CHAPTER XXV The Mystery of the Lodge
The Ford boys stood in the doorway and gazed at the unexpected sightbefore them like persons in a daze. The fingers of the man wereclutching Barry's throat, and one knee was planted with crushing forceon his chest. The face which the stranger turned toward the twins wasdark with rage and exertion, and his black eyes were fierce and defiant.So utterly unexpected was this scene to the two newcomers that theyremained rooted to the spot until a choking cry burst from Barry, whowas looking at them imploringly.
Then Mac suddenly came to life, and a growl of anger burst from him."Come on, Tim," he shouted. "This man is killing Barry!"
"Keep off!" snarled the man, half turning to face them. "I'm going awayfrom here, and nobody is going to stop me! Keep away, or I'll----"
The last part of his sentence was never finished. Mac hurled himself onthe stranger, jerking his hands away from Barry's throat. Tim joined himwith vigor, and they fairly tore him off of their chum. He came up witha spring and wrapped his arms around the twins, twisting them roughly inan effort to break away. He realized that others were coming, and hisone desire now was to thrust them aside and get away.
But the Ford boys had no intention of letting him go, and even Barry,weak and shaken as he was, returned to the fight to keep the man fromescaping. Catching him around one leg, Barry held him tightly while thetwins tried to break loose from his iron grip, at the same time strivingto throw him. Back and forth they swayed and struggled, panting andstraining. The center table was pushed to one side, and they were upagainst a wicker chair when the others came back.
They had been coming along slowly with Carter Wolf, and could notunderstand why the twins did not hasten with the blanket. The lodgeprowler heard them coming, and the perspiration of a real fear now stoodout on his head. Like a wild animal trapped, he looked around, and justas the incoming party filled the doorway and gazed in wonder at thestruggle, he drew back his free foot and prepared to deal Barry a kickthat would free the leg that the boy was holding. He felt that if hecould once get that leg loose he could drag the twins into the hallleading to the lodge kitchen and somehow get rid of them.
But in raising his other foot he lost his balance, and he and the twinswent down in a crashing heap, breaking the wicker chair to bits. Screamscame from the girls, and the coach and Kent leaped forward to pull thecombatants apart. Carter Wolf forgot his forlorn condition, and hisfriends stared in amazement. The coats and pocketbooks on the floor, thetable back against the wall, and the general signs of confusion put themall at a loss.
"Here, what is going on here?" Coach Jordan asked, as he hauled thetwins off of the fallen man. But to his astonishment Kent immediatelythrew himself on the stranger, holding his hands out in front of him bythe wrists.
"Get a rope or a curtain cord or something," Kent commanded, and Timturned to look for something. But at the same moment the black shadowsuddenly tried a dash for the hall door. Instantly all four boys,including the bruised Barry, leaped at him and bore him to the floor.The girls again screamed, and the coach looked bewildered. The captiveaddressed him.
"Call these fool boys off, Jordan! You know me!"
"Who is he?" Barry asked, finding his voice hoarse.
"Why, this is Felix Morganson, nephew of the lady who owns this lodge!"was the unexpected reply.
"What!" cried the mystery hunters, in chorus.
"Yes, I am, and when my aunt hears of this, you'll hear a thing or two,"said Felix Morganson. But the boys were not at all worried.
"That's all right," said Kent, warmly. "But you are the ghost of thisso-called haunted lodge."
"Yes, he is," nodded Barry. "I saw him come up here through a secretunderground tunnel, and when I arrived on the scene in this room he wasstealing our coats and everything else in sight."
"That's a lie!" denied the prisoner, his keen eyes shifting around.
"It isn't, and if we hadn't come along when we did, you would have justabout killed Barry," Mac declared. By this time Tim had found a rope,and Kent took it and tried to tie the wrists of the prisoner behind him.Felix Morganson looked at the coach.
"Jordan, are you going to stand for this?" he shouted. "Somebody willget into big trouble, and you are in charge of these boys!"
The coach hesitated, plainly at a loss, and Barry quickly took commandof the situation. "It's all right, Mr. Jordan, and I will assume fullresponsibility. My father has been trying for a long time to find theman who has been giving this lodge the reputation of being haunted, andMr. Morganson is the one who did the rapping and thumping. We must notlet him get away."
Before the athletic director could speak, there was a knock on the doorof the lodge. They looked at one another with wondering glances, andthen Charlie Black hurried to the door. One of the girls swiftly wrappeda blanket around Carter Wolf and pushed him over in front of the fire.Kent and Barry kept their eyes on Morganson.
Charlie returned with strange companions. Two men with police stars ontheir coats came in, driving the French couple before them. One of themen held the Frenchman's gun in the crook of his arm. Pierre and hiswife looked sullen.
