11 The Ghost Patrol
On the following day, when the General Orders were read, the cadets whohad been most active in the search for Dorothy were warmly commended.All of the cadets were thanked by the colonel. Then the officers calledfor three rousing cheers for Cadet Mackson. These were given with awill.
“Mackson again!” hissed Cadet Rowen, under his breath. “It was only anaccident and yet he gets a cheer for it. Wouldn’t that make you sick?”
No one being addressed, no answer was given. But Terry himself felt thatit was simply an accident.
“I just happened to be there at the brook at the right moment and heardher crying,” he told his friends. “If I hadn’t been the one, someoneelse would have run across her eventually. So I don’t see what the fussis all about.”
“We make a fuss because you are such an old souse!” laughed Jim. “If youhadn’t gone for a drink it might have been days before the child wasfound. Lucky thing you like to drink so much.”
“I’ll drink nothing but water all my life, in honor of the piece ofservice that drink did me,” promised the redhead.
In the mess tent that noontime the colonel rapped on the head table fororder. The rattling of spoons and plates became still and the cadetsfaced him expectantly.
“Gentlemen,” said the colonel. “Since we have been here on the Ridge wehave been quite deeply annoyed by this silly ghost that has been playingtricks in the neighborhood. I say silly in the sense that it is silly toplay at such small things, but in another sense it may turn out to besomething serious. I think that we have all had enough of the businessand I promise you that if that ghost comes around the camp we will makeshort work of him. Now, what I want you to do is this: if you, any ofyou, learn anything definite about this ghost, either from hearsay oryour own observations, I want all facts reported to me at once. Althoughwe haven’t time to go meddling all over the Ridge I think we areduty-bound to lay this ghost if possible, and so let me know whateveryou learn about this ghost business.”
There was a buzz as the headmaster sat down and the ghost of the Ridgefurnished the topic for discussion during the rest of the meal. Drillended that, and after the afternoon work was over the cadets named onthe previous evening reported at the colonel’s big tent. He was waitingfor them.
“Sit down anywhere you can, boys,” he told them. “On the bed or thechairs. I guess we can find room for all of us. Will you pull the flapclosed, Captain Jordan?”
Jordan obeyed and the colonel faced his interested boys. “Well, youheard what I had to say today at the mess tent regarding theresponsibility of each cadet in regard to the ghost trouble on thisRidge. That will do very nicely for the corps at large, for if I gavesome of them too much authority some grave mistakes of overzealousnesswould probably follow. But to you young men I want to give a commissionthat I’m sure you will handle with care and tact.”
He paused and nothing was said. Crossing his knees the colonel went on:“I spoke of the fact that ruining this ghost and his game was our dutyas citizens, and it is. Inquiry has revealed that the people hereaboutsare very superstitious, and they have taken this ghost on trust forseveral years. Of course, in a community of sensible men and women thething would have been run out long ago, but there is just enough fearand superstition in the people around here to imagine this ghost to bethe real thing and not some human being who is simply playing on theirfears and ignorance. You may have noticed that when we brought thatchild back to Mrs. Carson she simply said: ‘I’ll never let you out againwhere that ghost can scare you.’ No question or thought about drivinghim away, but just a passive resignation to the fact that he is here andbelongs here.
“But this ghost does not belong here, boys, and we must see to it thathe does not stay here. At school we teach you that every man has a dutyto the public, and even here, in a strange country, we have ourchallenge. We must track down this ghost and expose him. We have theright to do so because he has invaded our camp and stampeded our horses.But I want the whole thing done quietly and steady heads must take upthe task. I have therefore picked you young men to tackle this problem.”
“I’m sure we’ll enjoy it, sir!” smiled Jordan.
“What I want you to do is this,” nodded the colonel. “I want you sixcadets to form yourself into a secret Ghost Patrol. You are to keep itstrictly to yourselves, and you are to make every effort to get sometrace of this ghost. I give you full liberty to leave camp at any hour,and every hour, to pass sentries whenever it is really necessary, and tocut drill if the necessity should arise. I am not going to tell you howyou should go about it, because I really don’t know myself, but I willleave the working out of plans to you. Obviously, it will be out of thequestion to simply rove over the Ridge in a band, for that would soonadvertise itself, but I’m sure you will make a plan that will bringresults. If at any time there is a call that the ghost has been sightedaround the camp you will dash out and make a thorough search for him. Iguess that is all clear, isn’t it?”
