her
simultaneously.

"Why didn't somebody shoot at the ghost?" asked Snap.

"Why didn't you, Shep?" queried Giant.

"I---er---I forgot about it."

"The ghost vanished too quickly," said Snap. "But keep on guard---it
may come back."

"If it does it will get something from me sure," murmured the
doctor's son, and raised his shotgun.

"What do you think it was?" asked Whopper, after a painful pause of
several minutes.

"A man," answered Snap, promptly.

"A man!" cried Giant.

"Yes, a man---and I don't know whether we ought to shoot at him or
not," continued the leader of the gun club. "We certainly don't
want to commit murder."

"But if it's a man what is he playing ghost for?" queried the
doctor's son.

"That remains to be found out."

"Your theory is all well enough," said Whopper, "but it doesn't
account for the ghostlike voice."

"I know that. Nevertheless, I think that ghost is a man."

The young hunters continued to discuss the situation from all
possible points of view. Snap's positive declaration that the
ghost was a man made all feel less frightened, and they were anxious
to get better acquainted with the apparition.

"If it's a man I'd like to capture him and give him a piece of my
mind," said Whopper. "What right has he to roam around like this,
frightening everybody he meets?"

"He ordered us away from the mountain. Most likely, if it is a
man, he wants this territory to himself," answered Giant.

"That's the way I figure it," said Snap. "He may be crazy and
may think he owns the mountains and the lake."

"It couldn't be that old hermit, Peter Peterson, could it?" queried
Shep, suddenly.

"That's who it is!" almost shouted Whopper. "It's a trick of
his to keep folks away from here."

"But why should he come to us with that story of his?" questioned
Giant.

"He told us that just to scare us. He thought we might go away
from the lake at once."

Again there was a lively discussion, and the young hunters agreed
that, if the ghost was indeed a man, more than likely it was Peterson.

"A fellow who would play such a trick ought to be tarred and feathered,"
was Whopper's comment.

"If it proves to be Peterson we'll have him driven out of this
neighborhood fast enough," said Snap.

Another hour went by, and as the ghost did not reappear the young
hunters grew heavy eyed, and one after another took a short nap.
Thus the night passed, and at last the sun showed itself over the