a warm friendship which was of years standing. And although Buck went to Ted’s house presumably to see Ted, it was no secret that he hoped on each visit to see Ted’s sister, Dorothy.

On the following Saturday both boys terminated their work at the mill yard and that afternoon Ted went to the old barn back of his house and took out his battered old car, which he capped with a fitting name when he termed it the Rattletrap. It was of an ancient vintage and rattled before each start and halt with singular energy and application. But it always went and it had more than once taken the two boys to school and other events, keeping to date a record for performance of which any car might well be proud.

In this old wreck of a car Ted left Ridgefield and headed out for the Black Horse Pike, one of the oldest roads in the State. He followed this for the forty miles which Mr. Calvert had told him of, and reached the small town of Montvery. Traversing this same road he passed through the village and came to a grass-grown old road that led away toward the encircling forest. Judging this to be the road in question, Ted followed it, and after passing about a half mile of fields, the road dipped into thick woods. As soon as he left the open grounds the gloom seemed to wall him in and the woods were cool.

A farmer was approaching and Ted brought the Rattletrap to a stop, hailing the man. “Am I anywhere near the camp of the Black Riders?”

“Keep going for another half mile,” was the answer. “Then you’ll get to the end of the road and you’ll have to hike down the path into the gully.” He rested his foot on the runningboard of the shaking car. “Don’t many people come up to see the camp any more,” he confided.

“How is that?” Ted asked.

“Oh, people get tired of lookin’ at nothing but an open space. If it was a building or something else it would be different. You going to take a look at it?”

“Yes,” Ted nodded. “A bunch of fellows are going to camp there in a week or so.”

“I see. Well, you won’t have nobody bothering you.”

“That is comforting news,” Ted thought, as he left the farmer and moved on. “That will be something like real camp life.”

He came to the end of the rough road and left the car, starting out on a steadily descending path until he came at last to the camp of the Black Riders. Before going to the bottom of the basin he paused to look around him. The place was a perfect bowl, the sides of which were sheathed with fine pine trees. At the bottom ran Bear Creek with its curve that made the swimming pool. On all sides, sloping upward, the forest rippled away into the distance, solid and green.

Ted descended to the bottom of the basin and looked closely over the camp site. His satisfaction was complete as he discovered two fine springs at a little distance above the spot where he figured that the tents should go. The streams from the springs flowed down and into Bear Creek.

“Two dandy springs,” he reflected. “That’s fine. The water goes into the creek, and I guess that makes the water pretty cold, but I suppose we won’t mind that.”

He continued to look over the spot, noting all the natural advantages of the place. As far as he knew there were no disadvantages attached to it. The ground was carpeted with soft pine needles and the air was charged with a fragrant tang. Lost in his thoughts, Ted did not notice the swift passage of time.

The gloom of the woods increased and he awoke at last to the lateness of the hour. His start that afternoon had not been an early one and he realized that he must hurry back. The suddenness with which darkness, aided by a group of dull clouds, came up, amazed him. He could scarcely see before him as he turned to leave.

“Golly, it certainly did get dark in a hurry,” he thought. “I must be getting out of here. I must be the only one for miles around.”

But a moment later, as he glanced up the towering mountains to the left of the camp site, he knew that he was mistaken. In the darkness above a lantern bobbed and swung.

CHAPTER III
FOLLOWING THE LIGHT

The sight of a lantern high up in the mountains captured Ted’s imagination as well as his attention. The region seemed to be a particularly lonely one and he wondered who the lantern-carrier could be. While there had been light he had looked along the mountain side but had seen no house or barn. The wooded slopes had appeared untouched by the hand of man and altogether too dense and forsaken for a house of any kind. Yet the bearer of the lantern was going somewhere.

The light flashed in and out among the trees as the bearer carried it onward and upward, winking at irregular intervals as it passed back of trees. The gleam was yellow and a trifle dim, yet there was power enough to it for the watching boy to see. Although it was perhaps perfectly natural for someone to walk the mountains with a lantern, Ted’s mind pondered it.

“Wonder where he can be going? It really isn’t any of my business, and I suppose that the person carrying the lantern knows what he is up to, but it looks a bit mysterious. Still, it isn’t necessary to follow it.”

His mind had already considered the possibility of following, but at first he rejected the idea wholly. In the first place, the action would probably end in his seeing the man enter some hidden barn on perfectly proper business, and in the second place, it was the right of anyone to walk along the mountain at any time. But the upward twist and turn of the tiny, bobbing light fascinated him.

“I guess I will follow it,” he finally decided. “I’d like to see where it goes to. I may learn something about the region if anything can be learned on a dark night like this, and anyway, I’ll feel a little more satisfied if I see where the light is going. Now, let’s see how good I am at finding my way around here in the dark!”

Centering his eyes upon the light’s feeble gleam Ted started on his climb up the side of the mountain. As soon as he plunged into the trees he lost sight of the gleam which he was trying to trace, but from time to time he caught sight of it again as he came out into a cleared space. It was no longer moving up but was keeping on a level of the mountain side and he took an abrupt cut across the contemplated line of march. The light moved slower and slower now and he gained upon it.

