The Mercer Boys in the Ghost Patrol

by Capwell Wyckoff

  13 The Shape in the Moonlight

  Great was the astonishment as the cadets made out the signal from theopposite side of the hill. At least nine-tenths of them had read themessage accurately, for a knowledge of signaling, both in the Morse codeand the semaphore, was required at the school. After the message wasreceived they stood staring toward the hill, looking for some furtherword. When the same message had been repeated three times the colonelawoke to the fact that the signalman was not going to say anything more.

  “Mr. Walker,” he called to the best signalman that the corps had. “Getyour flags and answer ‘All right.’”

  Cadet Walker departed on a run to his tent, to reappear shortly with twowhite flags. Standing where he would surely be seen by the lonesignalman, the cadet began his message. The flags on the other side ofthe Ridge disappeared at once as the man read their signal, and Walkerstopped his rapid arm movements.

  “Now, what in the world do you make of that?” Terry asked, in amazement.His question was taken up by all of the cadets and asked without anysatisfactory answer. Supper was neglected while the mystery wasconsidered, and the colonel was as much puzzled as the boys were.

  When the cadets finally did sit down to supper the tables buzzed withspeculative talk. Many were for going over to that hill and finding outwho it could have been that signaled them. At the close of the meal thecolonel rapped for order and when the tent had become quiet he spoke tothem of the future plans.

  “I know as little about that signal as you do, boys,” he said, “but Ibelieve it to be sincere. Someone who is friendly is trying to give us awarning that may stand us in good stead. It is also possible that it maybe a hoax, simply designed to fool us or to draw us out of camp. Thatwill not happen, you may be sure, but I feel that we should be ready forduty. I shall split the battalion in half, and one-half of you willpatrol the Ridge while the other half remains in camp to guard itagainst surprise.”

  There was a stirring and a ripple of genuine pleasure at the news, forall of the young men looked forward to some exciting times ahead. Eachone was wishing that he would be lucky enough to be in the group thatwould patrol the Ridge.

  “I wish to make this statement, which is also an order,” went on thecolonel. “There will be no carrying of arms tonight. Some one of youmight become excited and fire at the wrong time, so I expressly forbidit. It is not as though you were going out alone, but you are going outin groups and therefore a weapon, in the shape of a firearm, won’t benecessary. I trust that five or six husky young cadets will be a matchfor the best ghost this Ridge can send against us. It may be that wewill have our supreme chance to end this ugly ghost business tonight,and if so I want no slips that will damage the prospect. I wish to seethe leaders immediately after the meal.”

  When the colonel met with the leaders he specified which cadets were togo out and which ones were to stay at camp. To their joy all of thefriends of Don and Jim were to patrol the Ridge. The colonel hadsuggested that the Ghost Patrol go in a body, so the members of thatsecret organization prepared to go out alone. The leaders passed fromgroup to group, telling them where to go and how to act, signals werearranged, and the stage was set.

  To the waiting cadets it seemed that evening was unusually slow incoming. No attempt was made to slip out of camp until full darkness hadcome, for if anyone was watching it would be a risky thing to do.

  “Never saw a day last so long in my life,” grumbled Vench, digging hisheel into the soft mud.

  “It is just about the usual length, I guess,” smiled Don. “One thing isgoing to be for and against us tonight.”

  “What is that?” the others asked.

  “There will be just enough of a moon to make us have to be careful, andjust enough to help us spot the ghost if he gets out into the open.”

  Jordan emerged from his tent and stopped at the various groups to givesome sort of an order. When he got to the members of the Ghost Patrol herepeated it finally.

  “When we leave the camp we are to leave by the back way, taking care tokeep out of the light of the fires,” he told them. “It is possible thatsomeone is watching the camp and our game would be spoiled if we walkedout in such a way that it could be seen. In about a half hour we will beable to get going.”

  “The bunch in camp will have to keep their eyes wide open,” saidDouglas.

  “Yes, and the colonel will be helping them do it. We have to be carefulthat this isn’t all some tricky plan to pull us out of camp whilesomebody with kindly ideas rushes in and burns the place out. Thecolonel has arranged this signal: three rifle shots for a recall. Thatwill mean trouble in the camp, and if you hear it, head for camp as fastas you can go.”

  Darkness finally fell and the stars appeared faintly in the summer skyas the slice of the moon cut the distant horizon. One group broke up anddisappeared back of the tents and another followed. Jordan got up.

  “All right, let’s go,” he announced, glancing at his watch. “Slip out ofcamp without a sound. Keep to the shadows.”

  The group in the tent broke up at once, some of them walking down thecompany street for a distance of three or four tents and then slippingbehind them. Once out of the glare of the several campfires they had notrouble in gaining the shelter of the trees, and after a few secondsthey were all together.

