could not help noticing.

"As for me," the scout master remarked, "I considered it a fine chance
for a little excitement. I, too, had heard some stories about this
gloomy make-believe castle that had been built in the lonely woods
by old Judge Randall when he married a young wife, and wanted to carry
her away from the rest of the world. They say it's getting to be an
interesting ruin by now, though perhaps Alec's aunt might choose to
patch the crumbling walls up, if other things suited her."

"Huh! takes all sorts of freaks to make this world," grunted Billy.
"The idea of anybody actually wanting to bury themselves away up
here, and never see a thing in the way of circus, baseball, winter
hockey, Boy Scout rivalries and other good happenings. The old Judge
must have been crazy."

"Well, lots of people suspected it when he started to build this
castle," said Alec, drily. "They felt dead sure after it happened;
for hold your breath now, fellows, because to be honest with you there
was a terrible tragedy, and after the poor young wife was buried the
judge lived as much as ten years in an asylum. He had become a maniac,
you see, from jealousy of his beautiful wife."

"I suppose it's all right, since there are four other fellows along,"
Billy finally went on to say, "but honest Injun, if I had known all
this at the start, I don't believe I would have been so anxious to
come. I expect that old toothache of mine would have cropped up and
kept me home."

"The walking is good down to the station, Billy," murmured Alec, "and
we were told that a freight-train would come along around dark this
evening, bound south, which was due to stop at the water-tank"

"That'll be enough for you, Alec," continued the fat boy, with a certain
amount of dignity. "You never knew me to show the white feather, and
back down, once I put my shoulder to the wheel. If the rest can stand
it I ought to be able to do so."

"Good for you, Billy," cried Hugh. "Alec here ought to make you an
apology. But since we've rested up, and there's still half a mile
to tramp, with the afternoon wearing on, suppose we make a fresh start."

Soon they were trailing along the dimly seen road, which evidently
was not used to any great extent by the few scattered farmers in that
vicinity. Most of the talk was in connection with the weird mansion
toward which they were heading. Alec was coaxed to relate a number
of other facts he had managed to pick up reg