mpressed.

"A haunted mill!" he repeated; "that's something new to me. I thought
I'd heard about everything queer around Riverport; but I didn't know you
had ghosts hanging out here. Where's it at, Sid; and why do you call it
haunted?"

"Oh! I'd almost forgotten all about that place," the other replied; "you
see none of the boys ever go up any more to the mill-pond swimming,
since Dub Jasper from over in Mechanicsburg way, got caught in that
sucker hole, and near drowned. Folks said it was too dangerous for us
there. But I thought I'd told you about the old mill, and how it hadn't
been used for years now."

"But is it haunted; did anybody ever see a ghost there?" asked Fred,
determined to get at the truth.

"Shucks! no," Bristles broke in with; "the boys just started to call it
that because it looks so gloomy like, standin' there deserted. We used
to play around it. I've slid over on the big wheel myself, lots of
times, and gone all the way around, under water as well. But I guess
there's no real ghost about it, Fred."

"All the same," continued Sid, "it would make a great place to keep a
fellow so nobody could find him. I understand that the owner closed it
up, boarded the windows, and locked the doors, after we quit going
there."

"How far away is it from here?" Fred next inquired.

"All of three miles, I should say," the woman remarked; for she had been
listening to what the boys were saying, with more or less interest.

"And about as far from Mechanicsburg," Sid went on. "You see, it's on a
road that runs into this some ways up. And old Toby, he lives about half
a mile further on. Now, I wonder how they ever got his limpy horse?
Perhaps they hired it for the time; or else just sneaked it out of his
barn, to come down here with."

"Just now," remarked Fred, "we don't care much about how they did it.
What we want to do is to start right off, and get up there to that same
region of the mill. Are you good for the hike, fellows?"

"Are we?" echoed Bristles; "why, if you say the word we'll give you a
run for your money, Fred, and put you in practice for to-morrow."

"Let's start right now," suggested Corney.

When the second mile had been covered, Semi-Colon was gasping for
breath, but sticking to it gamely. He was a most persistent little
fellow, and had always played a good game of ball, despite his lack of
stature.

Fred eased up a bit. There was no great need for haste, after all. The
day was before t