The Go Ahead Boys and the Mysterious Old House Part 27

he added abruptly.

From within the chimney could be heard the sound as of a man swinging a noisy rattle. There were also sharp noises that sometimes were quite loud and at others were low and soft and yet they were continuously sounding.

"I tell you there's something in that chimney," said John.

"I begin to think you're right," whispered Fred. "Get down on your knees and look up through the fireplace."

John obediently stretched his long form upon the floor and peered up through the flue of the open fireplace. As he did so the clatter in the chimney suddenly increased in volume and for a moment John was on the point of hastily withdrawing from the spot.

As he prepared to do so, however, suddenly a little, young bird fell, striking the floor close to John's head. At the same time there was a renewal of the clatter in the chimney and John hastily withdrew.

To his amazement he found when he arose that Fred was laughing.

"What's there so funny about it?" demanded John as he tried to brush the acc.u.mulated dust from his person.

For a moment Fred was almost unable to control himself, but at last he said, "Oh, Jack, what fools we have been. There we were so scared by the sound of the wings that we heard in this room and the strange noises that came from the chimney that we couldn't get out of the place fast enough. And now it's all as plain as daylight."

"I don't see it," said John blankly.

"Well, have a little patience, and in time you'll see it, Johnny."

"Why don't you talk? Why don't you explain yourself? What are you laughing at?" demanded John, irritated by the manner of his companion.

"Why those sounds we heard were made by chimney-swallows."

"What is a chimney-swallow?"

"Do you mean to tell me that you have lived to be seventeen years old and don't know what a chimney-swallow is?"

"They don't have them in the city where I live."

"Well," said Fred, pretending to be discouraged, "I cannot understand how any fellow can live as you have and yet not know that there are some birds called chimney-swallows that live in the chimneys of old or deserted houses. If you should look up there now you could see some nests fastened right to the sides of the chimney. I have never seen the birds, but I'm sure that's what they are. Whenever we have come into the house we have probably frightened them and they have been flying around the room. They were the spooks that scared us so."

"Do you suppose George knew about it?" demanded John ruefully.

"Of course he knew it. He has been saving it all up to add to his story of the speaking tube."

"Well, it's a comfort to know the old house isn't haunted anyway."

"Of course it isn't haunted. There isn't anything haunted because there isn't anything like ghosts or spooks."

"I'm glad to hear you talk so nicely, Freddie," said John, who now had recovered from his chagrin. "If I'm not mistaken I've heard you talk in a different tone once or twice before when we have been here."

"That's all right," said Fred glibly. "Now we have found out what the spooks are and we'll show George that we're not afraid of anything in the old Meeker House."

The boys were still conversing in whispers, and as Fred made his bold declaration he abruptly stopped and looked anxiously toward the stairway. A sound mysterious and unexpected had been heard in the room directly above them. Both boys were convinced that either others were in the house, or that they had not yet found an explanation for all the mysteries of the old Meeker House.

CHAPTER XXII-A DARE

Without a word having been spoken, Fred and John instantly departed from the old house. They did not even glance at each other as they did so, but moved by a common impulse both were apparently ready to seek a place of safety with all haste.

Fred's bold declaration that now he had found an explanation for the strange occurrences in the Meeker House apparently had not held good. He was maintaining his place by the side of his tall friend when both were fleeing from the house.

The sun already had disappeared from sight and the shadows of the evening were lengthening.

Perhaps the hour increased their feeling of uncertainty. At all events the confidence they had possessed, when in broad daylight they had boldly entered the kitchen, manifestly now was gone. Each boy frequently glanced behind him in his flight, but neither spoke to the other until fifty yards intervened between them and the dwelling.

"What are we doing out here?" demanded Fred blankly.

"I don't think you need very much of an explanation," retorted John.

"That's the way it seems to me, too," responded Fred, striving to laugh lightly as he spoke.

"At all events we are making pretty good time."

Indeed the smaller boy was able to maintain the pace at which his friend with the longer legs was moving over the field. Half the distance between the house and the road had been covered when John stopped and said, "Look ahead there, Fred. Isn't that George and Grant waiting over yonder in the road?"

In response to the suggestion of his friend, Fred glanced quickly at the huge spreading oak tree that grew close to the fence. It was a magnificent tree, the pride of the country around about and the delight of many visitors. Beneath it an automobile was seen and then Fred exclaimed quickly, "You're right, String, that's George and Grant. Let's slow up a little. We don't want them to think we are in too much of a hurry."

Accordingly the speed at which they were moving decreased and as they glanced behind them and saw that the conditions about the old Meeker House apparently were unchanged the boys ceased to run and began to walk.

"Don't let them think we have been scared out," again suggested Fred.

"We'll never hear the last of it if we don't."

Without replying John nodded his head and more slowly the boys walked across the intervening field and then climbed the fence and leaped lightly into the roadside when they drew near the place where the two boys were awaiting their coming.

"What's your hurry?" demanded George, laughing as he spoke.

"We're in no hurry," responded Fred glibly.

"We're hungry, that's all," said John. "We were afraid you would be keeping dinner for us."

"That's a mighty good excuse," laughed Grant. "You didn't act when we first saw you as if you were thinking of your dinner. I didn't believe that either one of you could make such good time."

"That's all right," said Fred sharply. "That's all right, but it's just exactly as I said."

"What is?" inquired George.

"Why the tricks you have been trying to play on us in the old Meeker House."

"Tricks? What tricks have I been trying to play?" replied George.

"Did you ever hear of chimney-swallows?" inquired Fred.

"Indeed I have," said George, "and I have seen them lots of times."