In one stretch of his climb Ted lost sight of the light altogether and for some moments he was unable to locate it. He was about to give it up as a bad job when a fleeting flash came to him through the trees. Now he made out that the lantern-bearer was standing still and in this interval he hoped to catch up. With this in mind Ted rapidly climbed the last slope and stood on comparatively level ground on what was a great shoulder of the mountains, heavily wooded as was the rest of the region. Before him the lantern, hung in an invisible hand, cast a circle of light around the ground.

In the shelter of some bushes and trees Ted crouched and looked at the lantern. It was an extremely old-fashioned one, with three rounded sides open and the fourth blank. Due to this structure of the lamp Ted was unable to see who it was who held the thing. The uncompleted circle cast by the lantern showed only the tips of two large shoes and the shadowy outline of a pair of trousers which seemed much the worse for wear. Above this, the bearer was invisible and might have been looking in Ted’s direction as well as in any other, for all that the boy knew. In fact, the continued silence of the man, combined with his motionlessness, made Ted somewhat uneasy, for it was possible that he was simply standing there and looking around. Ted imagined that he had made a lot of noise in his climb.

At last the lamp was slightly shifted, much to Ted’s relief, and he saw at once the object of the man’s search, or at least the goal of it. The feeble rays from the old lantern showed dimly the outline of an old house. In the fitful gleam there was revealed a short section of the foundation, which was crumbling away, and a limited view of the warped boarding on the side of the house. It was to this spot that the lone prowler had come and he seemed to be intent upon his job.

As Ted remained at his post watching the lantern and the man moved away, passing along the side of the house. The watcher had a hurried glimpse of broken masonry and rotting boards occasionally obscured by masses of bushes and creepers. The man went around to the back of the house and for a few moments the light was entirely withdrawn from Ted’s sight.

By this time Ted had entered fully into the sense of adventure of the thing. Surely, there was something unusual going on. Something important must be bringing this man out with his lantern to look around an old house. The building itself aroused Ted’s curiosity. Who could have built it up in the solitary fastness of the woods and how long had it been standing idle? Something beside the beauty of the place must be responsible for the intent prowling of the man with the lantern.

“I must see this house by daylight,” Ted decided.

The light winked suddenly around the far corner of the house and moved along the front. Rough steps were revealed and the man with the shadowy legs mounted the steps, crossed the porch and passed through a gaping doorway into a front door. A swift glimpse was afforded Ted of white plaster on the walls and then the light disappeared.

It was gone for some little time, finally appearing briefly in an upper window. After that it disappeared again and was gone so long that Ted grew highly impatient and seriously contemplating leaving. He knew that he should be getting back to the town, for it was late and he had a long drive before him. But the subject in hand fascinated him and he wanted to see it through.

“I’ll give the gentleman a few more minutes,” he thought. “If nothing shows up then, I’ll have to beat it.”

Crouching there in the bushes he waited straining his eyes toward the blackness of the house. The whole mountainside had now become so black that the house was not even distinguishable as a darker blot, and if the man with the lantern had not revealed it, Ted could not possibly have become aware of its presence except by bumping into it. With the light out of sight the darkness was a solid wall.

Just as Ted’s impatience was nearing the breaking point he heard the man with the light returning. There was a sound of crunching footsteps and he came down a staircase in the house and before long the flashing beam of the lantern showed. Man and lantern crossed the front porch and without hesitation approached the bushes off to the left of where Ted was concealed.

Now the lantern was placed on the ground and the man, still invisible and keeping out of the rays of the lamp in a manner that was particularly irritating, crashed his way into the bushes. Something was hauled forth with a rustling, crackling noise. For a brief instant the sides and rungs of a ladder were disclosed and then the thing passed out of the light circle. But there was a bump which led Ted to believe that the ladder, an old common farm ladder, had been placed against the side of the house.

In this guess he was correct. The lantern was lifted from the ground and the two mysterious legs sought the bottom rung of the ladder. As Ted watched, the light and the legs went up step by step, the side of the house, briefly illuminated, sliding by as the man mounted to the top.

CHAPTER IV
A STARTLING SIGHT

A flash of the lantern showed the slope of the roof and a broken tin gutter. Plainly the intention of the man was to mount this roof and the watching boy wondered how he was going to do it, as there was a decided slope to the house covering. But the man with the lantern evidently knew his territory, for he stepped from the top of the ladder and his foot descended to the roof, resting in a hole which the elements had eaten through the shingles. He began to climb upward, picking his way along the top of the roof with a certain foot, knowing the breaks and the rough spots where he could travel in safety. Without wavering he pressed on and reached the top of the house, where a crooked chimney was shadowily revealed in the glow of the light. The man raised the lantern.

