One end--that nearest them--was laid out in a number of small farms, on
which were substantial houses. But the other end, where "Kenyon's Folly"
had been built, was in the narrower part, and was almost deserted as
regards residences. This section of the valley was narrower, the
hills--almost mountains--rose high on either side, hemming it in. This
produced deep shadows early and late in the day, and gave the valley its
name.

"There's the ghost house!" said Will, in a low voice, pointing toward a
mansion, perched on one of the side hills, on a natural ledge. "I can
see the ghost now!"

"Oh!" screamed Amy.

At that moment from the dense underbrush near the auto there came a loud
cry, and some one fairly tumbled down a little declivity into the
road--the figure of an old man with long, white hair.

CHAPTER X

OFF ON THE TOUR

Grace and Amy were in each other's arms. Betty admitted afterward that
she wished she had some one to lean on, but she gripped the steering
wheel until her knuckles went white with the strain. Mollie clutched the
sides of the seat in a grip of something like despair. The boys looked
wonderingly at one another, and then at the strange figure that had
tumbled out of the bushes.

"Oh, it's the hair-tonic peddler!" exclaimed Mollie a moment later, as
she got a glimpse of the man. He had risen and was brushing the dust off
his rusty black suit.

"The who?" asked Will.

"A man who sells hair-tonic," explained Betty in a low voice, for the
stranger was looking at them now.

"At your service, ladies and gentlemen!" exclaimed the proprietor of
Bennington's Hair-Tonic. "I see you remember me," and he smirked at the
girls--that hard, and rather cruel, look never leaving his face, even
when he smiled.

"Oh, yes, we remember you," replied Betty, coolly. She now had control
of her nerves.

"Don't talk to him too much," advised Allen, in a low voice. "You never
can tell who these fellows are, nor what their game is."

"Ob, he's harmless," replied Betty, in a return whisper. "We met him on
the road one day, and supplied a bolt that he had lost from his wagon."

"All the same," insisted Will, "he might----"

He was interrupted by Mollie, who asked:

"Where is your wagon?"

"I left it in a secure place," replied the hair tonic man.

"What were you doing up there?" asked Allen, nodding in the direction
whence the man had taken his tumble.

"That was an accident," replied Mr. Bennington