The Second Girl Detective Megapack: 23 Classic Mystery Novels for Girls

by Julia K. Duncan

  The picture of the two of them screaming and tearing their hair was a little too much for Phyllis’ sense of humor and she laughed jerkily.

  “It wouldn’t be so bad,” she said, Gale’s arm about her shoulders, “if Relentless Rudolph would stop laughing.”

  “That’s a good name for him,” Gale smiled.

  They stood together in the darkness, trying to fathom a way out of their predicament.

  “Gale, do you suppose—” Phyllis began.

  “What?” her friend encouraged.

  “This sort of thing was what your uncle was thinking of when he gave us those revolvers?”

  “I shouldn’t be surprised,” Gale said slowly.

  “I wish I had mine now,” Phyllis wailed. “A lot of good it does us in my slicker.”

  “I’ve got mine,” Gale reminded her, “but we haven’t seen anything to shoot at yet.”

  “Why do you suppose he, Relentless Rudolph, is trying to scare us so?” was Phyllis’ next question.

  “I haven’t the faintest idea,” Gale answered. “Unless he is trying to scare us so we will be afraid to send the police after him.”

  “Not much chance,” Phyllis said indignantly. “I’d like to lead the police here, myself. If this cave didn’t give me the jitters,” she added. “Let’s get going—some place.”

  Hand in hand they started off again. This passage had a more hollow sound than the others. Their footsteps, for they no longer bothered to tread silently, sounded like thunder in their ears. The ground was getting more uneven and suddenly they bumped ignominiously into the wall.

  “That’s the end of that,” Phyllis said in a tired voice. “We’ll wear ourselves out before long.”

  They went back the way they had come and when they came to the cross passages, chose one going in the opposite direction. Their steps were lagging, and their eyes burned from straining them to catch one glimpse of daylight.

  “Phyllis! Look! The entrance!” Gale cried joyously.

  “Hurray! Let’s run!” Phyllis said eagerly.

  All their tiredness was gone now. They raced eagerly for the patch of light ahead of them and burst out upon a valley of green.

  “I was never so glad to leave any place,” Phyllis said, sinking down beneath a tree and leaning wearily against the trunk. “Rest a couple of minutes and then we’ll go back to camp.”

  “Phyllis,” Gale said slowly, gazing about them first this way and then that. “This isn’t the same place where we went in.”

  “No,” Phyllis agreed thoughtfully, after looking around, “it isn’t. Don’t tell me we’re lost again! At that,” she said calmly, “I’d rather be lost out here in the open than in those underground passages.”

  “Come on,” Gale said impatiently, “we can’t sit here all day. We have to find the camp.”

  The sun was high overhead. It was hours since they had left their camp site. What must the others be thinking? Had Tom or Jim started out to find them?

  “Maybe we could stay here and let ’em find us,” Phyllis said, relaxed and lazy.

  “We can’t stay here,” Gale said decidedly. She hit upon a sudden inspiration to make her friend bestir herself. “We are too close to the cave, the bandit might pursue us,” she added smilingly.

  That was enough. Phyllis jumped to her feet and started to climb over the uneven ground through the trees. At the top of the rise they saw their camp nestling beside the little creek in the valley. The subterranean passages they had been in led directly through the hill which they had started to climb earlier in the day. From where they stood now, they could see the partly hidden entrance which they had first discovered. On their way down the hillside they took particular care not to go near the mouth of the cave, lest they should see and be seen by the bank bandit.

  When they returned to the camp the others greeted them with mingled exclamations of curiosity and thankfulness.

  “We had about decided that you were lost,” Carol declared.

  “You would have been right—” Gale began.

  “Hold on!” Phyllis exclaimed. “Who is that with Jim?”

  The girls saw Jim approaching the campfire where they were all gathered, and with him was the man who two days before had brought the news of the escape of the bank bandits to the K Bar O.

  “Are you still hunting for the escaped robbers?” was Phyllis’ eager question the minute the two men came within hearing distance of the girls and Tom.

  “Shore!” he answered promptly.

  “Well,” Phyllis smiled over the sensation she knew her words would create, “we saw one of them this morning.”

  “You what? Where? Are you sure it was one of them?” The questions poured from all present.

  “Oh, we’re sure all right,” Phyllis said. “He scared us out of a month’s sleep. I’ve christened him Relentless Rudolph the way he followed us and laughed at us.”