Ted peered eagerly from his post in the bushes, hoping to get a good look at the man but he was doomed to disappointment, at least as far as the man’s face was concerned. He had his back to the boy and only the general outline was disclosed by his act of raising the lantern. He was outlined against the sky in a blurred picture, and he seemed to be tall and thin. His clothing was of the roughest sort and his hat was a relic which might, at one time, have been a soldier’s campaign hat. The roof seemed to be familiar to the man, for he proceeded to business as coolly as though he was standing on the firm ground instead of on the slope of a rotting roof on a solitary house in the mountains.

He rested the lantern on the top of the tilted chimney and then dropped his hands to his waist, fumbling there for a few moments and puzzling Ted, who could not make out this latest move. At length the question was cleared up, for the man began to pull on something which revealed itself as a rope and which was coiled around his waist. In a few minutes it slipped off of his person and then he proceeded to tie one end of it to the handle of the lantern. Then he dropped the lantern down the mouth of the chimney, paying the rope out gradually, his body bent over so that he could look down the shaft.

Ted was rooted to the spot by the strangeness of the thing. The light had ceased to shine abroad, instead, it now shot up a feeble shaft from the interior of the chimney, bathing the head and shoulders of the lone man in its wavering, uncertain gleam. The lower part of the man’s body was lost to sight and the upper portion, half disclosed, gave a weird appearance, as though the man was a half-spirit materializing in the air. With absorbed attention the man lowered the lantern until the end of his rope put an end to the process and then he began what looked to be a profound search of the depth of the brick shaft. He moved the rope from side to side, backward and forward, the ray of light shifting as he did so, becoming larger and smaller as the man persisted in his efforts.

Whether or not his work proved profitable Ted never knew, for he could not see the face of the man and there was nothing to be learned as long as the purpose of the thing was a mystery. But the man concluded his search in short order, drawing up the rope rapidly and pulling out the lantern. Rapidly he untied the rope, wound it around his waist and then descended the roof, finding the places where he dared to walk. His foot found the top rung of the ladder and he reached the earth a few seconds later.

The lantern was once more deposited on the ground. The ladder was removed and placed in the bushes, and the work of the man seemed to be finished. He picked up the lantern and walked off, passing so close to the hiding Ted that the boy felt the perspiration start suddenly as he realized that the faltering rays of the lantern might disclose his hiding place. The looks of the man were unknown and the prospect of being seen by a man whose features were still formless in his mind did not look inviting to Ted. But the man passed the spot while he was thinking of these things and started down the mountain, leaving him to lie there and wait until it was safe to go on.

It was manifestly not safe to go on just then. The man was below him and in the darkness Ted might start a stone down and advertise his presence, in which case the game would be very much against him, for the man with the light knew the country and he was a stranger in a strange land. He watched the lantern bobbing down the slope until it was out of sight and then he sat up, turning the whole thing over in his mind.

“By George, that surely was a funny one!” he thought. “What in the world should he go and lower the lantern down the chimney for?”

The whole circumstance was so unusual that he was forced to give up the solution as a bad job and one far beyond his powers to figure out. The house which the boy had caught brief glimpses of was apparently a deserted old place of no value whatsoever and why any one should take the trouble to search it with a lantern for was beyond him.

“Can it be possible that there is something of value in the house?” he wondered, as he stood up and looked in vain for the light. “I can’t see why else a man should look around a place in the night. I wonder why he doesn’t look around in the daytime? Probably he would have to have a lantern in the daytime as well as in the night if he wanted to explore the bottom of that chimney.”

Ted glanced toward the black outline of the house, hesitating as a thought entered his mind. He was debating the question of entering and looking around the place. In one sense, he wanted to do so, and in another he did not want to. The curiosity of the whole thing was strongly upon him, yet the solitary house was not inviting. He had no way to make a light and he knew better than to think of prowling a dark house, yet he could make an expedition around the house and get a fair idea of the place. Then another thought caused him to abandon that idea.

“There may be some well close to the house, and I couldn’t afford to fall into it. No, I guess I’ll be better off to stay out and away from it. After we have made our camp up here I’ll go through the house some day.”

Realizing that it was becoming far later than he had had any idea of, Ted decided to go back to his little car and drive home. For a moment he paused, undecided. In his haste to track the man with the lantern he had not taken time to map out in his mind the direction in which he had come and for a moment he was dismayed at the blackness of the woods. Anyone used to at least the partial illumination that exists at all points in a city is apt to be disagreeably surprised at the total blackness of the night in the woods, and Ted was experiencing this feeling now. But he fought off his uneasiness.

“I’ll get back to the car,” he told himself. “I’ve got to! I’ll just follow down the side of the mountain. Gosh, I never knew how dark the woods could be!”

He began to descend carefully, feeling his way before him, covering to the best of his knowledge the route which he had followed as he tracked the man with the light. Once or twice he came out on ledges which ended abruptly and he was compelled to retrace his steps and work further down, but before long he found ground which was more level. In a few moments he heard the murmur of the stream and recognized it as that of Bear Creek.

“Landed almost at home!” he exulted. “Now I guess I can find my way to the Rattletrap!”

