"Take me along, won't you?" asked Lil Artha, gaining his feet, as he thrust his kodak away.
"Me, too!" called out several others; while a few hung back, not caring to take chances of a meeting with a real ghost.
"You can go along, Arthur, likewise Ted and Toby. The rest had better stay here with me to guard the camp, in case there happens to be a raid of ghosts," remarked the scout master, in a tone that put an end to all protestations.
So the little party trotted off, followed by wishful glances from the balance of those who would have liked to be with them.
Down the road they went, Chatz keeping in close contact with Elmer, and maintaining a discreet silence. Presently they arrived at the spot where he had found the missing buckle.
"Here's where I stooped down to hunt, boys," he remarked, in a low voice; "and when I looked over yonder, I saw IT standing just back of that fringe of brush, waving its long arms at me, and staring to beat the band. Do you see anything there, fellows?"
"Not a thing, Chatz," replied Artha, cheerfully. "To the foolish house for you!"
"What's that?" said Toby, holding up his hand, suddenly.
"Did you see anything move?" demanded the Southern lad, eagerly, as though he wanted to prove that his alarm had been well founded.
"I thought I did," replied Toby, quivering with eagerness.
"Listen, fellows," observed Elmer, with a chuckle.
From somewhere back in the woods there came a weird sound, mournful enough to strike a chill to the heart of anyone not familiar with its nature.
"Oh! whatever can that be?" cried Toby. "Sounded just like some poor feller calling for help."
"Elmer, you know; tell uth, pleath!" entreated Ted, with his usual lisp, which even the alarm that was seizing hold of him now could not dissipate.
"Well, I declare, I'm surprised to think that none of you fellows ever heard an owl hoot before!" laughed the scout leader of the Wolf Patrol.
"An owl--that only a poor little dickey of an owl!" cried Toby.
"Yes, it sounds just like the white owl we used to have up in Canada," continued Elmer, seriously. "And ten to one now, it was what Chatz here saw in that brush alongside the road. Of course it had staring yellow eyes; and in the dim light he must have fancied he saw an arm waving at him. That was only a shadow, Chatz. So come along, let's get back to the fire."