Captain Alan Douglas

“ Be sure and keep that tongue of yours well inside your mouth, or you might bite it off."
"Seems to me you do your share of biting, George; you've always got some ill-natured remark to make about everything I invent. Nothing venture, nothing gained, is my motto. And now I'll walk a little further out on this limb, so as to get a better chance to jump; and then watch me sail like a thistle-down!"
"Careful, there, Toby!" shouted Elmer, as the scout up in the tree started to move out further, looking very queer with that canopy over his head, and his waving arms assisting him to keep his balance. ”

“ Finally Elmer arose, and there was a start on the part of those who had been selected to accompany the leader and Chatz on their singular errand.
"I hope you'll let me carry the gun, Elmer?" Lil Artha remarked, coaxingly.
"Why should you?" replied the other, instantly; "if it is a real ghost a bullet wouldn't hurt a bit; and if it should turn out to be some one playing a mad prank I don't think you'd feel easy in your mind if you were tempted to shoot him."
"But it might be some tramp or hard case, and we'd want to subdue him; how about that, Elmer?" questioned Toby. ”

“ I've known you to fool your trusting scout comrades before this."
"There you go, George Robbins, suspicious as ever. No wonder they call you Doubting George. You never will believe anything till you see it with your own eyes, and then you often wonder whether you're awake or dreaming. Now, I told Elmer here, our Assistant Scout Master, about my plan, and he took my word for it."
"That's all right, Toby, but unfortunately I was born different; I'm not so trusting, and things are mighty deceptive in this world, sometimes." ”

“ With that the four camp keepers smiled at each other.
"Can it be possible they've found a bee-tree, after all?" asked George, who, despite his yearning for a honeycomb, could not overcome his skeptical disposition, and believe that such a delightful consummation of the bee hunt had come about.
"Listen to that whanging, will you?" cried Toby; "nobody but Lil Artha could use an ax like that. As sure as you live they must have struck something. Tell me about the babes in the woods, will you; some people wade in good luck every time they start out!" ”

“ There never was, and there never will be again, such a bully chance to lay in a big winter's supply of nuts in double-quick time. And I never did like to take other people's leavings."
"Make up your mind to it we don't have to," Elmer assured him.
"Might as well make ourselves comfy while we're about it," suggested George, as he dropped down, and sat tailor-fashion, with his legs doubled under him.
"Yes, for we may have to stay here quite some time," admitted Elmer, copying his example without hesitation.
"Ain't it nice to watch other people working for you?" observed Ted, after a while. ”

“ Toby frankly admitted, as they stood there, and looked about them.
The house itself had once been quite an extensive, and perhaps costly affair, with two wings, and a spacious hall in the center. That was long ago, for now it was in the throes of dissolution, a mere wreck of its former self, and fit only for bats, owls, and rats. Doors hung on a single hinge, and shutters had been torn off long ago by gales, leaving the paneless windows gaping beyond. Moss streaked the rotten roof, and parts of the porch had given way under accumulated snow piles in previous winters. ”

“ Elmer went on.
"Yes, that's right, we did," muttered Toby, who was almost as much interested in the matter as Chatz.
"And where could we find a better place for spending those few days than right here in the dense woods close to the Cartaret house? There's everything to be had that the heart of a camper might wish; and if you're a ghost hunter, why, here's a splendid field for your activities." ”

“ They knew what Elmer meant when he said that. If the ghost walked at all it must be around the middle of the night. So they would have to take up their weary vigil again, and await developments. Even whispering must cease, and their attention be wholly given to watching, inside and out of the house.
The seconds crept into minutes, though to some of the scouts these latter had never moved with such leaden wings, and they could almost believe hours were passing in review instead. ”

“ The glorious store of nuts that had already been gathered was immediately turned from the sacks owned by Connie Mallon and his cronies into the burlap bags the scouts had provided for the purpose. Then, far from satisfied, the boys proceeded to take up the work where the late nut-gatherers had left off. They climbed trees, and whipped the branches with the long poles, delighting in the sound of splendid nuts rattling down like hail. There is such a fascination about this sport that it is difficult to know just when to stop it ”

“ Toby immediately answered.
"Thame here," purred Ted.
"Oh! of course I'll join you in anything you hatch up, fellows," George told them; "though I don't take any stock in all this nonsense about ghosts and such. If you show me one, and I can pinch his arm, and feel the bones in his hand, I might believe in the stuff; but you never can, and that's a fact. Still, I'd like to see what the inside of this old Cartaret house is like. I don't believe [70] there's a single fellow in Hickory Ridge that can boast he's been through it. Lead the way, then, Elmer, or Chatz. We'll follow you." ”

“ So Ty took the ax back with him; while George worked a sort of smoke smudge Elmer had prepared, in order to help stupefy the bees. It did the business in great shape, too, as every bee keeper uses this means for keeping the little insects from paying too much attention to him when he is working with their hive. They seem to fancy that their home is in deadly danger of being consumed, and every working bee immediately burdens itself down with all the honey it can carry, and for the time being renders itself helpless to use its sting. ”

“ But boys as well as men often lay splendid plans without taking into account the element of chance that always abounds. Elmer might be doing all he figured on, and yet meet with a cruel disappointment.
He had just drawn back to make the next to last forward hunch, and was in a position where any other movement was an utter impossibility when there sounded a loud and unmistakable sneeze! ”

