The cardboard had been propped up in the space provided by a small branch. The letters had been wet and faint streaks showed where they had run.

“The sentries who were on duty last night please step forward,” requested the colonel. A number of cadets promptly stepped forward, facing the colonel.

“Did any one of you at any time during the night see or hear anyone around the camp?” Not one sentry had noted anything amiss.
125

“I can tell you of an experience that happened to us last night, colonel,” spoke up Jim. “We were discussing the whole ghost situation on the Ridge, and our determination to find out who this ghost was, when we heard a noise outside our tent. I might more accurately say that I heard it, and I went outside to see if anyone was there. I didn’t find anyone, but it looks as though someone did sneak up to our tent, hear what we had to say, and then printed this sign to scare us.”

“But in order to do so the party must have gone back to some shelter and spent some time making up the warning, if such it might be called,” mused the headmaster. “I have no doubt, however, that your conversation was overheard. This ghost has developed a bad habit of visiting our camp whenever he feels like it.”

“It wouldn’t have been hard to slip past a sentry in the pouring rain, sir,” suggested Jordan.

“No, not at all,” agreed the colonel. “With this reference to your soldiering, I presume that you young men will have an added cause now to go after this ghost person.”

“That’s a pretty heavy insult!” smiled Major Rhodes.

“Well, the ghost must know now that an active campaign is afoot to drive him off the Ridge,” said the colonel. “That ought to make the game more interesting than ever. Our foe is warned and will play his game with skill. That gives you boys greater odds to move against, but I feel sure that you will be successful in making an end to the affair.”
126

The regular routine of that day seemed to take longer than usual, but as soon as it was over the members of the Ghost Patrol gathered together to look around in back of the camp for signs of the night visitor. The ground was wet and they argued that if the prowler ever left any traces he would surely have done so that night. Their first search took in the soft soil back of Jim’s tent and they found encouraging signs at once.

“More than one footprint here,” proclaimed Don, grimly, as they bent over the depressions in the dirt.

Someone had sneaked up close to the wall of the tent, and the prints of large shoes were very plain. In the heels of the left shoe they found a peculiarity that gave them something to work on. There had been some kind of a cut down the center of the leather heel and it showed plainly in the soft mud.

“Maybe when the heel was cut out of block leather the knife slipped and left that mark,” Jordan thought. “With a plain marking like that we ought not to have much trouble. Let’s look under that tree where the cardboard was found.”
127

Under this tree they had more difficulty, because the feet of the curious cadets had churned up the ground so that it was almost impossible to make out anything definite. But at a distance of perhaps three yards they found the marked heel print again. Whoever had placed the sign in the tree had come down the slope above the camp, and the print could be followed for a short distance up the hillside. But before long they struck a section of rocky ground and hunt as they would they could not find another trace of the print.

“A whole lot of this Ridge is pretty rocky,” sighed Douglas. “From here on I guess we’ll have to trust to luck. Somewhere we may run across the trail again and get our bearings.”

They explored the slope with exhausting patience, but there was no further trace until they struck the very top of the hill. There, in a soft spot, they once more found their marking. The print pointed down toward the town of Rideway, which they could see in the distance.

“He went down into town,” said Terry. “Suppose we follow down there, and see where the print leads to?”
128

Following the marked heel down into Rideway was not an easy task. In some places they lost all traces of it and had to look around for half an hour before finding the faint mark again. But the trail led steadily down the opposite slope from the camp until it went into town. But here they lost it for good.

The main road was hard as a rock, with a glazed surface that left no trace of any mark. They followed this road down through town for a long way, but there was no further sign of the marked heel. Their next move was to look along the sides of the road to see if the man had walked off it at any point, but after a good hour had been spent in this way the cadets gave it up as a bad job.

“Too bad,” groaned Jim. “Right at the most important part we lose it altogether. I guess that’s the end of an important clue.”

“Yes, looks like we have exhausted this possibility,” agreed Jordan. “Anyway, we have given the town people something to wonder about.”

This was true. The natives of Rideway had been watching the boys with curiosity. So busy had they been in their search that they had failed to pay any attention to the citizens, but the people had not failed to note what they were doing.

“Say,” Don warned. “Here comes that nasty sheriff.”
129

From a small, one-story shack near them the tall sheriff made his way. ............