CHAPTER XVIII Down River
The mystery hunters were astonished and baffled as they gazed into theinterior of the tool shed of the haunted lodge. No one was in the place.The garden tools hung in order, a large bale of hay stood back againstthe wall, but no human being was to be seen. Nor was there anywhere tohide. Mac turned the beam of the light upward. There was no loft, onlysome cross braces of wood that would not hide even a cat.
"But we saw him come in here," Kent protested, as they stood and lookedaround.
"And I never took my eyes off of the shed," Barry added. "I ran acrossfrom the woods and didn't even watch my footing because I wanted to keepmy eyes on the place. I can't figure it out."
Tim pointed to a small window in the rear.
"Maybe he slipped through that."
Barry crossed the floor of the tool house and tried the window. It wasnot locked, and it lifted inward.
"Well, he might have, though I don't see why I shouldn't have seen it atthe time. Looks as though that was his only way. Perhaps he heard or sawme running across to the back porch and he slipped out of the window aswe were approaching the front. Too bad, but he is gone."
"I'm convinced that it was our spook, too," Mac said.
"Let's take a look around back and see if we can find any footprints,"proposed Kent, and, going to the back of the tool shed, they lookedaround. But a mass of briar bushes grew close to the rear of the smallbuilding, and they were unable to find any clues.
"Nothing doing," Barry sighed. "He has given us the slip."
"Let's get inside," suggested Tim, who was feeling the cold intensely.
"Yes, you fellows aren't dressed for outdoors," nodded Kent. "And we arejust about crazy to get in around the fire. We'll have to give this upas a bad job, for the time being anyway."
With some reluctance they left the vicinity of the tool house and madetheir way around to the front of the hunting lodge. The boys had leftthe front door open in their haste, and the hall was even colder than ithad been. The twins led the way into the living room of the lodge.
"Welcome to Bluff Lodge!" Mac cried, taking the poker and beginning tostir the fire. Barry and Kent spread grateful hands toward the blaze.
"Coal on the fire!" Barry exclaimed. "Where did that come from?"
"There is a coal shed back of the kitchen," Tim explained. "Feels good,doesn't it?"
"Does it!" Kent and Barry ejaculated in chorus. "You don't know the halfof it!"
"Been out in the woods in all this storm?" Mac asked.
Barry nodded. "Yes, we have been lost. Had to leave the sled and findour way. It was a great idea on the part of you fellows to put the lampin the window."
"Have you had any supper?" Tim asked.
"Yes, we had plenty. Built a fire and cooked some steak," Kent told him."But I'd surely appreciate a hot cup of coffee. How about you, Barry?"
"Yes, indeed," his chum agreed. He began to take off his outer clothes,shaking snow into the fireplace. "We've all got stories to swap. Whatwas that man doing besides thumping on the side of the house?"
While the coffee was preparing they sat close to the fire and talked.The twins told their story first, and the two who had been lost listenedwith close attention. Then, while they all drank hot coffee, Barry andKent related the events of the day.
They had put the lamp out, and the fire glowed red. A feeling of comfortand security settled over them, in spite of the lurking presence of theone who was seeking to annoy them. Although they were tired they had toomuch to discuss to want to go to bed at the moment.
"So you didn't bring home Mac's hog grindings," Tim grinned.
"We were lucky to bring ourselves home," Kent retorted. "But we are surethat we know where the sled is, and if the storm lets up tomorrow, we'llgo get it."
Mac went to the window and looked out, shielding his eyes from the lightof the fire. "I believe that the worst of it is over already," hedeclared.
"The flakes are coming down slowly." He turned back and sat down in awicker chair. "We certainly are glad to see you back again."
"The sight of this lodge was certainly a most welcome one," grinnedBarry. "We didn't care whether it was haunted or not!"
They talked for a time and then sought their beds. Kent and Barry werepleased at the change of quarters. They lugged in the mattresses fromthe beds in the cold bedrooms and placed them on the floor. Mac selectedthe wide sofa for his resting place, and when they had washed and wereready, they stretched out on the mattresses with various feelings ofsatisfaction.
"I never was so tired," Kent yawned.
"What about keeping guard?" Tim suggested. "Suppose that thumping,knocking idiot comes around again?"
"I won't hear his thumping or knocking," Barry predicted, with a grin.
"I won't, either," Kent said. "Looks like you Ford boys will have to dothe chasing."
"I'm not going to chase him," Tim promised.
"We won't have to stand guard," was Mac's opinion. "I'm a pretty lightsleeper, and maybe I'll wake up if anything goes wrong. We'll hope hedoesn't come back again."
Little more was said, and the boys went to sleep, thoroughly exhausted.They had not slept well since coming to Lake Arrowtip, and there was noguarantee that they would not be disturbed before morning, but they wentto sleep trusting that all would be well. This time good fortune was ontheir side, and they slept soundly until somewhat late in the morning.The mattresses were soft and comfortable, and the room was warm most ofthe night. Barry was the first to awaken, and when he had looked aroundand noted that his companions were still asleep, he lowered his head andslept for another half-hour.
