CHAPTER IV
SCOUTING AT MIDNIGHT
It was certainly a queer sound that floated to the strained hearing ofthe boy as he crouched there on the floor of the room amidst the foldsof his blanket and listened with might and main.
There followed a brief period of silence and then he felt a thrill,for it came again, a peculiar whimpering that would have given Billya spasm of fright had he been awake to catch it, instead of calmlysleeping close by.
"What in the mischief can it be?" whispered Hugh to himself as heallowed his hand to grope around for something he wanted, and whichhe remembered placing conveniently by at the time he prepared hiscrude bed.
The fire had died down again so that the big apartment on the mainfloor was almost wrapped in darkness. Still, when tiny tongues offlame played at hide-and-seek about the charred log, they caused allsorts of odd shadows to run athwart the walls.
Hugh gave a grunt of satisfaction when his fingers closed upon theobject he sought. It was only about the size of two fingers, andnickel-plated at that. In fact, Hugh had made himself a trifling-presentlately of a small vestpocket edition of a flashlight, controlled bya battery, and had thought it worth while to carry it along with himon this expedition, though not saying anything about it to the others,thus far.
"I'm bound to find out what makes that noise, as sure as anythingcan be," was what the boy was telling himself resolutely, even whilehe crept out from among the folds of the warm blanket endeared tohim by reason of many associations of the past, of which so much hasbeen written in previous volumes.
That was just like Hugh Hardin. A good many boys would possibly haveconcluded that going wandering about a great imitation castle likeRandall's Folly, after midnight, trying to discover the origin ofstrange sounds, was no business of theirs, and would have cuddleddown closer, even drawing their blanket over their heads in orderthat they might not hear a repetition of the noise.
Hugh was built on a different order. He knew full well that sleepwith him was entirely out of the question so long as that chillingwhimpering and rustling continued at regular intervals.
Now Hugh was only a boy, it must be remembered, and many a strongman would have declined committing himself in the way the scout masterintended doing.
He had listened to all the talk about ghosts carried on by the otherfellows, with more or less interest and amusement, for Hugh refusedto believe in spook manifestations. At the same time he admitted thathis heart was fluttering at a much more rapid gait than customarywhen he started toward one of the doors of the room, using the littleelectric torch to light his way.
If any one could have read the thoughts that were surging throughthe boy's excited mind, they would perhaps have been found to rangeabout in this manner:
"Ghosts, eh? Well, I've always said there never existed any, andperhaps I'll have a chance right now to prove it, one way or the other.A queer kind of a hobgoblin that must be to keep whimpering like ababy, and then fluttering to beat the band. But what in the wideworld can it all mean? That's what I reckon on finding out, givenhalf a chance."
He had reached the door by that time. Billy had seen to it that thebolt was shot into its socket before he lay down. More than that,he had even gone to the trouble to fill the keyhole full of crumpledpaper, remembering that jibe on the part of one of his chums to theeffect that spirits can "ooze like smoke" through even such smallapertures.
Hugh had been wise enough to pick up a handy club before startingforth upon his mission of investigation. He did not anticipate findinga chance to make use of it, but when a man insures his house againstfire he really does not expect it to be burned down. Hugh wantedto be on the safe side, that was all.
Just at that point the boy, was influenced to turn around and castthe light of his torch upon the forms of his four comrades swathedin their coverings. Not one of them moved, even in the slightestdegree, so that, if Hugh was half contemplating inviting company, hefound no encouragement there.
Gritting his teeth, the boy calmly drew back the bolt, softly openedthe massive door, slipped boldly through the aperture, and then asdeftly closed the door behind him.
Standing there in the great hall he listened intently, meanwhile keepinghis light turning this way and that in order to see if anything moved.Perhaps, in the days when Judge Randall lived in his romantic castle,this massive hall had been decorated after the usual custom of feudaltimes. Hugh could easily imagine shining suits of armor standinggrimly in, the corners, like sentries on guard. He had detected markson the walls betraying the fact that at some time they had borne allmanner of relics of long-past age of chivalry, so that the illusionmight be complete. But now they stood there bare and cold, and achilly draught came down from the empty regions above that made theboy shiver.
Then he heard the strange sounds again. They were clearer now thanbefore.
"One thing certain," muttered Hugh, between his set teeth, "whatevermakes that noise it comes from up above. And the thing for me to dois to climb the stairs; so here goes."
If he felt any hesitation he did not show it as he made his way tothe foot of the broad stairway and commenced mounting, step after step.Always the sounds seemed to grow a little clearer, and this fact toldHugh his scout instinct must be truly leading him directly toward theplace from which they issued.
He had reached the second floor, and was pushing steadily onward.Several times he stopped short to listen, nor would he make a moveat such intervals unless he had received his clue again. Not oncedid he manifest any weakness in the line of shrugging his shoulders,and saying that it was none of his business if the night air playedpranks by forcing its way through some hole in the wall, with a whineand a gurgle.
