r what
clothes you wear."

Nan blushed while Paul, feeling that he had done well, turned to Dave.

"Where you going now, Mac?"

"Just jogging along. But perhaps we better stop and find out what we're
going to do next. What you think, Phil?"

"Oh, there's my berry pail!" said the girl, pointing at an overturned
tin bucket near the roadside. "If you will let me out I'll be going on."

"Do you live near? But of course you do, or you wouldn't have run across
your bull. Could we take you home?" This from Phil.

"I--I wouldn't mind," she rather hesitatingly said. "But I must get the
pail." And out she jumped, running to the overturned bucket, scooping up
most of the berries that had been spilled, then hurrying back, saying as
she got in:

"I wouldn't bother you but there's an old tumble-down house that folks
say has a ghost or something near here. It used to be a tavern 'way back
years ago. Somehow I always dread to go near it alone, and I always go
round it when I'm out after blueberries, but this road goes right near
it."

"Why, I don't see any sign of a house round here," remarked Dave. "I've
stuck to this old road because I supposed it would lead somewhere."

"I know," she returned. "The woods, so plentiful about here, are
thicker'n ever where the ruins be. We're about two miles from my house.
It's more open there; fields and so on. Sam must 'a' strayed a good
bit."

"We'll take you home, Nan," quoth Paul, and Billy nodded in assent. "But
maybe you could tell us more about that house. When we get close, you
know."

Here Phil gave both the other boys a warning look as he inquired if they
must turn round in order to go where her home lay. Nan nodded, pointing
eastward as she replied:

"Just follow the road the way I'm pointing now. I'll tell you when we
get nearest to that old place. It's about two miles to our house from
there."

Congratulating himself that they were so easily put in the way of
finding what they had come so far to see, Phil passed the signal round
for the others to keep still and let him do the talking.

By this time Nan was much more at her ease with the boys. She told them
of the extent of the woods and how she lived on a small farm at one edge
of the great second-growth timber which was the predominating feature of
this half swampy section. Moreover Phil, too, noted that here and there
were larger hemlock trees, though none of very great size or ancient
appearance.

"Has anyone seen