"Evening, folks!" nodded the stouter of the two men. "I'm SheriffPaulson, and this is McHenry. We've been keepin' watch on theseFrenchies for a few days, and just now they was outside of this window,gettin' ready to shoot the lamps out." He looked at Felix Morganson withinterest. "So here you are, Mr. Morganson! You ain't in Canada or SouthAmerica!"
"I think he's been here all along, Sheriff," Barry spoke up. "I found asecret tunnel from that quarry over there to the tool house out back. Heis the one who has been giving the place a bad name."
"Found a tunnel, did you?" the sheriff asked, looking at Barry withinterest. "There used to be some counterfeiters operating around here,in an old cabin that stood where this lodge is, and I guess they was theones used it. So Mr. Morganson has been hauntin' his own aunt'sproperty! These Frenchies have been helpin' him right along, and I guesssqueezin' plenty of money out of him."
Barry suddenly remembered something. "Which one of you shot at Wolf andhis friends the night they sat on the front porch?" he asked.
"I try scare heem away," the Frenchman admitted.
After some further conversation the sheriff agreed to take Morganson tohis aunt in Cloverfield. The would-be ghost of the lodge insisted uponseeing her, and so at last he and his French allies went off with thetwo county officials. Jordan, Bill Jefferson, and Tom Bailey hitched upa sleigh and drove them to Fox Point, where the sheriff took Morgansonand the woodsman and his wife on to Cloverfield in his own conveyance.
The boys from Rake Island did not stay long after the sheriff left.Carter Wolf thanked everybody with averted eyes and went off with hisfriends, who dragged the sleighs back to the lake bank beforedisappearing. In the morning it was an easy task for the boys to pullthem on up the slope and hitch up the horses.
Barry was somewhat mussed up and quite sore, but he was the hero of thehour. They sat around the living-room fire and listened with raptattention while he told of his trip along the tunnel, and when CoachJordan and the others came back, it had to be told all over again. Theysat up until late in the night excitedly discussing the events of theevening.
"But we still do not know why Morganson pretended to be kidnaped andthen hung around haunting the place," Tim reminded them.
"I have an idea, from some things that he admitted to Sheriff Paulson,that he did it to knock down the value of the place and buy it from hisaunt for a mere song," spoke up the coach. "He always had a perfectpassion for the lodge and was determined to have it by fair means orfoul. I believe that he was trying to buy it through Brand Curry."
In this Coach Jordan was correct. Felix Morganson had always had a greatlonging to own Bluff Lodge, and with Brand Curry and his French friendshe had planned to ruin the reputation of the place and have his friendbuy it very cheaply. Until Mrs. Morganson died, Brand Curry wouldcontinue to own the
property, as far as outward appearances wereconcerned, and then Felix would take it over when his indulgent auntpassed away. So he had acted a false kidnaping part and had lived in asmall cabin down in the hollow of a mountain spur close to the abandonedquarry.
With the capture of Felix Morganson, all mysteries were cleared up. Hewas the one who had taken their sled and who had dropped the snow behindthe chimney upstairs in the hunting lodge. Having a key to the lodge, heentered it at will. The Frenchman and his wife had been writing to himfor money, and as he did not send them any, they came in person tocollect it and he joined them at Fox Point. Officers of the law hadbecome suspicious and had trailed the French couple.
The young people at the lodge were eager to explore the counterfeiters'tunnel that night, but Barry persuaded them to wait until the followingday, and they finally consented. Early the next morning they traversedit and enjoyed the experience. When the story finally got out, many cameto see it.
Felix Morganson had an interview with his aunt, and the general opinionwas that she was too easy with him, for he disappeared shortlyafterward, and no charges of any kind were ever placed against him. TheFrench couple also vanished and were never seen in that part of thecountry again.
When the young people from the Cloverfield High School drove away fromBluff Lodge on the morning after the capture of the black shadow, theyall agreed that it had been an exciting and enjoyable straw ride. Barry,Mac, Pearl, and Charlie rode on the foremost sleigh, and Kent and thetwins were directly behind them. Castor Oil still clung to the girl whohad satisfied his sweet tooth.
"Now you boys have certainly earned the name of 'mystery hunters,'"Pearl said, as the sleigh glided on toward home. "We're all proud ofyou."
Mac grinned. "We've passed our first test in mysteries! Wait until thenext one comes along!" Just as the sleigh entered the timber, Barryturned to look back at the log building. "So long, old haunted lodge!"he smiled. "You are going to be mighty lonesome for your friend theblack shadow!"
THE END
Transcriber's Notes
--A few typographical errors or inconsistent spellings were corrected.
--In the text versions, delimited italicized text in _underscores_ (the HTML version reproduces the font form of the printed book.)
--Added a Table of Contents.
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