Capwell Wyckoff

“ When the young people from the Cloverfield High School drove away from Bluff Lodge on the morning after the capture of the black shadow, they all agreed that it had been an exciting and enjoyable straw ride. Barry, Mac, Pearl, and Charlie rode on the foremost sleigh, and Kent and the twins were directly behind them. Castor Oil still clung to the girl who had satisfied his sweet tooth.
“Now you boys have certainly earned the name of ‘mystery hunters,’” Pearl said, as the sleigh glided on toward home. “We’re all proud of you.”
Mac grinned. “We’ve passed our first test in mysteries! ”

“ We might as well go in that direction and see. It is as good as walking around blindly.”
They set off at a faster pace, and soon there could be no doubt that a light of some kind was before them. The confirmation of their hope caused their spirits to rise rapidly.
“It is either our camp or some house,” Barry said, as he walked on with a new vigor in his stride. “Whichever it is, it means warmth for us.”
“I hope it is the camp, but if it isn’t, a house will be all right,” observed Kent. “Unless the people there are like the man who hid in the quarry shed.” ”

“ Barry was at once interested. His father was a lawyer and frequently handled important cases. The boy placed his books on a hall table and walked into the library.
“What’s it all about, Dad? What mystery are you talking about?”
Mr. Garrison took off his glasses and wiped his eyes. “I was thinking about that haunted hunting lodge up on Lake Arrowtip,” he said. “But I was only joking when I told you to come ahead. It is a job that will test the brains of an expert detective.” ”

“ We ought to try and get back here and break into this little building. We might wander until we’re exhausted, drop and then freeze. More than one hunter has done that, you know.”
“If we find we’re wrong, we’ll try and make our way back here,” Barry said. “But I just have a hunch that the lodge lies in that direction. We’ll try it.”
Spurred on by the faint hope that they might be somewhere near their camp, the boys hurried out of the bowl of the quarry and once more plunged into the woods. They found that their feet had become numb from standing, and they winced as they began their journey. ”

“ Kent said suddenly. “Come on, Mac, you go with me.”
Mac stared at him suspiciously. “You seem mighty anxious. Where are you going to find a log to cut into?”
“Upon the roof, my boy,” grinned Kent. “All we have to do is to toss a rope up and snake it down. Once it descends to the ground, we will fall on it tooth and nail and reduce it to kindling wood!”
Mac seized his ax with alacrity. “And that means that the next time wood is cut, those two have to cut it wherever they can find it, doesn’t it? That’s fine! Let’s go!”
“We’re sold,” Barry smiled at Tim. “The boys have put one over on us.” ”

“ Barry came out to get some of it, and Tim started the fire in the rusty stove. Before long the delicious smell of bacon drifted out to the wood-choppers. Mac stopped and sniffed with rapture.
“Boy, just smell that bacon! Isn’t that the finest aroma in the world?”
“It certainly is when you are out camping,” Kent granted. “Everything seems to taste so good when you are out in the open a whole lot.”
“Bacon, eggs, and coffee! What a combination! Say, while you fellows are at Fox Point today, why don’t you get some sausage?” ”

“ Of course, I have believed all along that some human being is doing this unpleasantness, and not any ghostly being. The mystery is, who is doing it and why?”
“Do you believe that Mr. Brand Curry is doing it to lower the value of the lodge?” Barry asked slowly. Mrs. Morganson smiled at his father as she shook her head.
“Your father and I have wondered about that, but we do not believe that it is so,” she said. “Mr. Curry is always here in town, and we cannot believe that the lodge is so dear to him that he keeps a sort of scare agent up there all the time. ”

“ For a few moments the boys from the cabin camp watched the Rake Island boys walk across the ice, and then Barry turned away. “Come on,” he said. “We haven’t time to stand around idle. Remember that we want to move today, and already we have spent a good part of the morning.”
The other followed him, and they started back to the camp. “We’ve learned something, anyway,” Kent remarked.
“Yes, it was the Wolf bunch that was shot at,” Mac nodded.
“Still, we’re just as much as ever in the dark as to who did the shooting,” Tim reminded them. ”

