ear, unless it
were from loose or rotting boards beneath their feet. Mr. Peek explained
briefly the operation of the long-silent water wheel. There was a choke
in his voice, and in one way the lads felt relief when they all were in
the outer air again.

"It wa'n't a right convenient place to have a mill, but we had to take
our work to where our power was. Couldn't hitch power up an' make it
carry us anywhere, in my time, as you do with your automobile," observed
Mr. Peek.

Paul said he would like to take a walk around the old pond. Billy said,
"Yes, let's do it, if Mr. Peek doesn't care."

"Just do whatever pleases ye," said the old gentleman kindly. "I'll sit
here on the old platform a spell." So he seated himself at the entrance
where, in the long ago, grain for the mill was unloaded and the two boys
sauntered along the one-time race.

They strolled partly around the pond, speaking of the chances of good
fishing and the probable depth of the water, and wondering that the
ancient dam had not given way long ago. They drew near and walked
alongside of the icehouse between the building and the water.

They saw the black, decaying sawdust oozing from cracks where the siding
had decayed. They passed around to the east side where were the great
doors, still hanging loosely on rusty hinges. The lowest one was but a
few feet above the ground. It was unlatched and stood ajar an inch or
two.

"Let's look in," Billy suggested.

A runway of heavy planks, seamy and gray, built wide enough to have
driven a team of horses upon, led up to the lowest door. The two boys
walked easily up the incline. They drew the great door open a foot or
two. The place seemed very dark after the bright sunlight without. The
dead, heavy odor of the sawdust slowly being consumed by damp rot below
and by dry rot higher up, was strong to their nostrils.

"If there's such a thing as spooks, they'd like to live here, I'll bet,"
said Paul Jones.

The dense gloom within was slowly giving way to a heavy, blue-black
light as the boys' eyes became accustomed to the dark interior. They saw
that the sawdust filled the lower part of the building up to within a
few inches of the incline they stood upon, so they stepped down upon it,
and to give more light as they casually looked about, Paul pushed the
great door wide open.

And there before the astonished eyes of the two young gentlemen stood an
automobile--the Big Six of the Auto Boys, apparently sound