CHAPTER IV.
THE NIGHT WATCH.
They were finally compelled to give up the search, although they did sowith the greatest reluctance.
"Unless it aids the other fellow to locate the claim first," said Bart,"the loss of the map cannot be much of a disadvantage to you, Merry. Itcould give us no further assistance in finding the claim."
"That's true," muttered Frank. "But the fact that mysterious men havebeen prowling around here and one of them has secured the map seems toindicate there are others who are searching for Benson Clark's lostclaim. If they locate it first----"
"It's rightfully yours!" growled Hodge. "No one else has a real claim toit. Clark gave it to you."
"But he made no will."
"All the same, you know he gave it to you."
"We have discussed all that, Hodge," said Merry as they returned to thetent. "If other parties find the claim first and begin work on it, theycan hold it."
Wiley was teetering up and down in front of the tent, apparently in anuneasy state of mind.
"I have faced perils by sea and land!" he exclaimed, as they approached."It doesn't behoove any one to shunt me off onto a lunatic and a cripplewhen there is danger in the air. My fighting blood is stirred, and Ilong to look death in the mouth and examine his teeth."
Neither Merry nor Bart paid much attention to the spluttering sailor.They consulted about the wisdom of changing their camping place for thenight.
"I don't think it is necessary," said Frank. "Whoever it was, theprowler secured the map, and I fancy it will satisfy him for thepresent. Something assures me that was what he was after, and we havenothing more of interest to him now."
After a time they decided to remain where they were and to take turns inguarding the camp. The first watch fell on Bart, while Frank was to takethe middle hours of the night, and Wiley's turn came toward morning. Itwas found somewhat difficult to quiet Worthington, who remainedintensely wrought up over what had happened; but in time Merry inducedhim to lie down in the tent.
Little Abe crept close to Frank and lay there, shivering somewhat.
"You have so many enemies, Frank," he whispered. "Who are these newenemies you have found here?"
"I don't know at present, Abe; but I will find out in time."
"Why must you always have enemies?"
"I think it is the fortune of every man who succeeds to make enemies.Other men become jealous. Only idiots and spineless, nerve-lackingindividuals make no enemies at all."
"But sometime your enemies will hurt you," muttered the boy fearfully."You can't always escape when they are prowling about and striking atyour back."
"Of course, there is a chance that some of them may get me," confessedFrank; "but I am not worrying over that now."
"Worthington frightens me, too," confessed the boy. "He is so strange!But, really and truly, he seems to know when danger is near. He seems todiscover it, somehow."
"Which is a faculty possessed by some people with disordered brains. Ifancied the fellow was dreaming when he declared he saw some one hidingbehind those rocks to-day; but now I know he actually saw what heclaimed to see."
"Oh, I hope they don't get that mine away from you! You have taken somuch trouble to find it!"
"Don't worry," half laughed Merry. "If they should locate the mine aheadof me, I can stand it. I have two mines now, which are owned jointly bymyself and my brother."
"Your brother!" exclaimed Abe, in surprise. "Why, have you a brother?"
"Yes; a half-brother."
"Where is he?"
"He is attending school far, far away in the East. I received someletters from him while you were in Denver."
"Is he like you?"
"Well, I don't know. In some things he seems to be like me; in others heis different."
"He is younger?"
"Yes, several years younger."
"Oh, I'd like to see him!" breathed Abe. "I know I'd like him. What'shis name?"
"Dick."
"Perhaps I'll see him some day."
"Yes, Abe, I think you will. By and by we will go East, and I will takeyou to see him at Fardale. That's where he is attending school."
"It must be just the finest thing to go to school. I never went toschool any. What do they do there, Frank?"
"Oh, they do many things, Abe. They study books which prepare them forsuccessful careers, and they play baseball and football and take part inother sports. They have a fine gymnasium, where they exercise to developtheir bodies, which need developing, as well as their brains. In someschools, Abe, the development of the body is neglected. Scholars arecompelled to study in close rooms, regardless of their health and oftheir individual weaknesses. And many times their constitutions arewrecked so that they are unfitted to become successful men and womenthrough the fact that they have not the energy and stamina in the battleof life, at which successes must be won.
