by Clair Blank
Chapter VI
GHOST CABIN
"Ah, me, the joys of camping in the open!" Carol said to the world atlarge.
Rain had been steadily pouring down on the file of riders since earlymorning. Clad in shining slickers they were riding on through thedownpour. It was decidedly uncomfortable and to make it worse, they hadhad to have a cold lunch because everything was soaked and neither Tomnor Jim could make a fire. Such conditions had led to Carol'sdeclaration.
The others smiled but Janet was the only one who grumbled in reply.
"When do we get to this cabin, Jim?" she called over the heads of Gale,Valerie and Virginia.
Jim knew of a cabin where he promised them they could spend the night incomparative dryness and warmth. It was an old miner's shack, long sincedeserted by its owner, but no matter how ramshackle and tumbledown, itbeckoned as a heavenly haven to the wet, weary riders because itpromised shelter from the rain.
"In 'bout an hour, I reckon," Jim replied. "Mebbe less."
"I hope it's less," Gale murmured to Virginia.
Her cousin smiled at her. "Feeling disgusted with camping in the open? Iwouldn't blame you. This isn't a nice experience for newcomers to ourstate."
"It isn't me," Gale said with a surprised glance, as though the merethought of her own comfort had never entered her head. "It's Val. She'slooking rather--peaked."
"She's bearing up marvelously well," Virginia replied with equalconcern. "I hope today isn't too much for her. I don't want to spendmore than one night in this cabin Jim is taking us to."
"Why not?" Gale asked.
"Well," Virginia shifted uncomfortably, "I--just don't that's all."
"Come on, out with it," Gale said gayly. "Don't go keeping secrets fromme. Is the place haunted?" she asked hopefully.
"It's known as Ghost Cabin," Virginia said reluctantly.
"How interesting!" Gale declared. "Tell me more! How did it come by thatname?"
"It is near the entrance to an old silver mine," Virginia explained."Years ago this region was thought to hold valuable silver deposits.Some miners came and camped here. The owner of the cabin worked his minefor a year or so. Some people said he made a lot of money out of it. Idon't know. Anyway, the miner was found murdered in his cabin,supposedly killed by thieves."
"Where does the ghost come in?" Gale wanted to know.
"The miner is supposed to come back to his cabin at night to wait forthe thieves who murdered him," Virginia told her.
"Cheerful thought," Gale grimaced wryly. "Do you suppose he'll cometonight?"
"I don't know," Virginia said doubtfully, albeit a bit hopefully. "Itwould be fun, wouldn't it, to meet a ghost?"
"A lot of fun," Gale agreed dryly. "I'm not particularly fond of thethings myself. I'll have to pass this tale on to the others."
While they rode, Gale, with Virginia's help, told the rest of theAdventure Girls the story about the cabin to which they were going. Theywere a little dubious about the night and its outcome, but all agreed itwould be highly exciting. Tom and Jim promptly declared the tale a myth,that there were no such things as ghosts.
"You're just trying to spoil our prospect of an exciting evening,"declared Janet loftily to Tom. "I shall look for ghosts just the same."
"Go ahead," he grinned, "and may you find a lot of them."
"Oh, not a lot," she said hastily. "One healthy one is about all that Icould handle."
"We'll all be there to help you--handle him," Carol assured her friend."Don't tell me we have finally reached our goal!" This last as the partyrounded a clump of trees and through the rain saw a low, ramshacklecabin ahead of them. A little distance from the cabin was a shed andCarol demanded to know what it was.
"Entrance to his mine," Tom replied, "Don't go near it or you willprobably fall down a shaft or something."
Carol frowned on him. "I will not fall down anything," she declared withdignity.
"See that you don't," he laughed. "Come along, Ambitious," he urged oneof the pack horses who was lolling behind.
Jim was the first to approach the cabin and when they crowded behind himthere were mingled exclamations of disgust and disappointment. A layerof dust lay over everything and there were dirt and filth in abundance.But the sight of a fireplace and plenty of dry wood ready to flame up atthe spurt of a match heartened them somewhat.
"First of all," Jim said, "I'll sweep the place. There's a makeshiftbroom over there in the corner. You all wait outside."
So there was nothing for the others to do but go back out into the rainuntil Jim and Tom could restore the place to some semblance ofcleanliness.
"We'll tie the horses back of the cabin," Virginia proposed, to keepthem busy.
"Feeling tired?" Gale asked anxiously of Valerie as the two walked sideby side, leading their mounts.
Valerie nodded, forcing a smile. "No worse than you, I expect."
Again Gale felt a thrill of admiration for her friend who was socheerfully determined to fight her way back to strong, ruddy health.
"The minute the cabin is respectable, you shall sit down and not stiragain tonight," she declared.
"I'll help get supper," Valerie corrected.
"No you won't," Gale said.
"But I want to," Valerie insisted. "I don't want the girls to wait onme. I didn't intend to be a burden when I came on this trip and I won'tbe one!"
"Darling, you could never be that!" Gale said tenderly. She continuedhumorously: "Here we want to give you service and you won't have it. Iwish somebody----"
"All clear," Tom called, and there was a sudden rush of wet figures forthe poor sanctuary of the tumbledown shack.
