In spite of the protests of the other boys against John being left behind, it was finally decided that he should carry out his own plan. He had declared his purpose to find out if possible what had become of the second car.
George had insisted that all four of the Go Ahead boys either should remain together or depart in a body; but after a brief conversation in which John explained that he really was desirous of making some further investigations of his own and also that it was equally important for George to get into touch with his father, as he could not do over the telephone, it was agreed that John should remain until the following day. A very attractive hotel not far from the station was most inviting. There John explained he would remain until the following day when the boys either would come for him or send him money.
Only a few moments elapsed before the noisy train proclaimed its coming. The scream of the locomotive was echoed and re-echoed in the nearby valley and long before its arrival at the station the people of the little village were aware that the one o’clock train was “on time.”
Again George protested strongly against John being left behind, although he did not explain how he was to ride on the train without a ticket nor how he was to obtain a ticket without any money. However, in a few minutes the three departing boys, standing on the rear platform of the last car, were waving their hats as they bade good-by to the fourth member of the Go Ahead boys who was watching them from the platform of the station.
Slowly John turned into the walk that led him from the little station to the main street of the village. As he came out upon the sidewalk he was startled when he heard himself addressed by his own name. Surprised, he glanced in the direction from which the unexpected hail had come and he was amazed to behold the tramp, who had been his companion in the morning, now seated in the missing automobile. Evidently he had been driving the car but the expression on his face as John ran toward him did not indicate his purpose to explain the sight which had so startled him.
“Where did you get that car?” demanded John sharply as he stared at the driver.
“I found it at the other garage,” explained the tramp.
“How did it get there?”
“Why, there was another blowout right near where you had yours this morning. I guess it must be the same fellow that you scared or drove into a ditch; at least that’s what he said. He couldn’t fix his car because the rim was torn into pieces and he got a lift back to this garage and sent some men out to get his car.”
“And they got ours?” demanded John delightedly.
“That’s what it seems,” replied the tramp quietly. “I suspected there might be some trouble of the kind so I went around there and sure enough I found this car just as I half expected to. Your friends have cleared out and left you, have they?”
“They have gone back home,” explained John.
“Well, that’s all right. We’ll beat them there yet. You get in and I’ll see what time I can make.”
“You’re sure you know how to drive?” inquired John. “Because if you don’t know how I can do something at it myself.”
“My ‘deah boy,’” lisped the tramp, “don’t distress your little heart about my being able to drive the car. You get in here and if you have any fault to find I’ll resign and let you take the wheel.”
“We ought to have something to eat,” said John, “but I haven’t a cent of money.”
“So I understand. It took all the money there was in the crowd to buy tickets for three boys.”
“How did you know?”
“Never mind that. I knew you didn’t have any money and I knew too that I would have to furnish what we needed on our trip. I managed to get together twenty-three cents. I think that’s just the amount one ought to have when he is leaving in a hurry, don’t you?” laughed the tramp.
“That’s all right.”
“Well, I took my twenty-three cents and went over to the grocery store and I bought some cheese and a box of crackers. You get in and feed up on the way back. If you’re like me you’ll think you’ve had a dinner fit for a king.”
As he spoke the tramp held up to view the purchases he had made and John instantly responded to his appeal and took his seat in front beside the driver. The hungry boy declared that he never had tasted food he enjoyed more. Meanwhile the car was driven steadily forward on its way. And if John had had any misgivings as to the ability of his companion as a driver they were soon dispelled. It was plain that the man was an expert at his task.
“Where did you learn to drive a car?”
“I didn’t have to learn,” said the tramp. “I always knew. I have driven cars ever since they were first made. If I need any money I get a job as a chauffeur and then after I have got some money I don’t need any job and quit.”
John laughed as he said, “You’re the strangest man I ever saw.”
“That’s what others have told me.”
“I don’t see why a man with the brains you have doesn’t do something worth while. What do you want to be beating around the country for without any home and staying nights in such places as the old Meeker House?”