He started to cross the long glade which had been the camp of the Black Riders and came in sight of the springs. A light flashed there and he stopped quickly.

Beside one of the springs the lantern rested on the ground and the figure which had carried it bent over the spring, washing his hands. Ted’s foot touched and rolled a stone, which made a slight noise as it rolled.

The man at the spring bent forward without looking around and with a single breath blew the light out.

The situation was an odd one and not at all a comfortable one. The man with the lantern was there in the darkness, crouching beside his darkened instrument, doubtless peering around him to ascertain who it was who had approached. Ted stood on the spot where he had first seen the man at the spring, undecided as to what to do, his nerves tingling. The one comforting thought that he had was to the effect that the man did not know who it was that had come up behind him and so he felt a certain reassurance. But if the prowling man knew from what direction the sounds of approach came he might take it into his head to explore in the dark, a thing which might be very bad for Ted.

In silence they both kept their positions—at least Ted hoped that the man was keeping his, and as for the boy he never moved a muscle, but listened with straining ears. No sound of a footstep or anything else reached him, the woods were silent and as far as sound went Ted might just as well have been in another world. But he knew that the man was there near him and the feeling was not a happy one.

It was always possible for him to call out and explain his presence there, trusting to luck that the man before him was no madman and that his explanation would be accepted on its face value. But the actions of the man were so stealthy, so mysterious, that they could not possibly be honest ones. For any man to bend forward and blow out a lantern in one, swift decisive breath was worthy of comment by the most unsuspicious, and it would be reasonable to suppose that explanations would not be accepted by a man engaged in the type of business that this was employed in.

So he waited for what seemed an age and when the situation had become almost unbearable he heard a stone roll and a twig snap some distance away from the spring, conclusive proofs that the man with the lantern was stealing away. Other sounds, accidental but informing, came to him in the distance which the man was trying to put between himself and the boy and Ted felt a sense of relief.

“But he knows that I am here,” he realized. “He must be up to something so shady that he doesn’t want to see anyone, no matter who they may be. Maybe he is one of the fellows who gives this camp the reputation of being haunted, and I don’t wonder that anyone would think of such a thing if they saw him dodge around with his lamp. I hope he doesn’t show up and give the boys a scare, because some of them are pretty young.”

Guided solely by a sense of direction, Ted found the path and located his car in the same spot where he had left it. A rapid inspection convinced him that the little machine had not been harmed and he got in, starting his engine and leaving the spot as rapidly as possible.

“I must get home,” he thought. “My folks will be worrying and I don’t want them to do that. Tomorrow I must hunt up Buck and tell him what I saw out there. I think that he will agree with me that we ought to keep it quiet.”

Ted’s folks were beginning to get worried but his appearance reassured them and he gave the excuse that certain things about the camping spot had interested him so much that he had remained at the place longer than he had intended to. Conscious that he had told the truth and not wishing to alarm them with any further details, he retired for the night and enjoyed a good sleep.

On the following day he and Buck attended the local Young Men’s Bible Class in their church and on the way back they discussed the things which Ted had related to his chum on the way to the church. Buck was unable to figure anything out and he agreed that they should make it their own secret.

“We’ll take a look at that old house when we get camping there,” he said. “Maybe when we see what it looks like in the daylight we will be able to tell something. Whatever we do, we mustn’t allow the boys to know what you saw and we’ll have to laugh down any silly stories that are brought up.”

“When the gentleman with the lantern sees that there is a camp around he’ll probably stay away,” replied Ted.

“You’re not even going to tell Mr. Calvert, are you?”

“No, I’ll just tell him that I am impressed with the camp site itself. No use in spreading alarm, and it might get out. After all, that man might have had a good reason to walk around in the woods at night, and we’d only look silly making a big story out of it.”

“Sure. Well, I’m all set for the trip. We start this week, and it can’t come too soon for me.”

CHAPTER V
SETTING UP CAMP

One morning later in that same week the two chums arose early and gathered up their camping outfits. Ted said goodbye to his folks, swung his pack on his back and sallied forth to meet Buck, who was standing at his own gate and waiting for him. Buck was rigged out in a style similar to Ted’s, with a good camping pack, a campaign hat, buckskin blouse, stout trousers, heavy shoes, pick and camp shovel, and an axe.

“Well, here we go at last!” hailed Buck, delightedly, eager for the trip before them. “Seemed like this morning would never come!”

“I was awake a couple of times myself,” smiled Ted, as they swung along toward the club house in town. “We have a dandy day for a start.”

It was a cool morning, bright and clear, and a more promising day could not have been ordered. Their blood tingled as they looked forward to the coming encampment.

“Are they going to have one or two trucks?” Buck asked, as they turned down the street upon which the club house was located.

“One big one,” Ted replied, “for the fellows, and a little one for supplies. The tents and the grub will take up plenty of space and I guess the number of boys who are going will fill up the big truck. Eighteen boys have given their names and with the two of us we’ll have twenty, a big enough crowd to handle.”