A fire crackled cheerily in the fireplace and the tired riders weregathered around it gratefully, yielding to the comfort of its warmth andto the laziness a good supper had instilled in them.
"And still no ghosts," Madge sighed, leaning her head cozily againstJanet's shoulder.
"No, and I can't say that I miss them," that individual added, stiflinga yawn.
"It has stopped raining," Jim volunteered from his post at the door."Tom and I will put up a tent outside for the night."
"You girls can roll in your blankets on the floor here in front of thefire," Tom continued. "We----"
All of them came to attention. From somewhere, they were not certain ofthe exact position, came three slow, measured knocks.
"Ah, the ghost has arrived!" murmured Carol.
"Where was he?" demanded Virginia. "It sounded as though he were beneaththe floor, but the place has no cellar."
"It came from the ceiling," contradicted Phyllis.
"Do you really think it is a ghost?" whispered Janet.
The others motioned for silence as the knocks were resumed. Three morewere followed by a low, gurgling scream that rose and wavered on thenight air, dying slowly away. The girls exchanged glances, their faceswhite and troubled. Tom was frowning fiercely. Jim's eyes were dartingabout the room to find the source of the ghostly knocks and scream.
"This isn't funny any more," Janet said fearfully.
"Do you think we can stay here all night?" Valerie added.
"It will take more than knocks and a scream to scare us away," Virginiadeclared staunchly.
"But suppose it is the old miner come back to wait for the thieves?"Carol began. "What are----"
Her voice died away as the distinct rattling of chains filled the air.
"All the desired sound effects," Tom growled.
"It seemed to come from right under our feet," Gale declared.
"Rattling chains indeed!" sniffed Phyllis. "We can be sure it isn't areal ghost now. He has too much to be true. Somebody is trying to scareus."
"You're right," Jim agreed.
"But where is he? Why can't we see him?" demanded Virginia.
"He can't be on the roof," Tom said thoughtfully, "there is nocellar----"
"He certainly isn't here with us," Carol declar
ed. "There goes thatscream again!" She shivered. "It gives me the creeps. Do you suppose hecould be on the outside?"
"No, he isn't anywhere in sight," Jim said firmly, returning from aquick circle of the cabin.
"We haven't heard him for some minutes now," Virginia saidencouragingly. "Maybe he has gone."
"Just a slight intermission," murmured Janet calmly.
They waited, but nothing happened. Tom and Jim set a tent up before thecabin. The girls spread their blankets before the fire, all but Valerie.The girls had insisted that she take possession of the low bunk thecabin afforded. It would be slightly more comfortable than the floor.
She was tired, but rolled in her blanket in the silent cabin, Gale foundshe could not sleep. All desire for sleep had left her and her mind wasactive. The other girls were sleeping, she supposed Tom and Jim weretoo, out in their tent. But her ears magnified a thousandfold eachcrackling of a log and each creak of the floor sent expectant shiversalong her spine. She realized then she was waiting for the ghost of thecabin to return. She was sure he would. No self-respecting ghost wouldstop after such a mild attempt to frighten them away if he was reallyanxious to be rid of them. But who was it that was playing ghost? Thebank bandit? Hardly. Whoever it was, why did he want people to stay awayfrom the cabin? From where she lay, she looked around at the room. Shecould see nothing that anyone might wish to keep from prying eyes.
Quietly she threw back her blanket and stood up. Tiptoeing, she went tothe door and stepped outside. Stentorian snores were coming from thelittle tent. Tom and Jim were in dreamland. Smiling, she leaned againstthe door and stared up at the stars overhead. The storm had cleared andthere was not a cloud in the sky. The stars hung low like brightlylighted lanterns. The moon cast its silver light on the earth, causinghuge black shadows under trees and behind the cabin and the shanty setapart.
Standing in the darkness, the wind ruffling her hair, gray eyes alightwith a hint of the brightness of the stars in their depth, Gale sighedwith sheer enjoyment of the scene. She had never before realized that aspot such as this, away from the noise and the people of the world,could be so lovely. It was almost like standing on the edge of theworld. Behind her towered high and mighty mountains, before her lay asea of moon-swept valley. Born and brought up in the little town ofMarchton, Gale had known some outdoor life, but never the breathlessbeauty and limitless quiet of a night in Arizona. Quiet had she thought?Far away a coyote howled and yet another. She shivered. The sound wasso--uncivilized. The cry of that animal was like a call straight fromthe wild untamed world of which she knew nothing.
Gale was staring at the dark little shanty that Tom had said wasdoubtless the entrance to the old miner's mine. She wondered if the manhad ever realized his dream of great wealth, the dream he doubtless hadwhen he settled here and began to dig. A shadow, a moving shadow, haddetached itself from the spot of darkness which was the shanty and wasgoing toward a thick clump of trees. Instantly Gale stiffened toattention. Who was it? Certainly it was no ghost, for no ghost was everso solid. Was it the one who had tried to frighten them from the cabin?Certainly he had not tried very hard. Perhaps he was coming back laterfor a second attempt. Were there more mysterious men in the shaft to themine? Gale had a sudden impulse to call Tom or Jim to investigate thatshadow. No, she would investigate it herself, she decided. The man wasout of sight now, lost in the blackness of the trees and she movedforward.