"I don't know that you understand all this, Abe, but many parents makesad mistakes in seeking to force too much education into the heads oftheir children in a brief space of time. It is not always the boy orgirl who is the smartest as a boy or girl who makes the smartest andmost successful man or woman. Some of the brightest and most brilliantscholars fail after leaving school. Although at school they were wondersin their classes, in after life others who were not so brilliant andpromising often rise far above them."
"I don't know nothing about those things, Frank," said the boy. "Youseem to know all about everything. But I want you to tell me more aboutthe school and the games they play and the things they do there."
"Not to-night, Abe," said Merry. "Go to sleep now. Sometime I will tellyou all about it."
Long after Merry's regular breathing indicated that he was slumbering,little Abe lay trying to picture to himself that wonderful school, whereso many boys studied, and lived, and prepared themselves for careers. Itwas a strange school his fancy pictured. At last he slept also, and hedreamed that he was in the school with other boys, that he was straight,and strong, and handsome, and that Dick Merriwell was his friend andcompanion. He dreamed that he took part in the sports and games, and wassuccessful and admired like other lads. It was a joyful dream, and inhis sleep he smiled and laughed a little. But for the poor littlecripple it was a dream that could never come true.
In the night Frank was aroused by Bart, who lay down, while Merry tookhis place on guard outside the tent. The night was far spent when Frankawakened Wiley to take a turn at watching over the camp.
"Port your helm!" muttered the sailor thickly, as Merry shook him."Breakers ahead! She's going on the rocks!"
"Turn out here," said Frank. "It's your watch on deck!"
"What's that?" mumbled the sailor. "Who says so? I am cap'n of thisship. I give off orders here."
Merry seized him by the shoulders and sat him upright.
"In this instance," declared Frank, "you're simply the man before themast. I am captain this voyage."
"I deny the allegation and defy the alligator," spluttered Wiley, wavinghis arms in the dark. "I never sailed before the mast."
Frank was finally compelled to drag him bodily out of the tent, where atlength Wiley became aware of his surroundings and stood yawning andrubbing his eyes.
"This is a new turn for me, mate," he said. "It has been my custom inthe past to lay in my royal bunk and listen to the slosh of bilge waterand the plunging of my good ship through the billows, while others didthe real work. I always put in my hardest work at resting. I can workharder at resting than any man I know of. I have a natural-born talentfor it. Nevertheless, Cap'n Merriwell, I now assume my new duties. Youmay go below and turn in with the perfect assurance that little Walterwill guard you faithfully from all harm. Though a thousand foes shouldmenace you, I will be on hand to repel them."
"That's right, Wiley; keep your eyes open. There may be no danger, butyou know what happened early this night."
"Say no more," assured Wiley. "I am the embodied spirit of activealertness. Permit r
osy slumber to softly close your dewy eyes and dreamsweet dreams of bliss. Talk about real poetry; there's a sample of itfor you."
Smiling a little at the eccentricities of the sailor, Frank slipped intothe tent and again rolled himself in his blanket.
Rosy dawn was smiling over the eastern peaks when Frank opened his eyes.The others were still fast asleep, and Merry wondered if Wiley hadalready started a fire preparatory for breakfast. It seemed singularthat the sailor had not aroused them before this. Stealing softly fromthe tent, Merry looked around for the captain. At first he saw nothingof him, but after some minutes he discovered Wiley seated on the ground,with his back against a bowlder and with his head bowed. Approachingnearer, Frank saw the sailor was fast asleep, with a revolver clutchedin his hand.
"Sleeping at your post, are you?" muttered Frank, annoyed. "Had therebeen enemies near, they might have crept on us while you were sleepingand murdered the whole party. You deserve to be taught a lesson."
