He offered no resistance.
"You sure you ain"t cold?... We don"t want you to catch cold."
"No, I"m not cold," the captive replied.
Silence ensued which lasted some minutes.
Finally one of them ventured, glancing over his shoulder: "Well, we ain"t seen any ghosts yet, have we, Billy?"
"Nope," was the dogged reply.
Billy extended his leg and kicked Kerwin on the ankle.
"Ever in a haunted house before?" he asked.
"Not that I remember," Kerwin answered.
"Guess you"d remember if you had been," suggested Billy. "Used to be one down in my town about six years ago. Fellow murdered there once, they said. Funniest things used to happen.... A hand would open the doors in front of you. You could see the tracks of a man"s bare-feet in the dust when you went up-stairs...."
"Aw, shut up, Billy, cancha!" his companion muttered edging near him.
"What"s the use talkin" such stuff?"
"Why, I was just tellin" you," Billy replied, defensively. "I never took any stock in the stories, but one day, a fellow by the name of Thurber--Hank Thurber, regular dare-devil sort of chap--swore _he"d_ spend the night in that house or die in the attempt. Next morning he didn"t show up. The town marshal went to find him. He found him all right. It was in one of the up-stairs" rooms, and there he sat in a busted chair, stone dead, with his fishy eyes staring at a hole in the wall. They got a bundle of old letters out of the hole. Seems it was a sort of secret cupboard in the first place, and had been plastered over. That wasn"t all though; they found Thurber"s dog jammed into the fireplace of a room down-stairs, with his neck broken...."
"Good Heavens! Billy! Billy! What was that!"
The story-teller caught himself quickly and he and his companion turned frightened eyes upon each other. In that moment"s stillness they noted that the wind had freshened. Something creaked somewhere. Billy clutched his companion"s leg.
"What was it?" His whisper rasped.
"Thought I heard something click...."
"Sure?"
"Sure"s I"m sittin" here...."
"Where"d it seem to come from?"
"I dunno; thought it was--in there." He indicated the little room behind with a jerk of his head.
"Aw, "twasn"t anything; old rusty nail snapped, probably, in the wind."
Billy swaggered with a monstrous a.s.sumption of bravery. There was more silence for a moment, then Billy went on:
"I was just tellin" you "bout that haunted house down home...."
"Say, Billy, shut up, cancha? I don"t care a _darn_ "bout that haunted house, I"m...."
"Come off! You ain"t really afraid of ghosts, are you?"
"Well, maybe I ain"t, but...."
"What"s the matter with you, anyway?"
"Never you mind, I----"
He broke off suddenly and his face went ashy pale.
"Did you see that?" he cried. "Did you see that! Like a blue flame!"
He got upon his feet unsteadily. His mouth was open; his eyes were staring.
"Why, what"s the matter? You ain"t drunk, are you? What did you see----?"
"_See! Look!_"
Billy wheeled like a flash. A light of dazzling brilliancy shone for an instant, and in the smaller room, through the doorway of which they gazed as though transfixed, floated a gossamer of unholy, blue smoke.
Then, before the instant became an aeon, they saw rise, as though from the very heart of the dazzle, the upper-half of a white, shrouded form.
One arm waved sweepingly toward them. Before the aeon died an unearthly screech rent the silence, followed by a scuffle and thug as both youths rushed down the stairs. They sped into the road and the deep shadows of the woods swallowed them.
V
Blindfolded, Kerwin had seen nothing, but the dazzle had pierced the covering of his eyes and he had felt the light, and he had _heard_. His head was like thistle-down borne on the wings of a zephyr. He attempted to move, to call out. A deadly nausea overcame him. He realized that he was fainting. Then, of a sudden, his melting senses took form again, as he heard a familiar voice cry:
"Kerwin, old chap!... By Jove! We"ll fool "em yet, if you hurry!"
And at that the handkerchief was torn from his eyes and he looked up blinking into the beaming countenance of Norse.
Norse did not wait to explain. He cut the twine binding his friend"s hands and flung down the satchel within the circle of the lantern light.
"What are you looking at?" he asked, tersely, stooping to open the bag and noting Kerwin"s steady gaze fixed upon him.
"_For Heaven"s sake what have you got on!_"
"What ... got ..." And Norse burst out laughing.
"What have I got on?" he cried. "I"ve got on your dress-shirt---- Made me look more like a ghost." He whipped the garment off. "And now you get into it just as quick as you can!" he added.
For a brief moment a light of puzzlement lingered in Kerwin"s eyes.
"Here"s the collar and tie." Norse handed them to him. "And here"s your dress-suit---- You see I overheard them talking it over---- I looked for you---- Then I came out here---- I"d a box of flash-light powder in my pocket---- That"s all. I thought it was all up when they heard the satchel click. You see I"d opened it to get out your shirt. I had to put a good deal of trust in Providence!..."
"But Norsey...."
"Never mind talking! Hustle, man! Hustle!"
"I know, but...."