“I have often wondered myself,” replied the tramp quietly. “I don’t know that there’s any answer to your question. Speaking of the old Meeker House, have you heard anything more about the strange noises over there?”
“Not since I saw you,” replied John.
“Well, my advice to you is to take your friends over there to-night and I suspect you’ll have an experience that will interest you.”
“What is it?” demanded John, interested at once.
“I’m not sure just what it will be so I cannot explain, but if you want to see your friends stirred up you take them over there after you have had your dinner to-night. By the way, do you think there will be any reward for finding this car?”
“Knowing Mr. Sanders as I do, I’m quite sure there will be.”
“I have brought the bill in my pocket for the repairs at the garage.”
“How much did they charge?”
“Fifty-three cents and the man apologized for the size of his bill. That’s one of the things they haven’t learned up here in the country yet.”
“I have never found any one who didn’t know how to charge,” laughed John.
“Well, this man didn’t seem to know much about it, so I paid his bill and had just twenty-three cents left, as I told you. I think if Mr. Sanders wants to pay that bill I shall let him.”
“I certainly know he will,” said John. “I know he will insist upon it anyway for he’s that kind of a man.”
The automobile was making most excellent time and long before it was possible for his companions to arrive John had turned into the driveway that led to George’s home.
The tramp had insisted upon leaving the car before it had turned in, explaining that he would return when Mr. Sanders came and if the latter “sufficiently urged” him to accept a reward he would do so willingly.
John laughed as the strange man departed and then drove up to the house.
Uncle Sim was the first to greet him and after staring blankly at John for a moment he said, “Whar de other boys?”
“They are coming later,” said John. “They are coming on the train.”
“Wha’ fo’?”
“Oh, they will have to tell you,” said John. “Just as soon as I can wash up I want to go over to the station and bring them home. They’ll come in probably on the next train.”
True to his word a half-hour later John was waiting in the automobile near the station. He had pictured to himself the excitement of his friends when they should arrive and discover him in the lost automobile, awaiting their coming.
John’s meditations were interrupted by the prolonged blast by which the coming of the train was made known. So pleased was he over the prospect that he laughed aloud. The arrival of the train, however, soon caused him to watch the alighting passengers and as soon as he discovered his friends among the number, in his loudest tones he shouted, “George, tell all the Go Ahead boys to come over here!”
Startled by the unexpected hail the three boys turned and for a moment stared blankly at John. All the latter’s hopes were more than fulfilled. Surprise and incredulity were stamped upon the faces of the three Go Ahead boys.
“Where did you get that car?” demanded George, hastily approaching.
“Why, it is your car, isn’t it?” said John meekly.
“Sure it is, but where did you get it?”
“Why, after you fellows left me over there where you took the train I thought you would like to have me look up your car, so that’s what I have done, but you don’t seem to be very thankful. This is an ungrateful world, and a naughty deed arouses more interest than a good one. At least I think that’s what Shakespeare says.”
“Shakespeare?” broke in Fred sharply. “You never got as far as the title page.”
“That may all be,” retorted John. “All I mean to say now is that this car is for the exclusive use of those who are accustomed to move in polite society.” As he spoke John turned on the power and despite the efforts of his friends to overtake him soon was moving rapidly over the road.
Appearing to ignore his friends John drove rapidly around the circle which had been laid out between the station and the main street. Proudly returning to the place on the platform where his friends were awaiting his coming, he called out, “How’s this car? How’s the driver? Pretty slick, eh?”
“What we don’t know,” said George quickly, “is where the driver came from and how he got the car.”
“You’ll have to trust your Uncle John for some things,” replied the driver solemnly. “There are some things you can’t explain and some things it’s hard for certain people to understand. You see that your car’s here, don’t you?”
“Yes,” replied George.
“It’s all right, isn’t it?”
“As far as I can see.”