Making no noise, he drew nearer, keeping somewhat to one side and behindthe sailor, then bent over and uttered a piercing yell in Wiley's ear.The result was astonishing. With an answering yell, the sailor boundedinto the air like a jack-in-the-box popping up. As he made that firstwild, electrifying leap he began shooting. When his feet struck theground he started to run, but continued shooting in all directions.
"Repel boarders!" he yelled. "Give it to them!"
Frank dropped down behind the bowlder to make sure that he was protectedfrom the bullets so recklessly discharged from the cap'n's revolver.Peering over it, he saw Wiley bound frantically down the slope towardthe spring, catch his toe, spin over in the air, and plunge headlong. Bya singular chance, he had tripped just before reaching the spring, andhe dived into it, splashing the water in all directions. Thistermination of the affair was so surprising and ludicrous that Merry wasconvulsed with laughter. He ran quickly out, seized the sailor by theheels, and dragged him out. Wiley sat up, spluttering and gurgling andspouting water, very stupefied and very much bewildered.
This sudden commotion had brought Hodge leaping from the tent, a weaponin hand, while Abe and Worthington crawled forth in alarm.
Merry's hearty laughter awoke the echoes of the valley.
"Why do you disturb the placid peacefulness of this pellucid morningwith the ponderous pyrotechnics of your palpitating pleasure?" inquiredWiley. "Did it amuse you so much to see me take my regular morningplunge? Why, I always do that. I believe in a cold bath in the morning.It's a great thing. It's a regular thing for me. I do it once a yearwhether I need it or not. This was my morning for plunging, so Iplunged. But what was that elongated, ear-splitting vibration thatpierced the tympanum of my tingling ear? Somehow I fancy I heard aslight disturbance. I was dreaming just at that moment of my fearfulencounter with Chinese pirates in the Indian Ocean some several yearsagone. Being thus suddenly awakened, I did my best to repel boarders,and I fancy I shot a number of holes in the ambient atmosphere aroundhere."
"You did all of that," smiled Merry. "I found it necessary to get undercover in order to be safe. Cap'n, you certainly cut a queer caper. Itwas better than a circus to see you jump and go scooting down the slope;and when you plunged into the spring I surely thought you were goingright through to China."
"Well," said the sailor, wiping his face and hands on the tail of hiscoat, "that saves me the trouble of washing this morning. But I stillfail to understand just how it happened."
"You were sleeping at your post."
"What? Me?"
"Yes, you."
"Impossible; I never sleep. I may occasionally lapse a little, but Inever sleep."
"You were snoring."
Wiley arose, looking sad and offended.
"If I did not love you even as a brother I should feel hurt by yourcruel words," he muttered, picking up an empty pistol that had fallennear the spring. "But I know you're joking."
"You just said you were dreaming, Wiley," reminded Frank. "Is this theway you are to be trusted? What if our enemies had crept upon us whileyou were supposed to be guarding the camp?"
"Don't speak of it!" entreated the marine marvel. "It hurts me. In caseI closed my eyes by accident for a moment, I hope you will forgive methe oversight. Be sure I shall never forgive myself. Oh, but that was alovely dream! There were seventeen pirates coming over the rail, withcutlasses, and dirks, and muskets, and cannon in their teeth, and I wasjust wading into them in earnest when you disturbed the engagement.
"In that dream I was simply living over again that terrible contest withthe Chinese pirates in which I engaged while commanding my good ship,the _Sour Dog_. That was my first cruise in Eastern waters. The _SourDog_ was a merchantman of nine billion tons burthen. We were loaded withindigo, and spice, and everything nice. We had started on a returnvoyage, and were bound southward to round the Cape of Good Hope. I hadwarned my faithful followers of the dangers we might encounter in theIndian Ocean, which was just literally boiling over with pirates ofvarious kinds.
