"Oi did thot, but whin we returned to th" hut pwhere he was it"s up an"
gone he had."
"Frank says the body was carried off by his friends."
"Mebbe it wur, Oi dunno; but whoy th" ould scratch they wur afther takin" all thot throuble an" risk is pwhat bates me. Somehow Oi"m thinkin" th" mon up an" walked away all by hissilf, an" it"s cowld chills Oi git from thinkin" he may be lookin" fer me to sittle our account."
"You"ll get over that feeling after a while," said Hodge. "Frank knows when a man is dead, and you heard him p.r.o.nounce Del Norte dead."
In Browning"s ear Frank whispered:
"I confess I"d feel better satisfied if I had seen him buried; but I don"t intend to tell O"Toole that."
In due time supper was cooked and served in the plain but comfortable dining room. The death of Del Norte was forgotten, and it was a jolly crowd that gathered about the large table.
"Hold me!" cried Browning, as he drank in the odor of baked potatoes, cooked fish and steaming coffee. "If you don"t look out I"ll wade in here and create a famine. I feel as if I might eat everything on this table without half trying."
"There is plenty of everything," said Warren Hatch. "Joe tells me there is more fish. Here he comes with some of his hot biscuits right out of the oven."
Joe appeared with a heaping plate of biscuits, and soon all were enjoying the meal.
Inza was unusually vivacious, her cheeks being flushed and her dark eyes sparkling. The pleasure of being with Frank again was enough to put her at her best, and indeed she was a most beautiful girl.
Elsie was quieter, but there was no mistaking the expression of deep satisfaction which hovered on her sweet face. The fact that Inza was happy was enough to give her pleasure.
In the midst of the meal there came a rapping at the door. Mr. Hatch answered the summons and was gone some time. When he returned he explained that there was to be a masquerade dance at a pavilion used for dances and picnics down at the cottage village, and, having learned of the presence of guests at his cottage, invitations had been extended to them all.
"Perfectly jolly!" cried Inza. "But we have no costumes."
"Never mind that," said Mr. Hatch. "Without doubt there will be others in the same predicament. You can easily manufacture some masks, and, being strangers here, no one outside your own party will recognize you.
I"m sorry I can"t a.s.sist you in the matter of dress, but I can help the male members of the party. I have a full Indian rig and a cowboy outfit, which will do for two. The third can dress in old clothes, like a hunter or guide. The whole thing can be arranged somehow if you care to go.
Where there"s a will there"s a way, you know."
"Oh, say," grunted Browning, "count me out. I"m no dancer. Besides that, I"m tired."
"The same old complaint," laughed Frank. "What do you think about it, Elsie?"
"If Inza wishes to go, I"m ready," answered Elsie. "We might have a good time."
Hodge expressed a willingness to go along, and then Frank cried:
"It"s a go, my children! Let"s enter into this thing in earnest and have a high old time. Bruce, you ought to be ashamed of your laziness."
"Don"t begin that old song!" said the big fellow. "There"s not enough laziness in this world. Everybody howls about strenuousness and hustle, and people wear themselves out and die before they should. I"m setting a good example, and I"ll continue to set."
"Or sit," nodded Merry. "All right, Lazybones, stay here by your lonesome and content yourself thinking what a fine time we"re having."
"Thanks," grunted Bruce.
CHAPTER IV.
TWO GHOSTS.
The colony on the south sh.o.r.e of Lake Placid was about to break up. Cold weather was setting in. Already many of those who had spent much of the summer there were gone. Others were going. Soon that region would be left entirely to the hunters and the fishermen.
Before returning to the city the cottagers had planned a last grand time in the form of a masquerade dance. They did not call it a "ball." There was to be nothing formal about it.
Thus it happened that the party at Warren Hatch"s cottage received an invitation.
Mrs. Medford was tired; she would not attend the dance; but she offered to a.s.sist the girls in getting up their costumes.
"Costumes!" cried Inza. "Where will we find them? We"ll have to go without special preparation in that line. Frank and Bart are the lucky ones."
"Come with me," smiled Mrs. Medford, after consulting in a low tone with Mr. Hatch, who smiled and nodded. "Perhaps we can find something."
The girls followed her to the upper part of the cottage, leaving Frank and Bart to make up below.
Merry gave Bart his choice of the two rigs, and Hodge took the Indian outfit, leaving the cowboy costume for Frank.
At intervals the sound of laughter came from above, indicating that the girls were making progress.
Mrs. Medford came down first and announced that the girls would follow in two or three minutes.
"They are putting on the finishing touches," she said.
She professed to be alarmed by the fierce appearance of Merriwell, who swaggered toward her in "chaps," woolen shirt, and wide-brimmed hat, a loose belt about his waist, with a pistol peeping from the holster, while his face was hidden by a mask in keeping with the rest of his outfit.
"It"s a whole lot tired we"re getting of waiting for them yere gals, madam," said Frank. "I opine they"d better hurry some, for we"ll have to hike right lively if we shake a hoof at this dance to-night."
Then Hodge danced forward in his Indian rig, flourishing a tomahawk and uttering a war whoop.
"Heap right," he cried. "White woman bring gals."
"Mercy!" gasped Mrs. Medford, retreating toward the table and suddenly turning the lamp very low.
Then came a rustling sound on the stairs, followed by a low moaning, and into view glided two ghostly figures in flowing robes of white. These figures paused in a corner of the room where the shadows were deepest, and the surprised witnesses seemed to see through their white draperies the gleaming outlines of the upper portions of two skeletons. The ribs, the waving, bony arms, and the horrible, shining skulls were plainly beheld. After a moment the two apparitions advanced.
"Heap spook!" cried Hodge, while Frank pretended to be greatly alarmed.
Browning sat bolt upright, uttering a grunt of surprise.
As the forms came forward into the dim light the skeleton figures faded and disappeared.
"I reckon these are the real things, Injun," said Frank.