“Cylinders all sound? Tires all complete? Boiler intact? Carbureter still working? Limousine all ready to be carved?”
“That’s right,” said George, laughing as he spoke. “As far as I can see everything is all straight except the fact that you didn’t tell us how you got the car and beat us back here.”
“Get in, fellows, and I’ll tell you about it on the way back,” said John. “I’ll resign my position as chauffeur too,” he added, as he quickly moved to another seat.
“I don’t mind; stay where you are,” said George cordially.
“No, I know you don’t ‘mind,’ but this is a hot day. I would rather sit behind and tell you how to do it.”
“All right then, I’ll go ahead,” said George, as he started the car. “Tell us how you did it.”
“I have already explained to the best of my ability,” said John soberly.
“Tell us again, then,” broke in Fred.
“Why, all there is to it is that after you fellows left I looked around for the car and found it.”
“Did you find it alone?”
“What do you mean,—was I the only one that found it, or do you mean that I found the car all by itself?”
“My, how correct some fellows are in their talk,” murmured Fred. “Yes, what I mean was were you all alone when you found the car?”
“No.”
“Well, why don’t you tell us who was with you?” demanded Grant irritably.
“The tramp,” said John abruptly.
“The tramp!” repeated the boys together.
“That’s what I said.”
“Tell us about it,” said George.
“Why, after you fellows cleared out and left me behind, for you remember that you took all the tickets there were and left me up there sans money, sans ticket, sans everything, as Shakespeare says—”
“We don’t remember anything of the kind,” interrupted George. “We tried to get you to come along.”
“Yes, you did!” laughed John scornfully. “You tried hard. You had just money enough to buy three tickets and I was generous enough to say that I would let you three fellows use them—”
“Go on with your story about the tramp,” interrupted Fred.
“Well, I’ll tell you the truth,” said John.
“Hope it won’t make you too tired,” murmured Fred.
“I’m telling you the truth,” said John, glaring at his diminutive companion as he spoke. “The train hadn’t fairly gotten out of sight with you fellows on board before up comes the tramp, driving this car. He came right up to the platform of the station and invited me to get on board. You may be sure I didn’t stand on the form, or likewise on the platform, very long.”
“Where did he get it?” demanded George.
“He suspected what had happened,” explained John, “and he said he went to another garage, hoping that there had been some mistake. He said there were two cars in trouble out there on the road, one besides ours. The men that came out from the shop made a mistake and I guess each car was taken to the wrong garage.”
“That’s a pretty good story,” laughed George.
“Well, it’s all right,” declared John warmly. “Here’s your car anyway. The tramp brought it, just as I’m telling you, and you haven’t anything to say about it.”
“Maybe the tramp took the car and got scared when he saw us start off. Probably he thought we were going for help.”
“Probably nothing!” exclaimed John disgustedly. “I tell you that tramp is all right. He can speak the English language and he has got some brains. I asked him to-day what he was tramping around the country for and he said he didn’t know.”
“He must have a lot of brains,” ejaculated Fred.
“He knows how to drive a car all right,” said John. “He drove all the way home.”
“Where is he now?” demanded George.
“I don’t know. He wouldn’t stay. By the way, he did suggest before he departed that if there was any reward connected with the finding of the car he wouldn’t mind taking it.”
“Probably he wouldn’t,” laughed Fred.
“I think he is entitled to something,” said George, “and I’ll tell my father about it the first time he comes out.”
“Where did the tramp go?”
“He didn’t tell me,” explained John, “but I think he went over to the old Meeker House. He said that if we wanted to see something worth while and something that would beat anything we had ever experienced in the old Meeker House we had better come over there after dinner.”
“To-night?” inquired Fred.
“Yes, to-night.”
“I say we go,” said Grant quickly.
“So say we all,” added George.
In a brief time the car was running swiftly up the driveway of the yard and as soon as his companions alighted George took it to the garage.
The other missing car, however, had not been returned nor had any word been received concerning it during the absence of the boys.