“ There is a man hiding in the tool house. We saw him run around the lodge. Get the rifles and come on! Barry is watching the tool shed!”
The twins lost no time. Mac forgot about the poker and ran into the living room, returning with the rifles and his hat and Tim’s.
“How about the lamp?” Tim asked, as he seized his hat.
“Leave it here,” Kent returned, curtly. “I have my flashlight. Come on!”
They raced across the front porch and jumped into the snow, the twins shivering with cold as they came in contact with the outside air. ”

“ Tim suggested.
“We’ll do the best we can,” Barry assured them. “I want to get to the post office at Fox Point and mail my letter to Dad. We won’t be here much longer.”
“No, we won’t, worse luck,” sighed Kent. “I’d like to stay right here until we do solve the mystery.”
“Looks like we aren’t going to,” Mac shook his head. “It gets deeper all the time.”
“Somebody has got to get more wood,” Tim called from the lean-to. “Who are the brave lads who will volunteer to chop or die for their native land?” ”

“ Kent asked, as they waited for the ice skates to be wrapped up.
“He goes with a crowd of fellows from Harrison,” Barry said. “Probably they are the ones who will go. He evidently intends to be right in our territory, so we’ll have to make room for one another. I don’t like him well enough to want to be very near him or his crowd.”
“I don’t, either,” Kent agreed. “He could be a nice fellow if he tried hard, but it is easier to be the other way. Trouble with him is, his daddy has always spoiled him. Well, we’ll be in a cabin, so we’ll probably not conflict with one another.” ”

“ The boys were not afraid of the Wolf boy and his companions, but they had no desire to camp too close to them. Carter possessed a mean spirit, and they felt it best to avoid him wherever possible.
“I hardly believe that they will camp out in the woods,” Tim said. “I’ll bet they will go to a cabin or some more comfortable place. If it is Wolf, he won’t give us any coffee.”
“Or sell us any, either,” Mac added.
“We wouldn’t need to walk right into that other camp,” Barry advised. “It ought to be easy to approach the place without making any noise. I think we should find out who is camping there.” ”

“ Kent proposed, and they spent some time in doing this. When this task had been attended to, they set out once more, heading into the dashing flakes once more.
“The twins will be badly worried,” Barry said, as they stumbled along, making better time now that they were no longer held back by the burden of the sled.
“Yes, they will. I hope they won’t come out and try to find us.”
“I doubt that they will. They can see how bad the storm is and that they would be lost in no time at all. Boy, that flashlight of yours is a life-saver!” ”

“ I’ve always thought of a straw or a hay ride as one where you go in a truck or a big wagon, with straw on the bottom.”
“It doesn’t make any difference,” said Barry. “As far as that goes, we can put straw on the bottom of the sleighs. So you agree to the lodge proposition?”
“Sure thing! You ask all of them you see if they’ll stay overnight, and I’ll do the same. We’ll make this a dandy outing. Say, want to hear a little music on my new cornet?”
“I don’t care. My nerves are in pretty good order today!”
“Castor Oil’s aren’t,” replied Charlie, as he took the instrument from the waste basket. ”

“ If the oil runs out, we can go until daylight without any. We’ll get enough coal in here to last all night, and we won’t have to build a new fire in the morning. If they haven’t come in by that time we’ll have to go after them, storm or no storm.” Tim placed the lighted lamp on the taboret, and the boys felt that they had done all that could be done under the circumstances. Mac sat on the couch in a reclining position, and his brother squinted at the titles on the backs of the books in the bookcase. ”

“ Somebody keeps mighty close tabs on the lodge and even objects when anybody sits on the front porch.”
“What will they do when we go to live in the place?” Barry asked.
“They may make it warm for us,” Tim suggested. “So far we have been living in the Bronson cabin, and they haven’t done any more than steal our sled and throw it into a ravine. But now we are moving up on the ghost, and maybe things will get lively.” ”

“ Barry shook his head in pretended disgust. “It is plain to see that you’ll never amount to anything. Rejoicing because your opportunity to learn something is cut off. Your lack of wholesome ambition is pitiful!” ”