“It surely will be,” murmured Buck. “Especially if you have never done that sort of thing before.”

“We won’t have any trouble if we start right,” said Ted. “If we show the right authority and set up a sort of military discipline we’ll get along very well. Most of these club boys are just small fellows and things shouldn’t be so difficult with them.”

By this time they had arrived at the club rooms of the Boys’ Club and there they found about half of the young boys assembled. Mr. Calvert was with them and the two trucks stood at the curb. With interest the two camp leaders looked the boys over.

They were young boys of the age ranging between twelve and fifteen and there was one boy sixteen. They seemed to be a lively bunch of young fellows who were all obviously keen for the trip before them. Some of the boys Ted and Buck knew, either by sight or by name, but there were several that they did not know. The boys all had variously assorted packs and kits with them and while waiting they were amusing themselves by chattering and tossing around a large hand medicine ball.

But if the two leaders did not know the boys, the boys knew them. There was an immediate rush toward them as they entered the yard before the frame building which housed the club. A number of boys plied them with questions.

“You’re really going to be the leader, Thorny?” a boy asked Ted, who nodded in smiling assent.

“I am, along with Buck,” he said.

“Gee, that’s great!” was the enthusiastic reply. A stout boy of fourteen pushed up to Ted, with an anxious look on his face.

“Mr. Thorn, is it true that we won’t have anything but oatmeal and bread on our camping trip?”

“Why, I don’t know!” puzzled Ted, looking toward Mr. Calvert, who winked. “Why do you ask that?”

“All these fellows been telling me that,” said the chubby one. “I don’t like just oatmeal and bread! I guess they’re fooling, eh?”

“I hope so myself,” smiled Ted. “I’d like something else beside that!”

Mr. Calvert joined the group. “Don’t mind this boy and his demands for food, Thorn,” he said. “This is Al Barker, but the boys call him Drummer.”

“Why? Does he play a drum?” Ted asked.

There was a general laugh and Mr. Calvert explained. “No but he spends his time between meals drumming up an appetite for the next one! So the boys have always called him Drummer!”

“We’ll try to keep him so well filled that he won’t have to drum,” grinned Buck, while the stout boy looked pleased and relieved.

The boys drifted away to various occupations and the two chums talked over details with Mr. Calvert. A few more boys had arrived and the lawyer remarked that they were almost all on the spot.

“Are all of the boys of this same age?” Buck asked.

“All but one of them,” Mr. Calvert said, lowering his voice. “Or I should say, two of them, for we have one young boy of eleven and one boy of seventeen. It is of the older boy I wish to warn you. His name is Ralph Plum and he is actually too old for the club boys, but an uncle of his gave quite a bit of money toward starting the club and so has always been allowed to join in with them, though none of the trustees have felt very cheerful about it. He is a big hulking fellow and apt to be a trouble maker, so keep your eyes on him and use your own judgment. We’re hoping all the time that he’ll get tired of the club and leave, but so far he hasn’t, and it was with much regret that we learned that he was going to go on this trip. We’ve tried here to teach him something in the manly line, but haven’t progressed very far, I’m afraid. Speaking of bad pennies, there he is now.”

They turned to look at the boy who walked into the club house yard and were not impressed. He was as Mr. Calvert had described him, a huge fellow with wide-spreading shoulders and a rolling, careless walk. His camping outfit was brand new and his axe and knife were of the best. A fine pack was strapped to his back. But his face was a discontented one and he chewed gum with an assurance that was insolent. He passed them easily, nodding to Mr. Calvert and immediately took the ball away from the smaller boys and kept it for some time.

“Something of a bully,” murmured Ted, his eyes narrowing.

“Quite a bit, I’m sorry to say,” was the reply.

The boys all seemed to be on the ground, Mr. Calvert said, as he glanced around. “All except the smallest boy, the eleven-year-old I was telling you about,” he went on. “Little Tom Clayton, but I guess he isn’t coming, although he was eager to come.”

But at that moment the small boy appeared in company with his father and Mr. Clayton was introduced to Ted and Buck. He had come with his boy for a purpose.

“I heard that you two boys were going to lead the camp,” he told the boys. “It was only because Mrs. Clayton knew you that she allowed Tom to go along.” He smiled in a somewhat nervous manner. “Tom’s our only boy—only child, in fact, and we set a lot of store by him. His mother would spoil him by not letting him go anywhere and certainly never on a trip like this, but I want Tom to grow up to be a real man.” He glanced down at his son, a somewhat pale and sensitive-looking boy, and then went on: “We had a hard time getting permission for this camping trip, didn’t we, Tommy? But we finally made it. I just want to ask you fellows to see to it that the boy is well taken care of and that he is properly developed. I know you will, but I just wanted to make sure that everything will be all right, you know.”

The two leaders made haste to reassure him. They could visualize without any trouble the condition of the boy’s home and they sympathized with him. The father’s desire to have the boy grow up to be a fine, strong man was evident.