  “Followed you? Laughed at you?” Janet echoed. “What do you mean?”

  “Explain yourself,” urged Carol.

  So while the others listened Gale let Phyllis tell of their morning’s adventure. Phyllis recreated vividly with words the suspense they had felt while fumbling around in the dark of the passages. The other girls were quite beside themselves with excitement when she had finished.

  Armed with flashlights and the revolvers they always carried now Tom followed Jim and the special deputy into the cave when Gale and Phyllis had shown them the entrance.

  The girls returned to the camp to await the return of the three and their prisoner. They had no doubts that if the bandit was still in the cave, the three men would find him and bring him back to face justice.

  “But there might be another exit to the cave that you don’t know about,” Virginia mused to Phyllis and Gale. “Even now he might be miles away.”

  “Well,” Phyllis said uncomfortably, remembering the thief’s laughter, “the farther he stays away from me, the better.”

  “I hope nothing happens to Tom,” Virginia said with a worried frown for her brother. “If there is any danger, he is bound to rush right into it.”

  “Don’t worry,” Gale consoled her, “Tom is old enough to take care of himself. While we are waiting, I’m going to have some target practice so I’ll know how to handle this revolver.”

  “A good idea,” Phyllis declared jumping to her feet. “We’ll have a shooting match.”

  Virginia tacked a large piece of paper to a tree and paced off twenty-five feet. From her mark Gale tried her luck at hitting their target. When she had finished they discovered that one of her six bullets had just nicked the edge of the paper. The others had gone clear past the tree. Phyllis was not even as lucky. None of her tries was successful.

  “You couldn’t hit a barn door if you were inside the barn,” Carol teased.

  “You couldn’t do any better!” was Phyllis’ spirited retort. “Give us a chance, we’ll show you.”

  The sun fell farther and farther in the west. The girls nervously idled away the time, keeping anxious eyes on the hill opposite where they expected Tom and his companions to reappear. But the minutes flew and the others did not come. The sun dropped from sight, leaving a trail of glorious colors in his wake. From the east, night like a pearly gray blanket covered the sky.

  Virginia sliced bacon in the frying pan over the fire. Gale made coffee and soon inviting aromas of their supper drifted on the air.

  “The smell of food will bring Tom if nothing else does,” Virginia declared laughingly.

  But it grew later. Darkness with its impenetrable shadows closed down. The girls huddled about the campfire, watching the fantastic shadows the flames threw over the tents. They had had their supper and put aside things to be warmed when the others returned.

  “Do you suppose they could have gotten lost like we did?” Phyllis asked after a long and heavy silence.

  “They had flashlights,” put in Madge. “They shouldn’t have.”

  “Ah, but you don’t k
now that place!” Phyllis shivered, “It gives me the creeps to think of it.”

  “What’s that?” Virginia cried suddenly.

  They listened attentively. A stick cracked as a heavy foot trod on it. In the fitful firelight’s gleam they could see three shadowy figures crossing the creek.

  “Tom?” Virginia called uncertainly.

  “All safe,” Tom’s hearty voice assured her.

  “But where is the bandit?” Valerie asked excitedly.

  “That’s what we’d like to know,” grumbled Tom. “We searched that place all through but there was no one in there.”

  “But we did see him,” Phyllis insisted. “He must have escaped before you got there.”

  “That’s what we figgered,” Jim put in. “We found footprints of a man, but escaping the law seems to be that fella’s strong point.”

  “He won’t escape all the time,” murmured the deputy. “We’ll catch up with him some day.”

  The girls, Virginia and Gale, warmed the supper for the three men and before they all turned in for the night, the deputy took his leave, declaring he could not spend the night at their campfire, but had to be miles away by morning.

  The girls slept peacefully and dreamlessly, storing up energy for the day’s ride ahead of them, for it was Tom and Jim’s plan to continue on to a new camp site the next day.

  CHAPTER VI

  Ghost Cabin

  “Ah, me, the joys of camping in the open!” Carol said to the world at large.

  Rain had been steadily pouring down on the file of riders since early morning. Clad in shining slickers they were riding on through the downpour. It was decidedly uncomfortable and to make it worse, they had had to have a cold lunch because everything was soaked and neither Tom nor Jim could make a fire. Such conditions had led to Carol’s declaration.