“ He did not linger long out in the crisp air, but returned to the living room of the hunting lodge. Just as he reached the fireplace, Mac came in with a load of wood.
“This is the last of it,” he announced. “We’ll have to cut some more before it gets dark, and we’ll have to hustle to it because it is getting darker all the time. We’re in for a storm.”
“We’ll have to cut some wood,” Tim told him. “But I made a great discovery, Mac. There is a shed joined to the kitchen, and it is half filled with coal. That means an end to our wood-chopping.” ”

“ He felt that if he could once get that leg loose he could drag the twins into the hall leading to the lodge kitchen and somehow get rid of them.
But in raising his other foot he lost his balance, and he and the twins went down in a crashing heap, breaking the wicker chair to bits. Screams came from the girls, and the coach and Kent leaped forward to pull the combatants apart. Carter Wolf forgot his forlorn condition, and his friends stared in amazement. The coats and pocketbooks on the floor, the table back against the wall, and the general signs of confusion put them all at a loss. ”

“ More troubled than he cared to admit, Tim joined his twin before the fire in the large grate. “Might as well take off our coats and make ourselves at home, hadn’t we?” he asked.
“I was just thinking about priming that pump on the back porch. I’m tired of snow water.”
“So am I. But I’m afraid that pump is frozen solid.”
“No doubt of it, but some good hot water poured in it ought to break it loose. It is warmer today than it has been most of the time. Want to try it?”
“I guess so. How will we heat water? There is nothing to hang a kettle on.”
Mac examined the fireplace closely. “No, there isn’t. ”

“ Barry said. “But if we do, Kent and the twins and I will be on the lookout, and perhaps we can learn something more about him.”
A few minutes later Barry was on his way home, his mind busy with new thoughts and ideas. He was in a hurry to hunt up his chums and tell them of the latest events.
“This may be the very chance we have been looking for,” he reflected, as he walked briskly along. “The man always starts something when a crowd gathers in the lodge, and we’ll be there all night, if the bunch will agree to go to Lake Arrowtip. The four of us will be on the lookout for any such visit. ”

“ He said he would try and get permission for us to camp in the Bronson cabin, which is in sight of the lodge. How does that strike you?”
“Right on the bull’s-eye,” answered Kent, promptly. “We can hike up there in two days.”
“We can skate up there in less time than that,” Barry said. “The Buffalo River runs into the lake about two miles below the cabin and the lodge, and we could go that way. Even if we don’t accomplish a thing toward solving the mystery, we will at least have a good vacation, taking in a skating trip and camping in a cabin.”
“Sure thing! We’ve never camped in a cabin. ”

“ At last they skated out on the broad expanse of ice that marked Lake Arrowtip.
“Here we are at last,” Mac whooped. “Let’s have a race down the lake to the cabin.”
“You can’t do it,” Barry objected. “See how that snow is spread out? You go a little way and then you have to walk across a snow bar and strike the ice on the other side. You just can’t keep going.”
“That’s all the better,” spoke up Kent. “It will be an obstacle race. Skate on the ice, run across the snow, and skate some more. Let’s line up and go!”
“I’m pulling the sled,” Barry reminded them. ”

“ Kent yawned.
“What about keeping guard?” Tim suggested. “Suppose that thumping, knocking idiot comes around again?”
“I won’t hear his thumping or knocking,” Barry predicted, with a grin.
“I won’t, either,” Kent said. “Looks like you Ford boys will have to do the chasing.”
“I’m not going to chase him,” Tim promised.
172
“We won’t have to stand guard,” was Mac’s opinion. “I’m a pretty light sleeper, and maybe I’ll wake up if anything goes wrong. We’ll hope he doesn’t come back again.” ”

“ He was awakened by Kent stirring around and crawling over him.
“Let’s go see what these twins have for us,” his companion invited, and Barry followed as quickly as he could get dressed. The Ford brothers were already on the job, and bacon was curling in the pan. The day was gray and overcast, and it looked as though it might snow.
“I guess our French friend didn’t come back,” Mac said, forking out bacon on the tin plates. “Everything is about ready to eat. Come and get it.” ”