by Ross Kay
CHAPTER III--INTO THE HAUNTED HOUSE
The Go Ahead boys were excited when they entered the house of theirfriend and that night when they gathered about the supper table theirone theme of conversation was the proposed visit to the old MeekerHouse.
Occasionally throughout the conversation there was an expression on theface of George different from that of his companions. However, none ofthem was aware of the occasional smile, or of the keen look with whichGeorge occasionally glanced about the table. At other times theexpression of his face was serious and his interest in the suggestedvisit apparently was as keen as that of any of his friends.
The boys decided to wait until darkness had fallen before they startedon their expedition.
"It's just eight o'clock," said Grant, as they left the house andprepared to take their places in the automobile which was awaiting theircoming.
"Eight o'clock and all's not well, I'm afraid," suggested Fred.
"Are you afraid?" demanded John with a laugh.
"No, I'm not afraid, but somehow when I think of this business," repliedFred, "I find I have some shivers."
"You had better not go, my lad," said John solemnly. "This is no placefor infants or those afflicted with chills."
"I'm not chilly enough to stay home if all of you are going," retortedFred.
"It's just the kind of a night we want," spoke up George. "There isn'tany moon and it's going to be dark."
"Those clouds look as if it might rain," suggested Grant.
"That will be all the better," said George. "The darker the night thebetter the spooks behave. They say it's almost impossible to find anythere on a moonlight night."
"I hope we'll find some to-night," laughed John, but his voice somehowseemed to belie his confidence.
At all events there was not much conversation in the automobile as itsped swiftly down the road.
George, who was driving, occasionally referred to the various stories hehad heard of the deeds in the Meeker House, but his efforts did not meetwith any marked response until he said, "I have heard that ClaudiusSmith sometimes shows up in the old house."
"Who's he?"
"He _was_ a Cowboy. He lived more than one hundred and twenty-five yearsago. You have got to speak of him as one who 'was' and not 'is'."
"What makes him come back to the old house?"
"It was one of his favorite places, I'm told."
"What was he?"
"I told you he was a Cowboy. He got to acting so badly that at last allthe farmers and their boys that could be spared from the army gottogether and chased him clear down on Long Island."
"Did they get him?" inquired Fred.
"They did. They brought him back and took him to Goshen, where theyhanged him in the old courtyard."
"I shouldn't think he would come back here to the Meeker House,"suggested Grant. "I should think his ghost would 'hang' around the courthouse up at Goshen."
"I can't tell you about that," said George, "but it may be that hefollows the road he used to travel. That may be the reason why part ofthe time he's here at the old Meeker House."
"He must have been a great boy," suggested Fred.
"He certainly was, and he wasn't the only one. I have heard my fathertell about a man here in Jersey named Fagan. He was one of the Cowboysthat they used to call the Pine Robbers."
"Who were they?" inquired John.
"Why there were a dozen or more bands of these Pine Robbers. They usedto make their headquarters in the Pines back of Lakewood. They would diga hole in the sand and hide in it the stuff they had stolen, and then,when they had enough to make up a cargo they would take it to Toms Riverand ship it to New York, where William Franklin helped them dispose ofit."
"Who was William Franklin?" demanded Grant.
"Why, every educated man knows that William Franklin was the last royalgovernor of New Jersey. He was the son of old Ben Franklin. He inheritedhis father's brains, but not his father's disposition. He was one of thebitterest of all the Tories, and when the war of the Revolution brokeout he went to New York to be with his friends."
"What happened to this man Fagan?" asked Fred. "Is his ghost aroundhere, too?"
"I can't tell you," replied George, "whether it is here or not. I knowFagan got to be such a bad man stealing, shooting, tormenting the womenand children that finally a big gang of men took after him and caughthim down here between Trenton and Freehold."
"Did they do anything to him after they caught him?" inquired Grant.
"Not very much. They just hanged him from the limb of a big tree by theside of the road and left the body swinging there in the air for two orthree days. Finally they left the head in the noose, stuck a long pipebetween the jaws and my grandfather used to tell me that the head wasthere until the crows had picked out the eyes and left nothing but thegrinning skull."