Mac was the first to get up, and he looked at the clock. "Eight-thirty!"he whistled. "For the love of Mike, what hardy campers we are!" Hereached over and took the poker and proceeded to beat on the side of thecoal scuttle. "Wake up, the enemy is upon you!"
The others quickly woke up and looked around the room in some confusion."You're the only enemy we have!" growled Kent.
"That's a sign that you are a great man," chuckled Mac. "All great menhave enemies!"
For breakfast they finished up the pork and beans left from the previousnight. Most of their provisions were on the sled, and as soon as theyhad set the lodge in order they prepared to set off for the woods tofind the missing vehicle. It had stopped snowing sometime during thenight, and the sun was struggling to come out of the gray clouds.
"I guess the spook didn't come back last night," Tim remarked, as theystarted out.
"If he did, I didn't hear him," Barry declared. "I slept like a log thewhole night. Not even a dream disturbed me."
"I wasn't quite as lucky as that," Kent told them. "I kept dreaming overand over again that I was wandering around in circles. But I didn't hearanything, not even Mac's snores!"
"I don't snore," retorted Mac. "At least I've never heard myself!"
Barry and Kent were going by guesswork and at first were unable to findthe place where they had left the sled, but just as they were becomingdiscouraged Kent pointed off to the left. "There's a small bluff, and itlooks like it might be the place," he said.
"It was snowing so hard at the time that we couldn't be certain ofanything," Barry said. "But that looks like the place. Yes, it is!"
They found the sled still buried under the tree limbs and bushes, but itwas evident that some animal had been scratching around in an effort toget at it. "Probably a fox," was Tim's guess. Nothing had beendisturbed, however, and they started back to the lodge with the sled. Asthey came out of the timber Mac pointed ahead of them.
"Somebody is standing close to the lodge," he said, in a low voice.
They saw a man standing near the front porch, looking around him asthough in perplexity. He was evidently a woodsman, and he held somethingin his hand. Upon seeing the boys he hastened to meet them.
"Howdy-do," he greeted. "Which one of you boys is named Garrison?"
"I am," Barr
y informed him. The man held out a letter.
"Here's a letter to you. I passed through Fox Point this mornin', andI'm goin' down to the head of the lake, so the storekeeper asked me totake it."
"Thanks a lot," Barry acknowledged, noting that it was from his father.
"You're welcome, sure," the man replied, as he turned away.
"Stop and have some dinner with us," Kent called, but the man smiled andshook his head.
"Had mine already, thanks to you," he replied and was soon out of sight.
Barry read his letter while the others were preparing dinner, and hisface was a study as he finished it. "No bad news, is there?" Kent asked.
Barry shook his head. "No, but my Dad says we had better come on home.School starts again Tuesday, and he thinks I ought to be home so as toget ready to study for the next term. When he wrote this, he hadn'treceived my letter, of course. I suppose we'll have to go back."
The others had stopped their preparations for the noon meal and hadclustered around. "That means go home tomorrow," Mac pointed out.
Barry nodded. "Yes, it does. And I think we ought to get up early andmake our trip all in the one day, instead of camping out overnightagain."
"It can be done easily enough," Kent agreed. "Well, I didn't realizethat our time was up so soon. We haven't solved our mystery, either."
"That's exactly what is bothering me," Barry declared. "We have beenhere long enough to have the ghost or prowler make raps and knocks, andthen we have let him slip right out of our fingers. It won't be easy totell that to Dad, though I feel sure that he'll understand that we didthe best we could. But it is a big disappointment to me."
"We really should have had more time on the case," Tim said. "Maybesomething will happen tonight and we can lay hands on the one we want."
"That's our only hope," Kent declared. "Something must happen tonight!"
They spent the afternoon at the lodge, and for supper Mac had hissausage. After supper they chatted and enjoyed their last evening in thehunting lodge. They arranged to take turns watching through the night,and Barry took the first session. While the others slept, he sat in abig chair back in the shadows, his eyes and ears alert. Mac followed himand then the others, but nothing amiss happened, and when daylight came,they were forced to realize that their last chance had passed.
"Nothing doing, we've failed," remarked Barry, somewhat bitterly.
As soon as they had had breakfast they set the lodge in order and thenleft it, making sure that everything was in its place. At the edge ofthe lake skates were strapped on, and they struck out briskly. Beforethe sun had risen very high they had entered the mouth of Buffalo andwere going downriver at a good pace. It was evident that they wouldarrive in Cloverfield soon after dark. But the thought did not make themas happy as it should have. They were deeply disappointed at theirfailure.
"Maybe we can come back in the summer and camp there," Tim said, as theytalked it over around the fire of their noon camp.
"The summer is a long way off," declared Barry gloomily. "I wish we hadlanded him this time. But I guess we lost our opportunity once and forall."