"One thing that had troubled us greatly was the fact that our good shipwas overrun with rats. I set my nimble wits to work to devise a schemeof ridding us of those rats. I manufactured a number of very craftytraps, and set them where I believed they would be the most efficacious.You should have seen the way I gathered in those rats. Every morning Ihad thirty or forty rats in those traps, and soon I was struck with anew scheme. Knowing the value of rats in China, I decided to gather upthose on board, put about, and deliver them as a special cargo atHongkong. With this object in view, I had a huge cage manufactured onthe jigger deck. In this cage I confined all the rats captured, and soonI had several hundred of them. These rats, Mr. Merriwell, saved ourlives, remarkable though it may seem to you. Bear with me just a momentand I will elucidate.
"We had put about and set our course for the Sunda Islands when anunfortunate calm befell us. Now, a calm in those waters is the realthing. When it gets calm there it is so still that you can hear a manthink a mile away. The tropical sun blazed down on the blazing ocean,and our sails hung as still and silent as Willie Bryan's tongue afterthe last Presidential election. The heat was so intense that the tar inthe caulking of the vessel bubbled and sizzled, and the deck of the_Sour Dog_ was hot as a pancake griddle. Suddenly the watch aloft sentdown a cry, 'Ship, ho!' We sighted her heaving up over the horizon andbearing straight down on us."
"But I thought you said there was no wind," interrupted Merry. "Howcould a ship come bearing down upon you with no wind to sail by?"
"It was not exactly a ship, Mr. Merriwell; we soon saw it was a Chinesejunk. She was manned with a great crew of rowers, who were propellingher with long oars. We could see their oar blades flashing in the sun asthey rose and fell with machine-like regularity. I seized my marineglasses and mounted aloft. Through them I surveyed the approachingcraft. I confess to you, sir, that the appearance of that vesselagitated my equilibrium. I didn't like her looks. Something told me shewas a pirate.
"Unfortunately for us, we were not prepared for such an emergency. Hadthere been a good breeze blowing, we could have sailed away and laughedat her. As there was no breeze, we were helpless to escape. It was anawful moment. When I told my crew that she was a pirate they fell ontheir knees and wept and prayed. That worried me exceedingly, for up tothat time they had been the most profane, unreligious set of lubbers itwas ever my fortune to command. I told them in choice language justabout what I thought of them; but it didn't seem to have any effect onthem. I told them that our only chance for life was to repel thosepirates in some manner. I warned them to arm themselves with suchweapons as they could find and to fight to the last. We didn't have agun on board. One fellow had a good keen knife, but even with the aid ofthat we seemed in a precarious predicament.
"The pirate vessel came straight on. When she was near enough, I hailedher through my speaking trumpet and asked her what she wanted. She madeno answer. Soon we could see those yellow-skinned, pigtailed wretches,and every man of them was armed with deadly weapons. Hav
ing heard thefearful tales of butcheries committed by those monsters, I knew the fatein store for us unless we could repulse them somehow. Again I appealedto my men, and again I saw it was useless.
"The pirate swung alongside and fastened to us. Then those yellow fiendscame swarming over the rail with their weapons in their teeth, intent oncarving us up. The whole crew boarded us as one man. Just as they wereabout to begin their horrid work a brilliant thought flashed through mybrain. I opened the rat cage and let those rats loose upon the deck. Asthe Chinamen saw hundreds of rats running around over the deck theyuttered yells of joy and started in pursuit of them.
"When they yelled they dropped their cutlasses and knives from theirteeth, and the clang of steel upon the deck was almost deafening. It wasa surprising sight to see the chinks diving here and there after therats and trying to capture them. To them those rats were far morevaluable than anything they had expected to find on board. For the timebeing they had wholly forgotten their real object in boarding us.
"Seeing the opening offered, at the precise psychological moment Iseized a cutlass and fell upon them. With my first blow I severed apirate's head from his body. At the same time I shouted to my crew tofollow my example. They caught up the weapons the pirates had dropped,and in less time than it takes to tell it that deck ran knee-deep inChinese gore. Even after we had attacked them in that manner they seemedso excited over those rats that they continued to chase the fleeingrodents and paid little attention to us.