A call on the telephone speedily demanded George’s attention and as soon as he rejoined his friends he said, “I have been talking to my father.”
“You mean your father has been talking to you,” suggested Fred.
Ignoring the interruption, George continued, “My father says that he has word of a car that is being held in Morristown. In some ways it answers the description of ours. He thinks it will be a good thing for us to go there to-morrow and find out more about it.”
“Good plan. Good scheme,” said Fred sympathetically. “Did your father say anything about suitably rewarding the tramp for his return of the car which he probably had all the while?”
“He did,” said George simply. “He told me to give him a ten dollar bill.”
“That’s all right,” said Fred eagerly. “Now I think it will be a good thing for each of us to take his turn, too,” he added. “Every one of us can take that car off and hide it over night and get ten dollars reward when he brings it back in the morning. That’s all your friend Mr. Tramp did.”
“That’s no such thing!” spoke up John, quick to defend his recent acquaintance.
“You may have it your own way,” laughed Fred. “Then we’re to go over and call on him to-night at the old Meeker House, are we?”
“That’s just what we are going to do,” said John.
True to the suggestion, soon after sunset the Go Ahead boys rode to the mysterious house. When they left their car by the roadside and started across the intervening field it was plain that there was an air of greater confidence now manifest by all four boys than in any previous visit.
The moon already had risen and in its clear light the old apple trees and the poplars that lined the driveway appeared like aged sentinels, twisted and gnarled. Indeed, some of the objects assumed fantastic forms and as the boys advanced, a silence not unlike that which had rested upon them in their former visits now fell over the party.
“I’ll tell you one thing,” spoke up Fred in a loud whisper; “I’m going with George around to the kitchen this trip.”
“I haven’t invited you,” replied George promptly.
“It doesn’t make any difference whether you have or not, I’m going just the same,” said Fred.
“Then I shall have to put up with it,” responded George in mock resignation. “All I can say to the rest of you is that whatever you do don’t run. Let’s find out what this thing means this time. Do you agree?”
“Yes, we agree,” replied his friends.
“Good,” responded George. “Now don’t forget.”
The boys at once separated, George and Fred moving around to the rear of the house while John and Grant approached the front door, which already was a familiar sight.
Without waiting for their companions to enter they at once pushed open the door, which creaked on its rusty hinges, producing sounds not unlike the cry of a child in distress.
Inside the room there again was the sound of many rushing wings. Indeed, for a moment, to the boys, who were startled in spite of their determination to be calm, the room seemed to be filled with flying creatures. Weird sounds also were heard and low spoken cries that were not unlike the creaking of the hinges of the old door.
In spite of their recently expressed courage both boys stopped as if by common consent. As they did so the sound of voices, speaking in whispers, was heard from other parts of the house. No person, however, was visible and in the dim light that penetrated the room neither of the boys was able to see any object distinctly.
Meanwhile the flapping of the unseen wings continued. Suddenly there was a flash of light that was almost blinding. It was so unexpected that both boys together and almost instantly turned toward the door. A cloud of smoke swept through the room and both boys, coughing and choking, instantly turned and fled from the house. Their speed increased as there came sounds of loud laughter from within the ancient dwelling. Unmindful of their promise not to run, both boys instantly turned and quickly were making most excellent time across the field in the direction of the automobile, which still could be seen in the open road.
When John and Grant climbed into their seats in the waiting automobile both were nearly breathless. Before either of them spoke there came another loud burst of laughter from the house of mystery, and a moment later Fred and George were seen approaching. Both were running but neither apparently had been as greatly alarmed by the occurrences in the old Meeker House as had their two friends.
“I thought you fellows were not going to run,” said Fred as he seated himself.
“We thought the place was being bombarded,” explained John. “I noticed that you didn’t stay very long either.”
“We had to come out and find what had made you fellows run so fast,” said George.
“That’s all right,” said John. “I’m willing to go back there now if you are.”