All of the boys were now assembled and Mr. Calvert called for their attention. “I want you all to file into the club room and sit down for a last word of instruction from me,” the president of the club announced, and with more or less noise they obeyed, pushing and scrambling to the seats inside the long frame club house. In the front of them Mr. Calvert and the two chums stood.

“Now, boys,” the president announced, when he had obtained their attention. “I simply want to give you some last minute instructions. Most of you know that Mr. Thorn and Mr. Dalton will be in complete charge of the camp to which you are going, and you are to give them your very best support in making the camp a good and effective one. This point I want you to get clearly in your minds: these two young men are in absolute charge. Their word is law. If they do something that you don’t feel is the right thing to do, you do it anyway, and if you think it is so bad that you can’t stand it, you write to me or call me up somewhere before you refuse to obey orders! We want this camp to be a credit to the Boys’ Club of this city, and it can’t be that unless it is an orderly one!”

“You will have a certain amount of camp work to do, and these leaders will be in charge of that. Obey them without question. In that way you will make the most out of your camping trip and I’m sure that in another year you’ll want to go again. Any questions, before you start?”

“This Black Riders’ Camp is said to be haunted, isn’t it?” Ralph Plumb spoke up, from where he was lolling around on a bench.

There was a moment of silence and the two boys felt some annoyance. But Ted spoke up.

“There used to be some silly stories about that,” he smiled. “But they were just old women’s tales! We’re too sensible to give any thought to anything like that. If twenty fellows couldn’t scare away a poor little ghost or witch or whatever it is they used to say hung around the place, then we’d better go camping over in the City Park!”

There was a laugh at this and Plum muttered something, but no attention was paid to him. There was a scene of confusion as packs were slung and then the big truck shook as the boys swarmed over the sides and into it. The smaller truck with the supplies had already started off.

It had been agreed that Ted would drive the big truck to the camp and that the driver of the supply truck would drive it back. The little truck was the property of the club and would remain in camp with them, in case they wished at any time to drive to town for fresh food. The big truck, which was a hired one, would go back to the city and return at the end of the month for the boys.

“Buck, maybe you had better get into the body of the truck and see to it that none of these fellows get to fooling and fall off,” Ted said, as the boys pushed and jostled in the truck. “I’d like to have you drive along with me, but we had better have somebody on duty back there.”

“Guess you’re right,” nodded Buck. “I’d like to drive alongside of you, but I’ll get back.” He tossed his pack on board and climbed into the truck. “All shipshape back here!” he sang out.

Ted warmed up the engine, shaking hands in farewell with Mr. Calvert. “Lots of good luck!” smiled the lawyer.

“Thanks! I’m sure we’ll have a fine time!”

The president leaned nearer. “If there is any trouble, Thorn, let me know at once.”

“I will,” Ted nodded, “but I’m sure everything will be fine. Goodbye.”

The truck rumbled off in a cloud of dust and gasoline smoke, the boys gave a shrill cheer, and the journey to Black Riders’ Camp had begun.

The ride was a long one in the truck but the boys did not mind it. In the back of the truck the boys talked and sang and Buck joined them in their conversation, answering a number of questions concerning camping life in general.

Outside the last town on their route they met the supply truck waiting and in company they proceeded down the bumpy wood road until the autos could go no farther. They were in the shelter of the trees and a stone’s throw from the camp of the Black Riders.

“All out and grab some equipment!” shouted Buck, and they descended from the truck in a torrent, making shrill demands for their packs from those who were still in the truck. These were supplied and then Ted and Buck ordered them to unload the supply truck. This was soon done and the boys began to descend the slope to the camping spot.

The driver of the supply truck took the big truck back to the city, leaving the smaller vehicle alone there in the woods. Ted then made his way to the camping grounds and heard with pleasure the cries of delight as the boys looked over the spot.

“It surely is a dandy,” Buck told him. “Well, I suppose we had better step to it and get the tents up.”

To this work they fell with a will and before long four big brown tents had been pegged down tightly. They were on a slight slope facing the creek, with the springs off to one side and back of them. By the time the canvas shelters were up it was growing dusk and Buck and a squad made haste to gather a big load of wood for night. Others, under Ted’s leadership, built a fine, substantial fireplace. By the time that this was done the darkness had settled over them like a blanket, and the new fires tossed a yellow and flickering light to the sky.

“This will be our first night out here,” Ted reflected, as he looked around him. “Wonder what it will be like?”

CHAPTER VI
A PROWLER IN THE NIGHT

An event for which the boys had long been waiting now came, after some confusion, to pass. Several requests had been made for something to eat but Ted turned a deaf ear to it until the camp had been put in shape. The noon meal had been a sandwich affair and now the hungry stomachs were demanding something solid. Ted gave orders for the meal.

He and Buck took care of the cooking for that one meal and they had a big job on their hands. The two fires were used to cook beans and soup and warm up coffee and before long the fragrant smell of the food floated through the woods around them. Impatiently the boys awaited their meal.

“Seems like I never was so hungry before!” sighed Drummer, gazing at the big pot of cooking beans with wistful eyes.