"If was not more than ten minutes before I finished the last wretch ofthem and stood looking around at that horrible spectacle. With my ownhand I had slain forty-one of those pirates. We had wiped out the entirecrew. Of course, I felt disappointed in having to lose the rats in thatmanner, but I decided that it should not be a loss, and straightway Ibegan shaving the pigtails from the Chinamen's heads. We cut them offand piled them up, after which we cast the bodies overboard and washedthe deck clean.
"When I arrived in New York I made a deal with a manufacturer of hairmattresses and sold out that lot of pigtails for a handsome sum. It wasone of the most successful voyages of my life. When Congress heard ofthe wonderful things I had done in destroying the pirates, it voted me aleather medal of honor. That's the whole story, Mr. Merriwell. I wasdreaming of that frightful encounter when you aroused me. Perhaps youmay doubt the veracity of my narrative; but it is as true as anything Iever told you."
"I haven't a doubt of it," laughed Frank. "It seems to me that the mostof your wonderful adventures are things of dreams, cap'n. According toyour tell, you should have been a rich man to-day. You have had chancesenough."
"That's right," nodded the sailor. "But my bountiful generosity has keptme poor. In order to get ahead in this world a fellow has to hustle. Hecan't become a Rockefeller or a Morgan if he's whole-souled and generouslike me. I never did have any sympathy with chaps who complain that theyhad no chance. I fully agree with my friend, Sam Foss, who wrote sometouching little lines which it would delight me to recite to you. Sam isthe real thing when it comes to turning out poetry. He can oil up hismachine and grind it out by the yard. Listen, and I will recite to youthe touching stanzas in question."
In his own inimitable manner Wiley began to recite, and this was thepoem he delivered:
"Joe Beall 'ud set upon a keg, Down to the groc'ry store, an' throw One leg right over t'other leg, An' swear he'd never had a show. 'O, no,' said Joe, 'Hain't hed no show;' Then shift his quid to t'other jaw, An' chaw, an' chaw, an' chaw, an' chaw.
"He said he got no start in life, Didn't get no money from his dad The washing took in by his wife Earned all the funds he ever had. 'O, no,' said Joe, 'Hain't hed no show;' An' then he'd look up at the clock, An' talk, an' talk, an' talk, an' talk.
"'I've waited twenty year--let's see---- Yes, twenty-four, an' never struck, Altho' I've sot roun' patiently, The fust tarnation streak er luck. 'O, no,' said Joe, 'Hain't hed no show;' Then stuck like mucilage to the spot, An' sot, an' sot, an' sot, an' sot.
"'I've come down regeler every day For twenty years to Piper's store; I've sot here in a patient way, Say, hain't I, Piper?' Piper swore. 'I tell yer, Joe, Yer hain't no show; Yer too dern patient'----ther hull raft Just laffed, an' laffed, an' laffed, an' laffed."
"That will about do for this morning," laughed Frank. "We will havebreakfast now."
That day Frank set about a systematic search for some method of gettinginto the Enchanted Valley, as he had called it. Having broken camp andpacked everything, with the entire party he set about circling thevalley. It was slow and difficult work, for at points it becamenecessary that one or two of them should take the horses around by adetour, while the others followed the rim of the valley.
Midday had passed when at last Merry discovered a hidden cleft orfissure, like a huge crack in the rocky wall, which ran downward andseemed a possible means of reaching the valley. He had the horsesbrought to the head of this fissure before exploring it.
"At best, it is going to be a mighty difficult thing to get the horsesdown there," said Bart.
"We may not be able to do it," acknowledged Merry; "but I am greatly inhopes that we can get into the valley ourselves at last."
When they had descended some distance, Frank found indications whichconvinced him that other parties had lately traversed that fissure.These signs were not very plain to Bart, but he relied on Merry'sjudgment.
They finally reached a point from where they could see the bottom andlook out into the valley.
"We can get down here ourselves, all right," said Hodge. "What do youthink about the horses?"
"It will be a ticklish job to bring them down," acknowledged Merry; "butI am in for trying it."
"If one of the beasts should lose his footing and take a tumble----"
"We'd be out a horse, that's all. We must look out that, in case such athing happens, no one of us is carried down with the animal."