Fred hesitated a moment, but as George had now seated himself and the car was under motion and there was slight prospect of turning back, in his boldest tones he said, “I’m perfectly willing to go back. I wasn’t scared to-night anyway.”
“Come on, then,” said John, rising as he spoke.
George, however, ignored the conversation and increasing the speed at which the car was moving soon left the corner far behind him.
When the Go Ahead boys arrived at the farmhouse neither John nor Grant had much to say concerning their recent experience. The blinding flash which they described had been seen also by their companions, but both George and Fred declared that they had not been frightened by the unexpected occurrence.
There was no possibility of denying the fact that John and Grant had fled much more precipitately than had their companions, although there had been no great difference in the time of their return to the waiting automobile.
For some reason conversation flagged and not many references were made to the mysteries of the old Meeker House which still were unexplained.
“To-morrow morning,” said George, “you understand that we are to go to Morristown. Are we all going?”
“We are,” replied his friends together.
“I didn’t know but John would like to stay behind and make some further investigations,” laughed George.
“No, sir. I’m not going to be left this time,” explained John. “I want to see Morristown. I have heard so much about the place that I want to see it for myself.”
“It’s well worth seeing,” said George.
The following morning directly after breakfast, the Go Ahead boys were speeding swiftly toward the beautiful Jersey town which was to be their destination. The ride across the rolling country, with its frequent streams and hills and villages, was most attractive. Many beautiful homes, erected by the people of the great city beyond the borders of the state, added much to the beauty of the scenery.
However, the enthusiasm of the boys reached its highest point when at last they arrived at Morristown. The combination of age with the best that the thought of modern times could accomplish in the architecture of the houses was most impressive. Beautiful homes, many of which had extensive lawns and shade trees and the many evidences of thrift and prosperity to be seen on every side, were most attractive.
The first duty of the boys, however, was to visit the garage to which they had been directed by George’s father. Here, however, again their efforts proved unavailing. The missing car was not found. An automobile of the same make and concerning which there was some question of ownership was still in the garage, but the Go Ahead boys speedily decided that they had no claim to its possession.
“I don’t believe we’ll ever find the car,” said Fred despondently when the boys departed from the garage.
“I guess you have forgotten our name,” suggested John. “We are the Go Ahead boys, not the Give Up boys.”
“That’s all right,” spoke up George, “but just now I am going to show you some of the sights of this old historic town.”
“Did Washington sleep here?” inquired Fred demurely.
“He lived here for a while,” explained George, “but the British tried to find out whether he was asleep or not. They never found him asleep.”
“Still I suppose he did sleep sometimes.”
“When was he here?” inquired John.
“Why, don’t you know the history of your own country?” spoke up Fred. “Washington came here after the battle of Princeton. That winter was a hard one for the little colonial army. People have talked about Valley Forge just as if there wasn’t as much suffering at Morristown. I don’t know why it is that people start on one line and then forget there are any others.”
“He was here twice,” explained Grant. “That winter of ’77 and ’78 and then too in the winter of ’78 and ’79.”
“Yes,” said George. “The house which is called Washington’s Headquarters is where he lived during his second winter. I’m going to take you first,” he added, “out to Washington Valley. That’s where the most of the soldiers camped.”
In a brief time the Go Ahead boys gained the summit of the hill from which they were able to look down upon the marvelously beautiful valley before them. It was like a great bowl among the hills. The rich and cultivated fields and beautiful homes on the hillsides and the nature of the place itself combined to make a most beautiful as well as interesting picture.
“It looks almost as if it was built for an army to hide in,” said Grant.
“They were pretty well protected here,” explained George. “You see, the hills were as good as forts. Now we’ll go back to Washington’s headquarters,” he added, as he turned around and started once more back toward Morristown.
Not far from the public square the boys found the famous building. Built of brick and covered with boards and shingles, its sides painted white, it produced not merely an impression of age, but also of freshness as well.