"That's a nice story to tell just before we make our bows at a spookparty," said Fred.
The boy was striving to speak lightly, but his voice sounded strangeeven in his own ears. Indeed, by this time, after the gruesome storiesof the Cowboys had been told, the nerves of all the boys were on edge.
The dim outlines of the Meeker House were now plainly visible. Thesilence that rested over the place was unbroken except for the sighingof the wind as it swept through the ancient pine trees that grew in thefront yard.
"This is a ghost story up to date, isn't it?" said Grant. "I don'tsuppose many of those Cowboys or Skinners ever traveled around inautomobiles."
"Probably not," said John dryly, and conversation abruptly ceased.
"George, don't you think you had better leave your automobile up here onthe road and not take it clear down to the house?" inquired Fred in awhisper, when they drew near the place they were seeking.
"What for?" inquired George.
"Oh, nothing, only I thought it would be more out of the way there. Yousee the house is on the corner and if some one makes a sharp turn therethey might run into it without seeing it."
"Just as you say," replied George good-naturedly.
Acting upon the suggestion, the automobile was stopped about a hundredyards from the house and the boys at once prepared to walk across theyard toward the front door.
No one spoke until Fred whispered sharply, "What's that?"
"What's what?" retorted George, also speaking in a whisper.
"Nothing but a branch creaking up in the tree," suggested Grant.
"I guess that's what it was," assented Fred, and the four boys at onceresumed their advance upon the ancient house.
"Come on, fellows," whispered George. "We'll try the front door first."
The attempts of the boys, however, to open the door were unavailing. Thedoor was massive and although it creaked and groaned it was strong andall the attempts to open it proved failures.
"You stay here, fellows," whispered George. "I'll go around to the backof the house and see if I can get in there."
"I'll go with you," suggested Fred.
"No, you won't, you'll stay right here and defend these fellows who area good deal more scared than they are willing to own," retorted George.
The trio remained in silence before the front door, waiting for someword from their friend, who at once had carried out his suggested planand had gone to the rear of the house.
Suddenly and without any word being spoken the heavy door in front ofthe waiting boys slowly opened. It creaked noisily but there was noquestion that George succeeded and the door was being opened fromwithin.
Grant was the first to enter, but instantly he stepped back and in avoice that trembled said quickly, "What's that? What's that?"
There was a noise of flying wings in the room before them, but not oneof the boys was able to see any of the winged creatures. Back and forththey flew, the unseen birds, their wings noisily flapping and theircries steadily increasing in volume.
Startled as all the boys were by the unexpected sound they withdrew tothe porch in front of the door and in whispers talke
d over the best planfor them to follow.
"I say we go ahead," said Grant at last. "We don't want to be scared outby a little thing like this."
"That's all right," agreed Fred. "You're so bold, I'll let you go ahead.I shall be satisfied to-night to be one of the go behind boys. I'm notafraid," he hastily added when Grant laughed derisively. "I'll followyou wherever you dare lead. Now then start if you want to."
No more was said and slowly and silently the boys once more entered theroom into which the door directly opened.
This time again when only a few steps had been taken, by a commonimpulse they stopped and Fred whispered, "Where is George?"
"He's somewhere around here," whispered Grant in reply.
"But I don't see him or hear him," declared Fred. "We ought to find outwhat has happened."
"Oh, he's all right," said John confidently. "Come on, let's go ahead."
"We haven't any light," suggested Fred.
"We'll have one pretty soon. That's probably what George has gone for,"whispered John. "He'll be back in a minute."
"I don't believe we had better try to go any farther. A good many ofthese old houses have steps from one room to another. I don't want Fredto fall and break his neck."
"Don't you worry about my----" began Fred, but he stopped abruptly whensuddenly the shutters in the room directly over their head bangednoisily against the side of the house. At the same time the sound of theflying creatures in the room was heard again and as if to make mattersworse a sound very like a groan came from the stairway. The weirdinterruption was followed by a wild laugh that came from the samestairway and a moment later the confusion was increased by a sound moreunexpected than any which as yet had been heard by the Go Ahead boys inthe old Meeker House.