They returned to the place where Wiley, Worthington, and little Abe werewaiting. When Frank announced that they could get into the valley thatway, the deranged man suddenly cried:
"There's doom down there! Those who enter never return!"
"That fellow is a real cheerful chap!" said the sailor. "He has beenmaking it pleasant for us while you were gone, with his joyfulpredictions of death and disaster."
They gave little heed to Worthington. Making sure the packs were secureon the backs of the animals, they fully arranged their plans of descentand entered the fissure. More than an hour later they reached the valleybelow, having descended without the slightest mishap.
"Well, here we are," smiled Merry. "We have found our way into theEnchanted Valley at last."
"Never to return! Never to return!" croaked Worthington.
"It's too late to do much exploring to-night, Merry," said Hodge.
"It's too late to do anything but find a good spot and pitch our tent."
"Where had we better camp?"
After looking around, Merriwell suggested that they proceed toward thenorthern end of the valley, where there was timber.
"It's up that way we saw smoke, Frank," said Hodge.
"I know it."
As they advanced toward the timber they came to a narrow gorge that cutfor a short distance into the side of a mighty mountain. The streamwhich ran through the valley flowed from this gorge, and furtherinvestigation showed that it came from an opening in the mountainsideitself. Beside this stream they found the dead embers of a camp fire.
"Who built it, Frank?" asked Bart, as Merry looked the ground over. "Wasit Indians, do you think?"
Merriwell shook his head.
"No; it was built by white men."
Hodge frowned.
"It makes little difference," he said. "One is likely to be as dangerousas the other."
"We will camp here ourselves," decided Merry.
The animals were relieved of their packs,
and they busied themselves inerecting a tent and making ready for the night. Little Abe was set togathering wood with which to build a fire. Darkness came on ere they hadcompleted their tasks, but they finished by the light of the fire, whichcrackled and gleamed beside the flowing stream.
Wiley had shown himself to be something of a cook, and on him fell thetask of preparing supper. He soon had the coffeepot steaming on a bed ofcoals, and the aroma made them all ravenous. He made up a batter of cornmeal and cooked it in a pan over the fire. This, together with thecoffee and their dried beef, satisfied their hunger, and all partookheartily.
"Now," said Wiley, as he stretched himself on the ground, "if some onehad a perfecto which he could lend me, I would be supinely content. Asit is, I shall have to be satisfied with a soothing pipe."
He filled his pipe, lighted it, and lay puffing contentedly. Bart andMerry were talking of what the morrow might bring forth, when suddenlyWorthington uttered a sharp hiss and held up his hand. Then, to thesurprise of all, from some unknown point, seemingly above them, a voiceburst forth in song. It was the voice of a man, and the narrow gorgeechoed with the weird melody. Not one of them could tell whence thesinging came.
"Where dead men roam the dark The world is cold and chill; You hear their voices--hark! They cry o'er vale and hill: 'Beware! Take care! For death is cold and still.'"
These were the words of the song as given by that mysterious singer.They were ominous and full of warning.
"That certainly is a soulful little ditty," observed Wiley. "It is sohilariously funny and laughable, don't you know."
Frank kicked aside the blazing brands of the fire with his foot andstamped them out, plunging the place into darkness.
"That's right," muttered Hodge. "They might pick us off any time by thefirelight."
A hollow, blood-chilling groan sounded near at hand, and Wiley nearlycollapsed from sudden fright. The groan, however, came from the lips ofWorthington, who was standing straight and silent as a tree, his armsstretched above his head in a singular manner.
"The stars are going to fall!" he declared, in a sibilant whisper thatwas strangely piercing. "Save yourselves! Hold them off! Hold them off!If they strike you, you will be destroyed!"
"Say, Worth, old bughouse!" exclaimed Wiley, slapping the deranged manon the shoulder; "don't ever let out another geezly groan like that!Why, my heart rose up and kicked my hair just about a foot into the air.I thought all the ghosts, and spooks, and things of the unseen world hadbroken loose at one break. You ought to take something for that. Youneed a tonic. I would recommend Lizzie Pinkham's Vegetable Compound."