“ We've got the field to ourselves the rest of the day."
"Unless something comes along to give us a scare too," added Chatz, meaningly; for truth to tell, the superstitious Southern boy was already wondering whether all this playing ghost on their part might not bring something down on their heads savoring of retribution.
"Then what's to hinder our getting busy, and changing all that pile of fine nuts from their sacks to ours?" George wanted to know. "The spoils of battle belong to the victors every time; and besides, they were trying to beat us out of our share as first discoverers. ”

“ Elmer made an examination of the stores, and found nothing amiss there; so it was settled that the crazy man could not have mustered up enough courage to invade the camp of those he considered his enemies.
After breakfast Elmer, accompanied by Chatz and Lil Artha, started out to take a turn around in the woods, and look for signs of a trail made by bare feet. Some of the others amused themselves as they saw fit, sure that if the trail-seekers did make any interesting discovery they would hear all about the same, and undoubtedly be given a chance to help follow it. ”

“ So many of Toby's startling devices had turned out to be the rankest fizzles, that his comrades had come to be very skeptical with regard to his ability to make good.
"Why, I declare if it ain't only an old umbrella after all!" exclaimed George, with his accustomed sniff of disdain, as the contents of the package became visible after the paper had been cast aside. [61]
"You're away off there, George," affirmed Toby; "because every bit of it's brand new. My own invention too; nothing just like it ever known before." ”

“ Toby muttered. "George has seen a big light; he ain't a doubter any longer, you notice. He hears the rattle of the nuts, and sees 'em falling like hail. Talk to me about beavers and busy bees, that crowd would take the cake for business. Look at that one climbing to the very top of the hickory tree to get the best nuts that always grow up high. ”

“ Chatz looked keenly at his face, and fancied that he could detect something like a faint smile there; but even if the scout master had made any sort of discovery on his last visit to the haunted house, he did not seem ready to take his chums into his confidence.
"Well, that looks like something, boys," he remarked, as he surveyed the great load of filled bags that occupied nearly every bit of space in the wagon bed.
"Oh! we believe in doing a wholesale business [83] when we get started," laughed Toby; "the only thing that's bothering me is where Chatz, Ted and George can find room to sit. ”

“ Elmer told them, between his puffs through the birch bark megaphone; "but keep well back, so that they can't get a look-in at us if they turn their heads. Noise is what we want, and plenty of the right kind." ”

“ George exclaimed, in his skeptical way, "now chances are that's some other foolish invention of yours, Toby—a new kind of flying machine that'll drop you ker-plunk in a frog pond, or crack your head on a log when you try it out."
"Nothing'd ever be accomplished in this world if everybody had your doubting nature, George," the driver of the wagon told him; "I happen to be built on a different model, and p'raps you may live long enough to hear the name of Jones go thundering along the pathway of fame on everybody's lips." ”

“ A chorus answered him in the affirmative; why, even that hardened objector, Doubting George, shouted with the rest; for once having apparently chosen to be what Toby called "civilized."
Ralph Oxley had tears in his eyes as he insisted on shaking hands with every one of the scouts.
"You're a fine lot of boys, let me tell you!" he declared, with deep feeling; "and I wouldn't accept your sacrifice only for my mother's sake. They ought to know the happy news as soon as possible. Every minute that I'm delayed is just so much more suffering for my dear parents ”

“ Elmer had one thing in his favor, and this was an entire freedom from any belief in things supernatural. While he never boasted, like George, and some of the other scouts liked to do, at the same time he believed that everything claimed as belonging to the realm of spirits could be explained, if only one went about it the right way.
On this account, then, he had not allowed himself to give even the least thought to such a thing as meeting a ghost. That white figure, to him, must be a man, no matter what motive influenced him to act in this strange way ”

“ Elmer informed him; "that ought to be time enough, don't you think, Chatz?"
"Plenty, suh," came the reply, "because, if there is any truth at all in these stories they tell about such places, the fun doesn't ever begin till midnight."
"Fun!" muttered Toby, rubbing his chin reflectively; "well, it does beat all creation what some people call fun. Now, so far as I'm concerned, while I'm going along with you, and can't be made to back out, it's all a silly nuisance. I'd rather be climbing up into that same old tower, [133] and getting ready for a drop with my reliable parachute." ”

“ We are Boy Scouts belonging at Hickory Ridge, and the other day when we were up here we thought we glimpsed somebody, but a few of my chums believed it was a ghost. Now we've come to spend our Thanksgiving holidays in camp. You had a bad tumble, striking your head again, and cutting it; but somehow it has brought you back to your right mind, Ralph Oxley."
The young man, who could hardly have been more than thirty-five years of age, though a veteran of the Spanish war, put up his hand, and felt of his head, wincing with the pain the contact gave him. ”

“ You're going to throw a scare into them by whooping it up through a horn; is that right, Elmer?"
"You've hit it to a fraction, George, because that's exactly what I'm meaning to do with this birch bark horn. And as some of the bunch have started to slip down the trees even now, thinking they've got enough nuts on the ground to keep them busy picking the same up, we'll watch until they've gathered all they want, and then you'll see some fun—that is, it'll be fun at this end, but a serious business for them. Lie low when I give you the signal." ”