  “Which direction now?” Jim asked.

  “Let’s go clear to the top of the Ridge,” suggested Jordan. “From therewe can get a comprehensive view of the woods and hills and spot anythingthat moves.”

  They set out for the top of the Ridge, walking with care and listeningfor every sound that might break the stillness. They had not gone farbefore there was a noise as though someone was moving before them.Spreading out fanwise they bore silently down on the spot from which thenoise had come only to run into another patrol which was lying low andwaiting for them to come forward.

  “Oh, it is only you guys,” grunted Jordan, as Cadets Perry, Noxan, Dodgeand Orlan confronted them.

  “Yes, sorry to disappoint you by not being the ghost!” grinned Perry.“But we heard you coming along and we took to cover, so that you wouldrun into us. I’m afraid that we’ll be doing that all evening.”

  “Well, then let’s get over it by giving the school whistle every time,”suggested Don. “If we had whistled then you would have replied and wewould have passed you in another direction.”

  “A good idea, Mercer,” approved Dodge. “If we give the whistle and failto receive the answer, we’ll know that the party before us is asuspicious case. We can then go after them in earnest.”

  “Yes, that will be OK,” nodded the senior captain. “We are striking offhere, boys. See you later.”

  With that they left the party and continued their journey to the top ofthe hill. From there they could look all along the Ridge, and even seethe faint gleam of their own campfires in the distance. There was nosign of life on the Ridge, but that was inconclusive, for they knew thatdirectly below them several bands of cadets were moving around.

  “For the time being at least we will just stay here and sweep the hillswith our eyes,” Jordan said.

  For a full hour they sat under a tree, well-sheltered in its shadows,and looked searchingly at the slopes below them. In that time the onlylife they saw were the forms of several cadets who appeared briefly inthe open and then were lost in the darkness. Finally they became highlyimpatient at the inaction.

  “I guess there is nothing to be gained by sitting here,” Jordan said.“My suggestion is that we split up and move along the top of the Ridgein opposite directions. Suppose Terry, Jim and Don come with me, andThompson, Douglas and Vench group together and go toward the east of theRidge? We’ll work back past the camp.”

  “Sounds as good as anything,” nodded Thompson. “Most of our cadets arecontent to stay down on the slopes, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keepto the top.”

  “Yes, and here’s another thing,” put in Terry. “You t
hree are goingtoward the town. Why not keep an eye on that side of the Ridge and seeif this ghost doesn’t come up from town, if he comes at all.”

  “There may be something in that,” said Jordan. “We’ll watch this side ofthe hill. By the way, have all of you fellows got your cadet whistles?”

  All of them had the regular whistles, similar to those used by trafficpolicemen. “If you get into a scrape and need help, just blow like mad,”commanded Jordan. “If we should run into anything we’ll do the same.”

  With this word they separated. They were now so high above the camp thatthe fires gleamed like little fireflies below them.

  “Somebody or something moving in the bushes below!” whispered Jim,suddenly. He pointed into a small gully below them and they looked down.The bushes, clearly seen in the pale moonlight, were moving.

  “I’ll whistle,” said Jordan, and did so. But there was no reply.

  “Down we go, and see who it is,” decided the captain, and they creptforward stealthily, careful to make as little noise as possible. Butwhen they dipped down in the gully they found four cadets, one of whomwas Rowen. These cadets were standing like statues, evidently a bitscared and waiting to see who it was that moved toward them.

  “Didn’t you fellows hear my whistle?” Jordan demanded.

  “We thought we heard someone whistle,” replied Cadet Motley. “But weweren’t sure.”

  “Well, I whistled,” Jordan said. “Whenever you hear that you’ll knowthat friends are near by.” Jordan then repeated Don’s suggestion to usetheir special whistle for recognizing cadets.

  “OK,” nodded Motley. “What time have you, Jordan? I’m not sure about mywatch.”

  Jordan drew out his watch. “I have just eleven o’clock, Motley,” hereplied. “I guess——”

  Jim gripped his arm. “Siss—s!” he hissed. “Look, on the top of theRidge!”

  With one accord they looked up the slope and their blood chilled. In apatch of moonlight a weird and terrible figure walked swiftly from onepatch of darkness toward another. It looked to be the figure of a man,clothed entirely in white. It glanced neither to the right nor to theleft, but strode swiftly along, to all intents and purposes unaware thatanyone save itself was on the Ridge. Even the head was muffled in whiteand showed no trace of eyes, nose or mouth. Quiet and evil and sinisterdid it look as it glided past the dark background of the sky.