“Then this is where the father of his country stayed, is it?” said Fred. “Just look at this picture,” he added as he pointed toward the house and then turned around to George and said, “then look at this. We have fallen from that to this, Washington was the father of his country and G. Washington Sanders is just ‘Pop’.”
“That’s all right,” replied George, joining in the laugh of his friends. “I’ll admit that Pop isn’t the biggest word in the language any more than Pyg is.”
“Quit this,” demanded Grant. “We’re going into the old house and you will have to behave yourselves.”
The visit proved to be most interesting. Many articles that had been used when Washington was living in the house and many more which had been contributed were on exhibition. Indeed, as the boys passed from room to room they became more subdued in their manner, for somehow the knowledge that they were looking upon the same sights that had greeted the great commander had produced a marked effect. Even the old cannon on the lawn and the piles of cannon balls had stories of their own.
The silence, however, was broken when the boys resumed their seats in the automobile.
“I wonder why Washington stayed so far away from his army,” suggested John.
“He had a body guard here all the time,” explained Grant. “There were about two hundred and fifty men stationed here. They used to call them the life guard.”
“What did they do?” inquired Fred.
“It was a special guard to protect General Washington. You see the red coats and Hessians, as I told you, tried a good many times to catch Washington asleep. Sometimes they crossed over from Staten Island and came up through Springfield, trying to catch the ‘old fox’ off his guard. But the people all through the country knew just what to do. They had guns or little cannon mounted on several of the hills and whenever word came that the redcoats were coming the boys fired one cannon and that would be heard by other people and the guns on the other hills would be fired too so that the soldiers at Morristown knew long before the British could arrive that they were trying to advance.”
“But they never got him,” said Fred gleefully.
“It wasn’t because they didn’t try hard enough,” laughed George. “My grandfather used to tell me that when the soldiers at Morristown heard the ‘old sow,’ which was the name of one of the guns, they understood right away that there was danger of an attack. Everything in the old house was shut up except the windows, and then five of the continentals took their stand at every window and were ready to fire upon any one that came near the place.”
“I would like to have seen Washington,” said John thoughtfully.
“They say,” said George, “that he was about as tall as you are, String, but he had some breadth and thickness as well as length. He weighed about two hundred pounds. All the time he was at Morristown he was very quiet. I fancy he was worried all the while. That didn’t prevent him from being very strict with his soldiers, however. He issued an order that there should be no gambling or swearing, that nobody should be permitted to do any stunts on Sunday, and the men who disobeyed didn’t forget the lesson taught them.”
“Why, what did Washington do?” inquired Fred.
“He had guilty soldiers whipped in the presence of their companies. A man would be tied up to a tree and then the drummers or fifers would have to lash him. Sometimes they got forty blows, sometimes more. One time a soldier who had disobeyed orders about poaching and had stolen a pig from a poor farmer was reported to the commander. Washington had him whipped with more than a double dose. They say that the men did not make any complaint though, and even when they were going through the performance every man used to take a lead cartridge between his teeth and bite hard on it whenever he was struck a blow.”
“I guess that’s one reason why Washington was so popular,” suggested John thoughtfully.
“It’s an easy way to become popular,” laughed Fred.
“Never you mind,” retorted George. “You know just as well as I do that no fellow likes a teacher that is not strict. My father says that the man or boy who tries to be popular never is.”
“And your father is dead right too,” said Grant quickly, turning to his friend.
“Yes, sir, he’s all right,” responded John.
It was the middle of the afternoon when the Go Ahead boys returned to George’s home. Apparently they had not been cast down by their failure to obtain information concerning the missing car. Indeed, as one of the boys laughingly remarked, George was the only one deeply and personally concerned in the loss and if he did not feel discouraged there certainly was no reason why his friends should be despondent.
On the broad piazza of the old farmhouse the boys sat for a half-hour talking over the experiences of the day. Different suggestions were made as to possible plans that might be adopted in the search for the stolen automobile.
