down here to-night, rig up a tent of some sort
and divide watch until morning. If there is anything to be seen we'll
find out what it is. I'll get a couple of straw mattresses from our
boathouse and--"

"I've got rheumatiz, Mr. Bonner, an' it would be the death o' me to
sleep in this swamp," objected Anderson hastily.

"Well, I'll come alone, then. I'm not afraid. I don't mean to say I'll
sleep in that old shack, but I'll bunk out here in the woods. No human
being could sleep in that place. Will any one volunteer to keep me
company?"

Silence.

"I don't blame you. It does take nerve, I'll confess. My only
stipulation is that you shall come down here from the village early
to-morrow morning. I may have something of importance to tell you, Mr.
Crow."

"We'll find his dead body," groaned old Mr. Borton.

"Say, mister," piped up a shrill voice, "I'll stay with you." It was Bud
who spoke, and all Tinkletown was afterward to resound with stories of
his bravery. The boy had been silently admiring the bold sportsman from
Boston town, and he was ready to cast his lot with him in this
adventure. He thrilled with pleasure when the big hero slapped him on
the back and called him the only man in the crowd.

At eight o'clock that night Bonner and the determined but trembling Bud
came up the bank from the river and pitched a tent among the trees near
the haunted house. From the sledge on the river below they trundled up
their bedding and their stores. Bud had an old single-barrel shotgun, a
knife and a pipe, which he was just learning to smoke; Bonner brought a
Navajo blanket, a revolver and a heavy walking stick. He also had a
large flask of whiskey and the pipe that had graduated from Harvard with
him.

At nine o'clock he put to bed in one of the chilly nests a very sick
boy, who hated to admit that the pipe was too strong for him, but who
felt very much relieved when he found himself wrapped snugly in the
blankets with his head tucked entirely out of sight. Bud had spent the
hour in regaling Bonner with the story of Rosalie Gray's abduction and
his own heroic conduct in connection with the case. He confessed that he
had knocked one of the villains down, but they were too many for him.
Bonner listened politely and then--put the hero to bed.

Bonner dozed off at midnight. An hour or so later he suddenly sat bolt
upright, wide awake and alert. He had the vague impression that he was
deathly cold and that his hair was stand