“You drummed up a good appetite this afternoon, didn’t you?” someone asked, and the stout boy nodded.

They used a flat stump to cut the bread on and for a general table, finding that its location to the fires made it a handy natural object. Buck organized a number of the boys to go and bring pails of water so that they could be put on the fire as soon as the food was off, to heat for dish water.

“Do we have to wash dishes here?” was an innocent inquiry.

“Well, I want mine washed,” grinned Buck. “If you want to eat from yours without washing, why, go right ahead!”

“Who is going to wash them, Mr. Dalton?” a boy asked.

“We’ll have a volunteer gang tonight,” responded Buck, seeing to it that each boy had a pail. “After that, we’ll have regular squads to do the work. Go to it, boys.”

Ted had found that the supply truck was well filled and figuring even recklessly he was of the opinion that they would not soon have to renew their main supplies, though things such as butter and eggs and milk would have to be taken care of from day to day. Much care and thought had been taken by the leaders of the Boys’ Club in the selection of the goods, and Ted was pleased.

At length the supper was cooked, the beans lifted from the fire and the coffee pushed back to keep warm. “Come and get it!” called Buck, and they obeyed loyally and enthusiastically. Forming in a line they pushed their cups and plates toward Buck and Ted and for some minutes the two leaders were busy dishing and pouring. Within the circle of the fires the boys sat around, most of them silent as they applied themselves to the subject at hand.

“Golly, nothing ever seemed so good at home!” declared Drummer, munching contentedly.

“I don’t think so much of beans,” struck in Ralph Plum. “I wouldn’t eat ’em home!”

“You aren’t home,” was Drummer’s retort. “What do you eat them here for?”

“There isn’t anything else, is there?” retorted Plum.

“I guess not,” replied Drummer. “Any time you don’t want your beans you just let me know, Ralph.”

The little fellow, Tom Clayton, sat close beside Ted as they ate and Ted smiled down into his serious face. “How are you enjoying it, Tom?”

“Great!” was the answer. “I’m glad I could come along, Mr. Thorn!”

“So am I,” agreed Ted. “We’ll have a lot of fun out of this camping trip. You won’t get homesick, will you?”

“No, I guess not,” was the slow answer. “I’ve only been away from home once before this, but I guess I won’t be homesick. Anyway, if I do, I won’t let these fellows see it, because they’ll kid me about it!”

“That’s the spirit!” approved Buck.

After the meal was over came the task which was not welcomed any too cheerfully. A multitude of greasy tin plates and cups lay piled up near the creek and the pails of water were ready. Ted asked for volunteers, and a few of the boys helped the two leaders do the washing and drying. Most of the boys were content to lie around and chatter. When the camp work was finished they all gathered around the fires while Ted addressed them.

“Now, fellows,” he began, when he had claimed their attention. “Tonight is rather an informal time and we’re just getting acquainted. Tomorrow we’ll settle down to real business. Up to now I don’t even know the names of all of you, but I’ll get on to them pretty quickly. In order to get the best results out of our encampment we’ll have to have good discipline and willing workers. For instance, we’ll have to have a wood-gathering committee, a fire committee, a cooking committee, a water committee, and a dishwashing committee. Some of these committees won’t be as popular as others, I know, but we won’t be on the same committees all of the time. Frequent changes will give us all a chance to work at something different. Buck and I will take our share of the work along with the rest of you.”

“That makes me think of something else. Some of you are calling me Mr. Thorn and calling Buck, Mr. Dalton. That’s very nice, but we want to be all fellows here together and so we are just plain Ted and Buck to you. We’ll all work together and have a good time. Now about the tents: we have four of them and that means that there will be five in a tent. We have plenty of room, and Buck will sleep in one of the tents and I in another. For the other two tents I’ll appoint a captain and he is to be in complete charge of that tent. To him you will make any complaint or suggestion and he can take it up with me. We’ll want to go to bed early at night so that we’ll get plenty of good sleep. We’ll be up early in the mornings.”

“Why didn’t we put the tents up in between the trees?” a boy asked.

“Because there will be such things while we are here as thunder storms,” smiled Ted. “And if we do have them we want to be out in the open and not under a tree which might be struck by lightning and fall over!”

This was a thought which had not as yet struck any of them and for a moment there was complete silence. They were all young boys and the woods experience was new to them. Thunder storms had been witnessed by most of them from a secure house or a comfortable bed and the thought that they would now be almost exposed to the elements was somewhat staggering. They looked around and up into the blackness of the crouching mountains.

“Gee, it does get some dark up here, doesn’t it?” inquired one boy, in an awe-struck voice.

The circle of light from the fires was not a large one and the blackness around them seemed an immensity which held untold things mysteriously unpleasant. Buck laughed to reassure them.

“Yes, they don’t have any street lights up here,” he said. “The animals like dark nights!”

“Animals!” cried another boy. “Are there any animals up here? Do they call the water Bear Creek on purpose!”

“I don’t know,” said Ted. “Some day we’ll look up the animals and see if any of them live around here.”