"Keep still, can't you!" exclaimed Hodge, in a low tone. "If we hearthat voice again, I'd like to locate the point from whence it comes."
"Oh, I will keep still if you will guarantee to muzzle Worth here,"assured the sailor.
The deranged man was silent now, and they all seemed to be listeningwith eager intentness.
"Why doesn't he sing some more, Merry?" whispered Bart.
After some moments, the mysterious voice was heard again. It seemed tocome from the air above them, and they distinctly heard it call a name:
"Frank!"
Merry stood perfectly still, but, in spite of himself, Bart Hodge gave astart of astonishment.
"Frank Merriwell!"
Again the voice called.
"Great Caesar's ghost!" panted Hodge in Merry's ear. "Whoever it is, heknows you! He is calling your name. What do you think of that?"
"That's not so very strange, Bart."
"Why not?"
"Since we came into the valley, either you, or Wiley, or Abe have spokenmy name so this unknown party overheard it."
"Frank Merriwell!" distinctly spoke the mysterious voice; "come to me!You must come! You can't escape! You buried me in the shadow of ChavesPass! My bones lie there still; but my spirit is here calling to you!"
"Booh!" said Wiley. "I've had more or less dealings with spirits in mytime, but never with just this kind. Now, ardent spirits and _spritisfermenti_ are congenial things; but a spooky spirit is not in my line."
"I tell you to keep still," whispered Hodge once more.
"I am dumb as a clam," asserted the sailor.
"Do you hear me, Frank Merriwell?" again called the mysterious voice. "Iam the ghost of Benson Clark. I have returned here to guard my mine.Human hands shall never desecrate it. If you seek farther for it, youare doomed--doomed!"
At this point Worthington broke into a shriek of maniacal laughter.
"Go back to your grave!" he yelled. "No plotting there! Noviolence--nothing but rest!"
"Now, I tell you what, mates," broke in Cap'n Wiley protestingly;"between spook voices and this maniac, I am on the verge of nervousprostration. If I had a bottle of Doctor Brown's nervura, I'd drink thewhole thing at one gulp."
Having shouted the words quoted, Worthington crouched on the ground andcovered his face with his hands.
"What do you think about it now?" whispered Bart in Frank's ear."Whoever it is, he knows about Benson Clark and his claim. He knows youburied Clark. How do you explain that?"
"I can see only one explanation," answered Frank, in a low tone. "Thisman has been near enough at some time when we were speaking of Clark tooverhear our words."
"This man," muttered Wiley. "Why, jigger it all! it claims to be anethereal and vapid spook."
"Don't be a fool, Wiley!" growled Hodge. "You know as well as we do thatit is not a spook."
"You relieve me greatly by your assurance," said the sailor. "I havenever seen a spook, but once, after a protracted visit on Easy Street, Isaw other things just as bad. I don't think my nerves have gained theirequilibrium."
"What will we do about this business, Merry?" asked Hodge.
"I don't propose to be driven away from here by any such childishtrick," answered Frank grimly. "We will not build another fire to-night,for I don't care to take the chances of being picked off by any oneshooting at us from the dark. However, we will stay right here and showthis party that he cannot frighten us in such a silly manner."
"That's the talk!" nodded Hodge. "I am with you."
"Don't forget me," interjected the sailor.
"You!" exclaimed Frank sharply. "How can we depend on a fellow whosleeps at his post when on guard?"
"It's ever thus my little failings have counted against me!" sighedWiley. "Those things have caused me to be vastly misunderstood. Well, itcan't be helped. If I am not permitted to take my turn of standing guardto-night, I must suffer and sleep in silence."
Having said this in an injured and doleful manner, he retreated to thetent and flung himself on the ground.
Frank and Bart sat down near the tent, and listened and waited a longtime, thinking it possible they might hear that voice once more. Thesilence remained undisturbed, however, save for the gurgle of the littlebrook which ran near at hand.