It was not far from the shadow of the cabin to the protecting darknessof the shanty and Gale covered it quickly. She did not want to be seenby that other sleuthing person. She preferred to do her detecting unseenand unknown. Her exploring fingers found the latch, consisting of a nailand a piece of string, and in a minute the shanty door swung to behindher. It was dark and silent in here. From her jacket pocket she took asmall flashlight. Ever since she and Phyllis had been lost in the caveshe had carried her light with her, rather than leaving it rolled in herslicker. Now she was glad she had it. The little circle of lightrevealed a pair of worn wooden steps leading downward. Gale listenedintently and when she heard nothing that indicated another's presence,descended into the passage. It was nothing like the big coal mines shehad read and seen pictures of. It was merely a tunnel that had beenhewed out of the ground with pick and shovel. If the ground had onceheld a fortune of silver, it gave no evidence of it now. She had tostoop, so low was the ceiling, as she picked her way along over rocksand debris.
Suddenly the thin ray of light from her lamp wavered and she noticedthat it had grown dim. The battery was growing weak and would not lastmuch longer. She switched it off. She must save it so she would have atleast enough light to find her way back to the entrance. That was whereshe made her mistake. Creeping along in darkness, she did not see theblack hole ahead and when her foot touched empty air, fell head foremostdown--down--several feet.
For a moment she lay stunned with the unexpectedness of her fall. Too,the jar of landing had knocked all collected thought from her head.Slowly she sat up and felt for an injury. Nothing but bruises, thankgoodness. She had dropped her flashlight and had to feel out with herhands along the damp earth until she found it. She hoped fervently thatthe drop had not put it entirely out of commission. No, when she pressedthe little button, a feeble ray of light shot out. The light was brightenough to see that she had fallen into a pit of some sort that stretchedaway out behind her into darkness which the lamp would not penetrate.
She got to her feet and endeavored to shake some of the dirt from herclothes. It was a risk to go forward without a light, but a glance atthe wall of dirt and rock had shown her that she could never hope toclimb up to where she had been before her fall. There was no course butto explore this passage here and to hope that that mysterious shadow didnot decide to come back into the mine immediately. But perhaps he hadfriends in here, friends that would not welcome her intrusion. The verythought that any minute she might stumble upon some mysterious, fearfulunknown made her nervous and she proceeded with greater caution.
Gale endeavored to readjust her sense of direction, which had beensomewhat confused with her fall, to find in what direction this passageled. If she was correct, and she believed she was, it should lead acrossto directly beneath the cabin where her friends were sleeping. In thatcase, the man she had seen might have been the "ghost" who with hismysterious knocks and screams had frightened them. But, remembering thefall which she had had, how did he get down to this lower passage, andonce down here, how did he get up again? She had not been able to findany means of gaining the higher level. She halted and switched herflashlight on again. The light was failing rapidly and she dared to keepit on only a moment. But in that moment she had switched it overhead andseen the row of four or five boards which she was sure were part of thefloor of the cabin. She sought a rock and hurled it up against theboards, ducking as it rebounded back at her. She followed it withanother and then another.
"The ghost is back again," said a nervous voice which she recognized asJanet's.
Certainly it was the floor of the cabin and she had discovered how theghost had done his mysterious knocking. His voice from here would havebeen clearly audible to them, too, just as she could hear the girls now.
"Gale's gone!" she heard Valerie cry in alarm.
"Gone!" the others echoed.
She was just about to call out to reassure them when a sound in thepassageway behind her made her hold her breath in suspense. Someone wascoming along the tunnel. That must mean that the mysterious ghost hadreturned to do some more of his haunting. With quick and as quiet stepsas possible, she retreated back the way she had come, and directlytoward that unknown. Standing flattened against the earth wall, herheart thumping so she was sure he would hear it, Gale waited for theghost to pass her. He did so, actually brushing against her in thedarkness. He carried no flashlight and it was this fact alone that hadsaved her from discovery. Evidently he knew his way about in thedarkness.
Aided now by fear, she sped along the narrow, low tunnel to where shehad had her fa
ll. The man certainly had not been in here when she fell,hence there must be some way he had entered since. She had to find thatentrance to gain her freedom. Now that the others had discovered herabsence, they would be alarmed and a search would be begun. She must getback and reassure them. She must also send Tom and Jim to find thismysterious stranger.
Flashing on the last faint rays of her flashlight, she saw the wall downwhich she had fallen and against it hung a crude rope ladder. So thiswas how he entered and left this lower tunnel! With one foot on theladder, she slipped her flashlight into her jacket pocket. It had failedentirely now and she would have to depend on her memory to lead her tothe entrance. It took but a few moments to climb the ladder and once atthe top she pulled it up behind her. That would keep the ghost in thelower passage until Tom and Jim could come along and investigate him.There must be some reason why he "haunted" the cabin with his mysteriousknocks.
Swiftly as possible she went along the tunnel and after several minutesstumbled against the steps leading up to the door.