“I think so, sir,” replied Jordan. “We’ll do the best that we can forthe community in this case. I have heard that in the last few years anumber of good, honest families have left the Ridge simply because ofthis silly situation, and a thing like that has no business to be.”
“You’re right, it has no business to be,” retorted the colonel. “Notwhen an individual rolls a blazing hay wagon downhill and burns up aman’s barn, and then scares a child away from her home. To say nothingof stampeding our horses.”
“What do you think of that theory regarding the Maul and Hyde feud,colonel?” Don asked, from his seat on the cot.
“I think there may be something in it,” was the answer. “I can’t findout what the feud was all about, and probably the present families don’tknow, so stupid are such things. It is much like those you hear about inthe Kentucky mountains, where families kill each other off forgenerations over causes that never touched them personally. But I gatherthat the last of the Mauls was supposed to have been drowned and hisbody was never found. That points to only one thing.”
“You think that he is alive and doing all this ghost business?” Jimasked.
“I wouldn’t be surprised. As far as I can learn no one but the Hydeshave ever been actively molested. Numbers of persons have been scared bythe sight of the white shape, but only the Hydes have been harmed. If ithad not been for the heroic work done by you cadets the other night Hydewould have been burned completely out of house and home.”
“Now that every sentry has been told to promptly report any trace of theghost we may have an even chance of nailing him,” Douglas observed.
“Yes, though you may have to work fast. Well, that will be all. You willkindly keep that to yourselves and consider yourselves as a specialGhost Patrol.”
When they had left the colonel the cadets separated and went to theirtents. While preparing for the evening meal they talked things over.
“If you notice, the colonel spoke about the ghost starting thestampede,” Jim said, as he washed vigorously. “That shows that hebelieves my story.”
“I guess there is no doubt of that,” responded Don. “He simply can’tdoubt Rowen’s word on the face of it.”
Before the evening meal was ready it began to rain. The cadets had beenfortunate in the weather during their stay in camp, and up to thepresent time only showers had occurred occasionally. But tonight therain meant business, for it settled in for a long spell. Before long thecompany streets were a mass of mud. It was necessary to make a dash forthe mess tent, and all the time they ate the steady pouring of the raincould be heard on the canvas overhead.
There were no campfires that night and the cadets clustered in their owntents. The sentries looked forward to a bleak and joyless patrol, butthe colonel knew that a sample of army life under all conditions wasgood for the young soldiers. As long as they were well-shod and amplyprotected from the rain there was no danger of sickness, and a taste ofduty u
nder stern circumstances was beneficial rather than harmful to thecadets.
Jordan, Vench and Douglas slopped their way over to the tent occupied bythe three friends. This tent was the end one on the rear company street,backed up against the woods. The tent light made the place seemhomelike, and it was warm inside.
“Fine night, if anyone likes it,” grinned Vench, as he took off his wetraincoat. “We didn’t have anything else to do so we came over.”
“Glad to have you,” smiled Don. “It looks like a particularly dullevening. I’ll bet we’ll harp on the one subject, though.”
“On the glories of the Ghost Patrol, eh?” laughed Jordan.
“How did you guess?” Don retorted.
“This is something new,” Douglas said. “Early in the year the Mercers,Terry and I were on the beach patrol, but this is the first time I everheard of a Ghost Patrol.”
“All I hope is that we get some results out of this new organization,”Terry said.
They talked of the task ahead of them for some time. Suddenly Jim heldup his hand, signaling for silence.
“Did you fellows hear anything?” he asked.
No one had. “What was it like?” Jordan asked.
“I thought I heard someone close to the back of the tent,” said Jim,slipping on his raincoat. “Wait’ll I take a look.”
“Who would sneak around a tent on a night like this?” scoffed Vench, asJim slipped out.
“Didn’t see anything,” Jim said, returning and shaking the rain off hiscoat.
“We hope you don’t hear anything else tonight,” grumbled Terry. “Mightas well bring a dog in here to shake himself!”
Long before taps the visitors had gone and the friends turned in. In themorning the rain had stopped, but a gray sky hung over the camp. Just asassembly was breaking up the Officer on Inspection reported to thecolonel.
“Something to show you on a tree at the end of the camp, sir,” hereported.
The cadets swarmed around the colonel as he took a heavy piece ofcardboard from a tree not far from the tent occupied by the Mercers andTerry. In large, crude letters this warning was written:
YOU DURNED TIN SOLDIERS KEEP YOURE NOSE OUTN THE GHOST BUSINESS.
The Mercer Boys in the Ghost Patrol Page 11