“I’m not thinking so much about the car as I am about what we saw to-day at Morristown,” said Grant thoughtfully. “I feel almost as if I had stepped right back into the eighteenth century.”
“My friend,” said Fred soberly, “that is where you belong. I have often been puzzled to know how to account for some of the strange traits of your peculiar personality. You have hit the nail now squarely on the head. You have been born one hundred and forty years too late. You are a rare old antique.”
The boys laughed as Grant arose from his seat and lifting his diminutive friend bodily from the chair in which he was seated, he dropped him over the rail.
“When you grow up,” he called, “and learn to behave you may come back here.”
“I’m not coming back,” called Fred glibly.
“We’ll try to live through our disappointment,” said Grant.
“You’ll be disappointed all right the next time you see me,” called Fred. Then turning to John he eagerly beckoned to him to follow him.
With a groan John slowly arose from the chair in which he was seated and followed Fred as he led the way around the corner of the house.
“What I want of you,” said Fred when he and his companion could not be seen by the other boys, “is to go with me over to the Meeker House. I think I have found something.”
“Is it the same thing you found last night?” inquired John.
“Not at all. I don’t mind telling you that I have fixed a trap over there.”
“What do you mean, a steel trap?”
“No, no,” said Fred. “I sprinkled some bran last night all around the floor. I filled my pockets with it before we started and while we were in the old house I scattered it on the floors. Now, I want to go over there to find out if—”
“If what?” interrupted John. “Are you trying to feed those spooks on bran?”
“As usual, my friend,” retorted Fred, “you begin at the wrong end. I am not trying to get an impression of their heads, but of their feet. Only, spooks don’t make a deep impression when they step on the floor, and I’m more than suspicious that I’ll find some tracks.”
“I’ll go with you,” said John eagerly. “Wait until I tell the other fellows that we are going away for a while. Are you going to walk, Fred?”
“Yes, I am. I have been riding all day and I want to stretch my muscles.”
Both George and Grant laughed when John told them that he and Fred were going for a walk.
“You’ll walk in one direction,” called George, “but you’ll be running when you come back. I think I’ll take the car and in a half an hour I’ll come over after you. You’ll want to see some of your friends by that time and you will want to see them bad.”
“I don’t want to see them ‘bad,’” retorted John as he turned away. “They are ‘bad’ enough as it is. I want to see them badly.”
Together the two boys walked through the woods and across the lots and by a shorter route than the highway arrived within a half-hour in the yard of the house they were seeking.
“Come around to the kitchen,” said Fred. Almost unconsciously he had lowered his voice and although it was still daylight he was glancing nervously about him when he and John softly opened the rear door and stepped within the kitchen.
The boards of the floor were twisted and uneven. The floor was of pine and George had explained that his father had said that he believed the floor was as old as any part of the house. There were marks of the places where the women of another generation had scrubbed the floor. Doubtless it had been their pride to keep the pine boards clean, just as it is a source of pride to many of their sisters of a later day to be adorned with feathers of various gaudy colors.
Noiselessly the boys advanced and without a word having been spoken began to examine the floor where Fred had scattered the bran the preceding evening. No footprints were found, however, and it was speedily plain that if any one had entered the building since the boys had departed they had not done so by the kitchen door.
Convinced that they were alone in the house, the courage of both boys somewhat revived. Indeed there was something in the sunshine of the summer afternoon and in the not unmusical sounds of the winged grasshoppers in the adjacent orchard that was soothing to the excited boys.
They were about to pass out of the room when John abruptly stopped and whispered, “Look here, Fred. What’s that?” As he spoke he pointed to a small tube which plainly had been fastened recently to the wall. The tube was of tin, about an inch in diameter and extended almost to the ceiling. Through the wall a hole had been made and the boys peered eagerly at the wall in the adjacent room to see whether or not the tube was there also.