When Hugh once set himself a task it was his nature to carry the thingthrough to the end. He would despise himself if he allowed any weakfear to triumph over his common-sense.
A brief time later he found himself standing near where he knew oneof the several turrets stood. He remembered now that while they hadinvestigated more or less of the big building, they were forced toskip several portions, leaving them for the next morning's survey;and doubtless this turret chamber must have been in the list of thoseunexplored places.
"Whatever it may be," Hugh was telling himself, "the thing making allthat noise is in there! I'll listen once more, and then take a peek."
When he again heard the gurgling, the fluttering, and the strangewhimpering Hugh had his hand on the door knob. He quickly threw thebarrier open and flashed his light into the chamber.
Instantly there was a scurry of wings. Queer glowing balls of yellowconnected with obscure, shadowy figures stared at him. The wingswinnowed the air, and again he caught that peculiar whinny.
Hugh laughed aloud.
"Why, it's only a family of owls after all," he said, in great relief,"that's taken up quarters here in this turret, where they can go inand out as they please. Yes, and those things that flapped away musthave been some ugly bats in the bargain, that haven't gone into winterquarters yet. Well, this is a pretty good sell, I must say. I'mglad I made up my mind to find out what that noise was. Now I guessI can go to sleep again. Ghosts! Well, like as not every ghost thatever was heard of would turn out to be as simple a thing as this, ifonly some one had the nerve to investigate."
He closed the door to the turret chamber. Let the owls and bats havetheir quarters if they wanted to. There was plenty of room in thatgreat castle for himself and chums to sleep without ousting, the happyfamily from their roost.
So Hugh started down the stairs feeling much lighter of heart thanwhen he had so recently climbed upward. The tension and strain hadbeen removed from his boyish heart, and he was ready to confess thatthings had seemed pretty ticklish at one time, and had required allhis resolution to push ahead.
He found the right door, and softly opening it made his way into thebig room in which the others were sleeping. While fastening the dooragain Hugh could hear the regular breathing of Billy
, and possiblyof the others.
As he incidentally flashed his light on them before turning in hewas surprised to see Alec Sands sitting bolt upright and watchinghim curiously. Hugh held up a warning finger. He did not want Alecto talk out loud and needlessly awaken all of the other fellows.At the same time he know full well he must give some sort of explanationfor his strange absence.
"I heard it, too, Hugh," whispered Alec, with a half grin. "Wokeup and found you gone when I put out my hand to feel your blanket.Then I caught those awful ghoulish sounds somewhere. Wanted to creepafter you, but say, I own up I didn't have the nerve to try it. Sohere I've been sitting, hugging my knees, and listening till I'mshivering as if I had the ague. Now tell me what it is, Hugh, for Ijust know you've found out."
Hugh chuckled and said:
"Oh! just a family that has squatted down on these premises, and hatesto be evicted in case your rich aunt, or anybody else, buys the same!"
"Come off, Hugh; don't try to muddle me all up like that, when I'mdying to know what could make such awful sounds. What kind of a familyis it?"
"Owls, with a few big bats thrown in for good measure," explained Hugh."They've taken up their quarters in one of the turret chambers whereslits in the walls allow them to go and come as they please."
"You woke up and heard that gibberish, didn't you, Hugh? And youmade up your mind on the spot that you just had to find out what itmeant? It's like you to do such a thing! But, Hugh, why didn't youlet me in on it? I'd have been glad to keep you company, sure I would."
"I knew that, Alec," apologized the other, yawning as he began tocreep under his blanket again, "but all of you seemed to be soundasleep, and I hated to wake anybody up. Besides---well, I just feltlike going it alone, you see."
"Of all the nerve, you've got it to beat the band," commented Alec."I thought I could stand for a good deal, but let me tell you I drawthe line at creeping upstairs in this spooky old castle, andinvestigating such a fierce noise as that. Listen, will you, they'reat it again, Hugh? Why, if Billy woke up and heard that he'd throwa fit."
"Then we want to quit talking and not wake him," cautioned the scoutmaster, as he gathered the folds of his covering about him, much asa soldier of olden times might wrap his martial cloak around his bodywhile settling down calmly to sleep on the battlefield.
Alec was chuckling as though something amused him.
"Tell you what," he presently whispered, as a last thought, "if myAunt Susan is as dead set for silence as she says, those noisy owlsare going to vacate their snug quarters up there in a hurry. Ihonestly believe, Hugh, this lonely old curiosity of a castle is goingto please my queer relative a whole lot. The chances are she'll plankdown the money to buy Randall's Folly when she gets my report,accompanied by the pictures I'm taking. Well, here goes for anothernap, hoping the Owl family will settle down and not disturb us againto-night."