"There is something queer under all this, Sim. Men shouldn't be hurt like this just because, possibly, somebody is playing jokes. I'm going to find out the secret of Jockey Hollow!" she declared now.
"And we're all going to help you!" Sim added. "This isn't a ghost story, it's a detective story now."
Thinking over what had taken place that afternoon, and reviewing their own parts in the strange mystery, kept Sim and Arden rather silent on the drive back from Jim Danton's home. Then, as they were almost back at the Hall, where Terry and Dot were waiting, Sim remarked seriously:
"I don't believe it's anyone playing jokes."
"What do you mean--jokes?" asked Arden, her attention, which had wandered far afield, snapping back to the girl beside her in the roadster.
"You said," Sim replied, "that possibly somebody was playing a joke to cause these manifestations. It's a pretty serious joke, if you ask me."
"I agree with you," Arden answered. "But there are persons with a very strange sense of humor."
"I wish some of them had to fall down the ash-chute as Jim did!" Sim exclaimed snappishly. "It would jar some of the humor out of them."
"I don't really believe I meant that, about it being a joke," went on Arden. "But I'm determined to find out what's at the bottom of it all. It must be real and it must have humans in it."
"And I'm with you!" declared Sim. "But I have a new thought, Arden!"
"What, Mistress Sim?" asked Arden. "I declare I'm reverting to Colonial talk, thinking so much about this ancient place," and she laughed. "But let me have your thought."
"Could it be labor troubles?" asked Sim. "I mean, could some other contractor, who resented Mr. Callahan having the job of tearing down this old mansion, be trying to scare his men off so Mr. Callahan would give up the contract? Isn't that possible?"
"You know," went on Sim, "while there may not be very much money for a contractor in just pulling down an old mansion, this one is of Revolutionary importance, and there may be what the boys would call 'pickings,' that would sell for a good sum."
"You mean like those hand-forged hooks in the closet where Jim disappeared from?"
"Yes. So it may be that some rival contractor is trying to force Mr. Callahan to give up by frightening his men away."