  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 in comparative dryness and warmth. It was an old miner’s shack, long since deserted by its owner, but no matter how ramshackle and tumbledown, it beckoned as a heavenly haven to the wet, weary riders because it promised 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? I wouldn’t blame you. This isn’t a nice experience for newcomers to our state.”

  “It isn’t me,” Gale said with a surprised glance, as though the mere thought of her own comfort had never entered her head. “It’s Val. She’s looking rather—peaked.”

  “She’s bearing up marvelously well,” Virginia replied with equal concern. “I hope today isn’t too much for her. I don’t want to spend more 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 from me. 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 that name?”

  “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 mine for a year or so. Some people said he made a lot of money out of it. I don’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 for the thieves who murdered him,” Virginia told her.

  “Cheerful thought,” Gale grimaced wryly. “Do you suppose he’ll come tonight?”

  “I don’t know,” Virginia said doubtfully, albeit a bit hopefully. “It would be fun, wouldn’t it, to meet a ghost?”

  “A lot of fun,” Gale agreed dryly. “I’m not particularly fond of the things myself. I’ll have to pass this tale on to the others.”

  While they rode, Gale, with Virginia’s help, told the rest of the Adventure Girls the story about the cabin to which they were going. They were a little dubious about the night and its outcome, but all agreed it would 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 I could 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 party rounded a clump of trees and through the rain saw a low, ramshackle cabin ahead of them. A little distance from the cabin was a shed and Carol demanded to know what it was.

  “Entrance to his mine,” Tom replied, “Don’t go near it or you will probably fall down a shaft or something.”

  Carol frowned on him. “I will not fall down anything,” she declared with dignity.

  “See that you don’t,” he laughed. “Come along, Ambitious,” he urged one of the pack horses who was lolling behind.

  Jim was the first to approach the cabin and when they crowded behind him there were mingled exclamations of disgust and disappointment. A layer of 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 at the spurt of a match heartened them somewhat.

  “First of all,” Jim said, “I’ll sweep the place. There’s a makeshift broom over there in the corner. You all wait outside.”

  So there was nothing for the others to do but go back out into the rain until Jim and Tom could restore the place to some semblance of cleanliness.

  “We’ll tie the horses back of the cabin,” Virginia proposed, to keep them busy.

  “Feeling tired?” Gale asked anxiously of Valerie as the two walked side by 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 so cheerfully determined to fight her way back to strong, ruddy health.

  “The minute the cabin is respectable, you shall sit down and not stir again 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 on me. I didn’t intend to be a burden when I came on this trip and I won’t be one!”

  “Darling, you could never be that!” Gale said tenderly. She continued humorously: “Here we want to give you service and you won’t have it. I wish somebody—”

  “All clear,” Tom called, and there was a sudden rush of wet figures for the poor sanctuary of the tumbledown shack.

  A fire crackled cheerily in the fireplace and the tired riders were gathered around it gratefully, yielding to the comfort of its warmth and to the laziness a good supper had instilled in them.

  “And still no ghosts,” Madge sighed, leaning her head cozily against Janet’s shoulder.

  “No, and I can’t say that I miss them,” that individual added, stifling a 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 the fire,” Tom continued. “We—”

  All of them came to attention. From somewhere
, they were not certain of the 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 beneath the 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 more were followed by a low, gurgling scream that rose and wavered on the night air, dying slowly away. The girls exchanged glances, their faces white and troubled. Tom was frowning fiercely. Jim’s eyes were darting about 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,” Virginia declared 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 a real ghost now. He has too much to be true. Somebody is trying to scare us.”

  “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 no cellar—”

  “He certainly isn’t here with us,” Carol declared. “There goes that scream again!” She shivered. “It gives me the creeps. Do you suppose he could be on the outside?”

  “No, he isn’t anywhere in sight,” Jim said firmly, returning from a quick circle of the cabin.

  “We haven’t heard him for some minutes now,” Virginia said encouragingly. “Maybe he has gone.”

  “Just a slight intermission,” murmured Janet calmly.

  They waited, but nothing happened. Tom and Jim set a tent up before the cabin. The girls spread their blankets before the fire, all but Valerie. The girls had insisted that she take possession of the low bunk the cabin afforded. It would be slightly more comfortable than the floor.