The talk was resumed and under cover of it Buck and Ted conferred. “You think I had better sleep in another tent than the one you are going to have?” Buck asked.

“I think so,” nodded Ted. “You take the one on that end and I’ll take the one at this end. We’ll put the smaller fellows in the two middle tents and that will reassure them a little more.”

“Do you think they are going to be scared?”

“No, not when they get used to the camp, but you see they didn’t have much in the way of daylight today while here and the night seems so black. Probably a lot of them won’t sleep and it will seem an age before the sun comes up tomorrow.” He glanced at his watch. “I guess we had better turn in now.”

The word to this effect was passed around and the boys were not reluctant to turn in. Ted told off Bob Gilmore as the captain of one tent and Charlie Wells as leader of the other one.

“Each one of you will undress by the light of a single lantern which will be hung from the pole of the tent,” he directed. “As soon as the last man is in bed the captain of that tent will personally put out the light. No loud talking after you are in your beds, in fact, none at all would be better, because you’ll keep somebody else awake. Now go to it.”

The fires burned low and the four tents glowed with a subdued light as the boys all prepared for bed. In the tent with Ted was little Tom Clayton and three other fine young fellows and they were speedily in their beds which they had built from boughs and packed leaves. Ted had purposely placed the bed of the small boy beside his own. They were all in under their blankets when he put out the light and crawled in between his own.

The talking in the other tents died down as the lights were extinguished. That some of the boys were restless was attested to by the rustling turnings in their beds. One boy had gathered his boughs with too much wood attached to the smaller branches and they made him so uneasy and uncomfortable that he was compelled to throw most of it out and sleep closer to the canvas covering that served as a tent floor. Some deep breathing announced that a few boys had fallen instantly asleep, tired out with the events of the day.

There was no talking on the part of the boys in Ted’s tent, inspired probably by his presence and the little boy at least did not remain awake long. Ted’s eyes began to close and the last sounds and impressions were somewhat dim. The fire snapped once or twice, the wind blew with a very faint rustle of leaves, and a katydid started his endless fiddling, being joined by several others who tried to out-fiddle him. Then Ted went to sleep.

He slept on for what seemed to be some hours and then a light struck quickly and fleetingly across his eyes. The flap of the tent was half open and he could look out, but there was no repetition of the incident. He was puzzled and sat up.

“Was that from the fires?” he wondered, poking his head out of the tent and glancing towards the two fireplaces.

It was not. Both fires had gone out and not a single spark glowed to show even where they had been. But there was no question in his mind as to whether there had been a light, for the thing had been very definite. He stepped out of the tent, unmindful of the cool, damp earth under his bare feet, and stood there in his pajamas, looking keenly around.

A wandering beam of light came from around the last tent, the tent in which Buck was sleeping, and Ted frowned. “Now, who the dickens can be prowling around with a lantern?” he wondered, starting forward. “I’m going to find out.”

CHAPTER VII
WEIRD SOUNDS

The faint shaft of light vanished as Ted made his way along the line of the silent tents and for a moment he almost doubted that he had seen it. His total glimpses had consisted of flashes and nothing more, and the fact spurred him on with greater curiosity. When he had first seen the light he thought it might have been one of the boys or even Buck prowling around, but the way the gleams came and went he began to doubt it seriously. Remembering the man whom he had previously seen, he became cautious as he stepped to the end of Buck’s tent and looked around.

He was not able to see a thing, for the darkness was so dense that it presented to him only a solid wall. His ears were listening keenly but he heard nothing. He supposed he had better look back of the tents, but this thought brought a problem. There was no use in doing that unless he took a lantern with him, and he might alarm the boys if he did so. The question was not an agreeable one.

A low hiss reached his ears, a sound which came from the tent. He thrust his head inside the flap.

“That you, Buck?”

An answering whisper came back to him. “Yes. What are you doing up?”

“I’m just looking around, that is all. Can’t you sleep?”

“I was sleeping until you flashed your light in here! What are you looking for?”

“Come on outside a minute,” directed Ted, still in the same low whisper. Buck made motions which led his chum to think that he was tossing aside his blanket and then he joined him outside of the tent, grunting as his feet touched the cool earth.

“Gosh, this ground is cold! What in the world are you—”

“Buck, did you see a light before?”

“Yes, when you passed by with the lantern.”

“That’s just the point—I didn’t pass by with any lantern! I was awakened by a flash in my eyes and then as I looked out of the tent flap I saw the light dodge down this way. Somebody who doesn’t belong to the camp is prowling!”

Buck was impressed at once. “But we don’t know if everybody is in their tents,” he pointed out.

“They are all in my tent and I suppose they are all in yours, but we don’t know about the others. The worst part of it all is that we can’t go snooping into the tents to see, because if we wake the youngsters up we’ll throw a scare into them. I guess we’ll have to do all the investigating ourselves.”

“I’ve got a flashlight inside and I think I can locate it,” whispered Buck. “Hope I don’t wake anybody up!”