“That’s just how it is! That’s good, String!” exclaimed Fred excitedly. “That explains the sound of the voices we heard the other night.”
“I don’t see how it explains it,” said John, somewhat puzzled by the excitement of his companion.
“Why, it’s a speaking tube. You go back to the kitchen and I’ll stay here and we’ll try it.”
The suggestion was quickly adopted and in a brief time both boys were aware that Fred’s conjecture was correct. The strange sounds and the whispers of their names which had been heard frequently whenever they had visited the house after darkness had fallen, now were explained.
“That’s the reason,” said John eagerly, “why George always wants to come around to the kitchen door. Don’t you remember he hasn’t once come in by the front door?”
“That’s right,” responded Fred. “He knows more about what is going on in this old house than he has let on, and all the time he has been pretending that he was puzzled as much as we are by what we have seen and heard. We must think up something so that we can pay him back in his own coin.”
“That’s what we’ll do,” said John eagerly. “What shall it be?”
“Time enough to think about that later,” responded Fred. “What’s that?” he added abruptly.
From within the chimney could be heard the sound as of a man swinging a noisy rattle. There were also sharp noises that sometimes were quite loud and at others were low and soft and yet they were continuously sounding.
“I tell you there’s something in that chimney,” said John.
“I begin to think you’re right,” whispered Fred. “Get down on your knees and look up through the fireplace.”
John obediently stretched his long form upon the floor and peered up through the flue of the open fireplace. As he did so the clatter in the chimney suddenly increased in volume and for a moment John was on the point of hastily withdrawing from the spot.
As he prepared to do so, however, suddenly a little, young bird fell, striking the floor close to John’s head. At the same time there was a renewal of the clatter in the chimney and John hastily withdrew.
To his amazement he found when he arose that Fred was laughing.
“What’s there so funny about it?” demanded John as he tried to brush the accumulated dust from his person.
For a moment Fred was almost unable to control himself, but at last he said, “Oh, Jack, what fools we have been. There we were so scared by the sound of the wings that we heard in this room and the strange noises that came from the chimney that we couldn’t get out of the place fast enough. And now it’s all as plain as daylight.”
“I don’t see it,” said John blankly.
“Well, have a little patience, and in time you’ll see it, Johnny.”
“Why don’t you talk? Why don’t you explain yourself? What are you laughing at?” demanded John, irritated by the manner of his companion.
“Why those sounds we heard were made by chimney-swallows.”
“What is a chimney-swallow?”
“Do you mean to tell me that you have lived to be seventeen years old and don’t know what a chimney-swallow is?”
“They don’t have them in the city where I live.”
“Well,” said Fred, pretending to be discouraged, “I cannot understand how any fellow can live as you have and yet not know that there are some birds called chimney-swallows that live in the chimneys of old or deserted houses. If you should look up there now you could see some nests fastened right to the sides of the chimney. I have never seen the birds, but I’m sure that’s what they are. Whenever we have come into the house we have probably frightened them and they have been flying around the room. They were the spooks that scared us so.”
“Do you suppose George knew about it?” demanded John ruefully.
“Of course he knew it. He has been saving it all up to add to his story of the speaking tube.”
“Well, it’s a comfort to know the old house isn’t haunted anyway.”
“Of course it isn’t haunted. There isn’t anything haunted because there isn’t anything like ghosts or spooks.”
“I’m glad to hear you talk so nicely, Freddie,” said John, who now had recovered from his chagrin. “If I’m not mistaken I’ve heard you talk in a different tone once or twice before when we have been here.”
“That’s all right,” said Fred glibly. “Now we have found out what the spooks are and we’ll show George that we’re not afraid of anything in the old Meeker House.”
The boys were still conversing in whispers, and as Fred made his bold declaration he abruptly stopped and looked anxiously toward the stairway. A sound mysterious and unexpected had been heard in the room directly above them. Both boys were convinced that either others were in the house, or that they had not yet found an explanation for all the mysteries of the old Meeker House.